SpyGirl Does the Beverly Hills Art Show

I exhibited my #dailytruck series at the Beverly Hills Art Show. 

Mostly I watched the world roll by.

Here I am in my truck camo.

I did some stealth sketching.
[see more here]

Oh, the peacocks of BH! They have no problem wearing what they like!
(no judgement -- pure wonder)

Many dogs took their people to the event.
On Sunday morning it was raining, so there were fun canine fashions.

OMG, the dino dog!

I won Honorable Mention in Digital Art and got a ginormous ribbon!

Here's the truck banner wafting:

Linking up with:
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike
Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week

Blogger Meetup at Poshmark Live LA

On Thursday, March 22, I met up with Rena of Fine-Whatever.
We attended the Poshmark Live party at the SLS Hotel. It was a low admission fee ($10) and we went hoping to learn some new tips for selling out of our Poshmark Closets.

Small bites were offered on trays, we made a toast with these guacamole-filled trumpets:

There was going to be a pep talk with Poshmark's founder, Manish Chandra, in one of the ballrooms.
I planted myself in a chair (still freshly gimpy from my vacation fall) and passed the time sketching.

Most of my muses are in the blurry background!

[photo by Rena]

The talk was very, um, peppy. (Yes, I'm a jaded ex-corporate worker bee).
Was it worth it? Well, I guess it was worth $10.

Spending time chatting with Rena was, of course, priceless.
We both admitted guilt of impulse buying off the site -- there are flash sales that encourage this sort of thing.
Here are some of my failures (mostly fit issues) that I'm now reselling:

Don't ask about the Brown Shoe Obsession. I have no explanation for you!

It's not all bad buys, I HAVE found some great items on Poshmark --
shoes (Fluevogs even), scarves, Lularoe items.

Links to our Closets (sorry, US purchasers only) (you may have to sign up to see items):
I sell lots of weird vintage garments and accessories, many that I got from friend Larry's stash.
I also have a boatload of earrings and necklaces yet to list that I made in the '80s, from vintage glass beads.
Rena's Closet (Finewhatev) is more practical (like Rena herself!).

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday.

Are you on Poshmark? Leave your Closet Name in the comments!

Cameron Silver on the Digital Catwalk

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I'm participating in a Surface Design blog hop over on Pattern Recognition. Over 40 artists and designers created print collections under the theme Tropical Fusion. The art all utilizes Pantone's Radiant Orchid. If you like prints, get yourself on over there -- there is a wonderful array of styles to see. You just might find a pillow or phone case that you can't live without!

As part of my presentation, I put my print designs onto a sketch. Cameron Silver, the owner of Decades in LA hovered in the back of my brain as my muse as I was putting my collection together. And I just happened to have sketched him last May before the Otis Benefit Show.

Here's how he looked last May:

And here he is for Spring 2014 in my Tropical Preppy collection:

To see the prints life size, click on over to Pattern Recognition.

Ah, it's Saturday night. Severo is playing a gig at B.B. King's in Times Square. I'm home blogging. Wish I were there and I don't mind being right where I am.

ps: See more (very small) pix of Cameron here on Patrick McMullan's photography site.

Diane Keaton at the Golden Globes

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We interrupt our regularly scheduled Digital Catwalk for a peek at what I live sketched from the Golden Globes telecast. There will be more, but gotta get back to work at the day job!

Quick Draw: FotoSensori

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Some sketches from Saturday night.
Which reminds me -- I'll be taking Diana Vitale's Fashion Figure Drawing class at OTIS starting this Thurs. An opportunity to draw and make a mess! Oh my chalk pastels, how I've missed you!

The OTIS Scholarship Benefit Fashion Show: Sketching Joan Dangerfield

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SpyGirl was caught in action at the OTIS Scholarship Benefit Fashion Show!

[source, Patrick McMullen.com]

I had another session of live sketching last night.
All I can say is, thank goodness for the photographers at the Step and Repeat!
I relied on them last year to catch IDs of people that I sketched. So I knew I could use them this year too and didn't take many reference photos -- [sorry gentlemen, I forgot your names... I got your cards, but they seem to have vaporized].

Why am I so grateful?
Here is version one of Joan Dangerfield, with color:

Here is the final:

A subtle difference -- I thought Joan's gown had chiffon at the waist and sleeves. But after checking the photos, it realized it was all velvet. So much for my "photographic" memory!

Joan wanted to buy the sketch then and there. I asked her to wait so I could color it in.

All the fuss with the shooting me with the muses and the sketches kept pulling me out of my "drawing brain". So I became furtive and stopped sharing what I was doing. I even sketched one of the photographers, to practice a male drawing. They'll all slowly appear on Society6, like all the other sketches in the coloring queue.

More posts on the fashion show in the days to come -- stay tuned!

