THE SERENE BLOG

You Had A Bad Day

2012-01-31T20:09:00.008+11:00

Sometimes in life you have bad days. Today was one such day.

I whipped this up on the train this afternoon:

Last year, someone taught me that from the gravest of situations can come the best blessing in disguise.

So I'm hanging in. For him.

12 Days of Christmas

2011-12-24T18:02:00.015+11:00

I am not one for singing out loud (unless plenty of alcohol has been consumed), so while everyone is off to sing carols, I'll stick to what I do best: making images :-)

Maestro...

"On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my true love sent to me....

From me,

Merry Christmas. Frohe Weihnachten. Joyeux Noël. Feliz Navidad.

xoxo S.

Frohes Fest

2011-12-21T18:57:00.007+11:00

It's that time of year again when my I scramble to find/make gifts for my nearest and dearest for the festive season. Luckily, my earlier procrastinations have provided me with a bounty of themes and images to work with, so without further comment, here are some of the holiday gifts I've been handing out to family, friends and colleagues this year:

Happy Holidays!

xoxo S.

Recycling Fashion

2011-11-21T20:30:00.019+11:00

Remember this? I drew it back in 2009. I was fresh out of uni and out of a job, so one day I spent a concentrated 12 hours designing a small capsule womenswear collection to add to my (very limited) fashion portfolio to show at job interviews:

As luck had it, I landed a job that had nothing to do with design (it was a buying office), so there was no need to show anyone the above, and the files got lost in my Mac never to be seen....until now.

I've given it a little revamp, replacing the digital illustrations with these collage illustrations:

So what's old has been made new again. How fashion!

The Early Bird Gets...Lebkuchen

2011-11-17T15:31:00.023+11:00

This morning I had an INSANE craving for Lebkuchen, which is a German treat typically made at Christmas time.

Because I was too lazy to go down to the store and buy the ingredients to make them, I decided to alleviate this craving by drawing some Lebkuchenherzen - German Gingerbread Hearts:

This little act of procrastination somehow led to designing my own Christmas cards for the better half of the day.

So for the early birds, here are the first 7 card designs, based on the song "12 Days of Christmas":

In terms of technique, the Lebkuchenherzen were drawn using Adobe Illustrator. The Christmas Cards I drew entirely on Adobe InDesign.

That's it for now as I'm off to lunch. Maybe I'll go down to the store and buy some Lebkuchen...

Enjoy.

xoxo S

Queen Of Hearts

2011-11-11T10:57:00.013+11:00

From the depths of my file folders comes this illustration. It's one of my interpretations of Queen Elizabeth I. I've always been fascinated by her - maybe because she defied her detractors and went on to rule England in what would go down in history as 'the Golden Age'. And she did it without a King by her side.

As I have nothing new to show you this week apart from process work, I've recycled these old sketches to create the title illustration for your weekly dose of eye candy.

I hope you enjoy.

xoxo S.

ps. Happy 11/11/11 ! :-)

For A Rainy Day

2011-11-03T12:22:00.011+11:00

It's raining again in Sydney. Luckily for me, I find I'm extra productive when it rains. Since the weather sucks and I'm in a particularly sunny mood, I thought I'd share this illustration with you to try and spread some love ;-)

I drew the picture during lunch yesterday and thought I'd play around with it on the computer in between breaks. The flowers and line work are digitally drawn on Adobe Illustrator.

I'm quite pleased with the result so I think I'll add this to my ever increasing to-do list and replicate it all by hand.

But until then, stay warm and enjoy.

xoxo S.

Lions And Tigers And Girls Oh My!

2011-10-28T07:03:00.021+11:00

* Pictures taken with flash and without. I've lost my camera (thank you Barcelona) so I've been making do with a basic one which I can't seem to work out how to control.

As you know, I've been hard at work re-designing and re-working pieces from the Men in Trees series. But sometimes a girl just needs a break. There is no reason however why breaks should be unproductive. For this reason, I subscribe to the school of "productive procrastination", whereby to alleviate the guilt of procrastinating, one puts their energies into creating something else, so that by the end of a period of procrastination, one has something to show for it.