Los Angeles Fashion Council Fall 2013 Collections Day One

I met up with Heather of The Style Confessions and Amy of A Sunny Day In LA outside of 838 So Los Angeles for the Los Angeles Fashion Collections shows, hosted by the Los Angeles Fashion Council. The venue, in downtown LA, was a beautiful space to view the collections of ISM Mode and Sarine Marie.

free lunch!

First sketch. That's Sarah of 365hangers on the right [but not in the sketch].
I don't know the name of the gal I sketched.

The ISM Mode presentation:

The "backstage" dressing room was upstairs.
The models sidled elegently down the staircase.

My favorite piece from ISM Mode: 1/2 dyed striped skirt

One of my ISM Mode sketches

Designer/owner Inka Sherman after taking her bow.

Between shows, we took a coffee break (no pix) next door in the Cooper Building.
Then, returning to 838...

Heather gave me some classic Style Confessions poses --
it took me a while to catch on to what exactly she was doing!

People watching...

Ms Sassy!

Cindy worked the room for 1st Class Fashion

The Sarine Marie presentation:
I stood and sketched almost every look.
[I'll do a recap of all my runway sketches in a separate post -- very happy with the results].

the ruffle sleeve sheath

Sarine Marie Berberian, designer/owner.

The shows over, I got this one last shot of some manly color blocking:

Thank you LAFC for a wonderful time!
I wish I could return today to see SOLDAT, 8000 Nerves, and Odylyne.
Alas, I already had a prior meet up scheduled at LACMA... but ya never know, plans could change!

"About Los Angeles Fashion Council:
Los Angeles Fashion Council was founded in 2011 by Kelsi Smith, to promote, educate and support Los Angeles fashion designers through shows, show rooms and other retail and promotional projects in Los Angeles, nationally and internationally.
Designers are selected by our team, and must be L.A based, in business for one year and have produced a minimum of two collections. There are no fees for designers and participation in any of our programming is either free or at cost price." [from LAFC press release]

#LAFW -- Live Sketching at The Los Angeles Collections Fall 2013

As a member of the LA Blogger Group Two Point Oh LA, I was invited to preview the Fall/Winter 13 collections that the Los Angeles Fashion Council will present today and tomorrow. I brought my sketching supplies and here's what transpired.

I start with my sketch of Kelsi Smith, founder of both groups.
She looked like the goddess Nike in her black frock and trainers.

Kelsi @ Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Cindy was promoting a new fashion social site, 1st Class Fashion.
She was decked out in golden chains:

Sarine was there to present her Sarine Marie collection.
She is a 3rd generation LA garmento! Her pieces are beautifully tailored, a skill she learned from her father.

Sarine @ Sarine Marie

Linh was presenting SOLDAT for the designer Camilla who was busy in her studio getting her garments finished to present on Thursday. Hovey Lee Eco Jewelry was also featured with the line.
Linh has her own line of pouches, Nomisa, that cleverly keep your phone or glasses clean when stored within.

Linh @ Nomisa

Now to the "technical difficulties" portion of the soiree.
My first sketch of the evening:

I started off using a Prisacolor marker with the brush nib. It worked so well for my OSCAR sketches. Not so great for this kind of sketching on this size paper. Really only that above sketch is decent. The others you can hardly tell what's going on:

It's a learning process that I'm doing on the fly!

the marker on left + marker sketch
uni-ball "vision elite" used on the right sketch
drawing paper was preprinted with the LAFC graphics for the events

Today I'm going to sit the show in the "photographers' pit" and sketch.
I will bring a full arsenal of supplies because I'm not sure what will work best!

Live Sketching the #OSCARS

Here they are -- the gowns I captured while watching the OSCAR telecast on ABC --
both from the red carpet and from the stage of the Dolby Theater. [Extra long post with lots of images]
First, an overview:

Jessica Chastain in Armani

Robin Roberts in Marc Bouwer

Amy Adams in Oscar de la Renta

Amanda Seyfried in Alexander McQueen

Naomi Watts in Armani

Jennifer Aniston in Valentino

Kristin Chenoweth in Tony Ward

Anne Hathaway in Prada

Quvenzhane Wallis in Armani Junior

Nicole Kidman in L'Wren Scott

Halle Berry in Versace

Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Shoji

Jennifer Hudson

Jane Fonda in Versace

Charlize Theron in Dior

Jennifer Lawrence in Dior

Shirley Bassey

Field Notes:
• My grey marker ran out of juice about 1/2 way through the telecast, so Shirley has no color yet.
• I didn't see the bottom of Jennifer Lawrence's gown until the very end when she got her award, and I was a bit confused on the design details, so her back skirt ended up on the front. Oops! 
• I was unable to find the designers of the performance gowns of Jennifer Hudson and Shirley Bassey -- please leave me a comment if you know!

I'm thinking of offering prints of these for sale on Society 6 -- $15 for an 8x6" sound good?

Did you have a favorite gown from the OSCARS?