This piece is a procrastination piece. It came about while I was planning a costume for a friend's upcoming Halloween Party. I was trying to work out an Augustus Caesar costume ensemble using pieces from my existing wardrobe, since cleaning up the Barcelona Incident has left me rather skint and I could not be bothered sewing up something new. I tried sketching a few styling ideas, but then one sketch gave way to another and, well...now you're looking at it. It's a far cry away from "Roman Emperor Chic", but I like the result.

Below I've included the initial sketches, a digital colour mock up I did to get an overall sense of the piece, and the near finished painted piece. The finished piece is done with black felt tip pen and metallic acrylic paint on cartridge.

Hope you like it.

PS. The Augustus Caesar costume was never resolved. It turned out to be a Hawaiian themed pool party anyway.

Looking At The Brighter Side Of Things

2011-10-19T11:03:00.036+11:00

As you know, I've been in Europe travelling. I've recently turned 25 and felt on the verge of a 'quarter life crisis', so I dealt with it by taking a break from reality and getting lost in Europe (or more specifically, the cities of München and Barcelona).

I don't want to get in to it, but something disastrous happened to me while in Barcelona (so disastrous I'm still trying to sort out the mess despite being home for nearly 3 weeks), making it officially the worst vacation of my life.

While it would be easy to just hate on Barcelona and write it off like an angry tourist, I've always considered myself an optimistic person. So despite the horrid experience, I'm concentrating on the positive - the city of Barcelona is undeniably full of beautiful and inspiring art. And for an aspiring (and struggling) artist, I consider this point much more important than all the negative things I can think to say (and believe me, there are A LOT).

I particularly enjoyed visiting the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) and the Museu del Modernisme Català, which I would happily add along with New York's The MoMA and Paris' Musee d'Orsay, as some of my all time favourite art museums. There were great examples of Gothic Art and Art Nouveau there that I could have easily spent hours admiring (below):

(Source: Bonanat Zaortiga 1430-1440, MNAC)

(Source: Alexandre De Riquer 1887, MNAC)

(Source: Museu del Modernisme Català)

While I was in no mood to pick up a pen or paper during my whole time in Barcelona (a majority of my drawing abroad was done passing long leisurely days at München's Englischer Garten,) it was while admiring the art in Barcelona that I was suddenly able to realise how to execute my pieces aesthetically and technically, taking the sketches beyond scribbles to (hopefully) works of art. Below is an incomplete piece from Men In Trees, followed by a computer generated mock up inspired by Catalan artwork...

Excited? I know I am.

:-)

Cheers.

*Also, it is because of the Barcelona 'disaster' why I suddenly find myelf with so much time to work in my studio. I guess every cloud does have a silver lining...or in my case, Artline 990XF fine tip 1.2mm Metallic Gold/Silver lining.

The Lion Queen

2011-10-18T12:28:00.014+11:00

As promised, some more drawings from my travel bag.

Enjoy.

Leos Do It Better

2011-10-14T11:50:00.010+11:00

As a Leo, I have always had a fascination with Lions. Which is probably one of the reasons why I love the city of München so much.

I drew this while stuck in Munich airport for 6 hours(!) waiting for my flight. I only just got around to transferring it on to brown paper and colouring it in.

Like I said, I was there for 6 hours so there's more where that came from. If you stick around I just may share with you ;-)

Enjoy.

I'm Still Here

2011-10-03T08:49:00.005+11:00

I haven't disappeared. I've been in Europe travelling.

I'll be back soon.

(Wait for me.)

xoxo S.

Head Below Water?

2011-07-26T09:26:00.001+10:00

...blow bubbles.

If Michelangelo Owned a Mac...

2011-07-25T17:38:00.008+10:00

....I'm sure he would use Photoshop to mock up images too.

I promise I'll get on to hand colouring the black backgrounds once I man up. Until then...

Enjoy :-)

Flights of Fancy

2011-07-22T16:53:00.012+10:00

During my final year of uni, I designed a controversial silk organza Man Cape (see below). It was widely panned by the judging panel at my crit ("too flamboyant"), so it was sent down the runway disguised as a highly stylised hooded scarf (above).

Perhaps its because of the freezing wet Sydney weather, the man cape appears to have reared its sartorial head into my doodlings this week. In addition to the obligatory colour draft of the week, I have also thrown in my initial sketches - you know, to show 'work process':

I did say I was going to work on my feathers.

Birds Revisited

2011-06-30T13:30:00.025+10:00

Early in 2010, I started a little project called 'Men & Birds' :

It didn't go very far as it was around that time I decided to change artistic direction, (ie. move away from digital illustrations), but it is a project I've kept on file nonetheless.

Recently I've taken a break from 'Men In Trees'. How curious that I find myself revisiting the theme of 'Men & Birds'.

I gotta go work on my feathers, but please, enjoy the colour drafts and stay tuned.

Who's That Girl?

2011-06-26T09:43:00.007+10:00

Stop procrastinating Serene.

Director's Cut

2011-06-11T10:17:00.008+10:00

We're having a very chilly winter in Sydney this year, which probably explains why the temperature is heating up in my recent doodlings.

This was going to be part of my proposal for a recent project. It was actually the first image I drafted which was the catalyst for the subsequent 3 drawings that were later submitted. However, I could not bring myself to submit it as the inner prude in me thought it rather inappropriate for the intended client. And so it stayed uncompleted in my ever increasing 'draft pile'.

Until now.

I couldn't let a perfectly good idea go to waste, which is why I completed it anyway. And now I get to share it with you :-)

In hindsight, the submission sequence makes a lot more sense with its inclusion. But that's just my opinion.

Stay warm ;-)

Cakewalk

2011-06-08T15:07:00.007+10:00

When I'm stumped with my work, I turn to the kitchen and bake. I think its because baking - or cooking for that matter - engages one in the act of creation. And because it delivers fast results (say, compared to creating some artwork), it gives one a sense of immediate gratification and accomplishment. I like to call it 'creative procrastination'.

But here's a whole new level of procrastination that literally takes the cake....

... a Mark cake! Vanilla/butter cake with lemon curd filling and vanilla butter cream icing. Nose and ears made from cupcakes of the same batter. Chocolate button eyes.

I guess I'd better get back to work...after I have a slice of course ;-)

L!VE

2011-05-30T11:27:00.022+10:00

Funny story:

Mum: Why is it all the figures in your drawings are never clothed?
Me: What do you mean?
Mum: for the past 2 years, most of your drawings have been of naked people.
Me: I dunno, maybe its because after 4 years of studying fashion at uni and drawing garments and being told "this seam is too high, this seam is too low, this seam is not INTERESTING enough", maybe I would be happy if I didn't have to draw another garment in my life again!"

I believe they call this a 'break through' in psychology...

Don't be alarmed. I'm not turning into a nudist.

Recently I've been given the opportunity to contribute artwork to the new Lacoste L!VE concept store in Sydney. It was interesting to go back to drawing more fashion/brand focused illustrations for a change:

I hope you like.

Snip Snip (Draft)

2011-05-19T20:17:00.021+10:00

I preface this post by sharing with you an excerpt from a letter I wrote to a very dear friend of mine:

"There will come a time after you have finished your studies when you feel lost without a tutor or a subject coordinator to guide you or tell you what you're doing wrong. Pursuing one's passion is like setting off to sea without a map, searching for unknown lands to conquer. You don't know exactly where you're headed, but you know you will get there eventually. People will tell you you are crazy, and soon you will begin to think it yourself. You will see others with maps heading towards safer destinations, and there you are, floating in the opposite direction, wondering whether to abandon your quest and join the mainstream, or continue into uncharted waters. You will feel lost at times, and you will begin to question whether you've gambled everything only to perish in the middle of the ocean, but you hold on to the hope that when the fog lifts you will again see the horizon and you will know then exactly where you're going."

This drawing was originally a 'procrastination piece', although it appears to have taken on a life of its own and I'm actually quite excited to pursue it as an art piece. Incidentally, this illustration is reflective of my current state of mind.

To be honest, I've been struggling to concentrate on my current project due to a few things stewing in my mind. Actually, I'd like to get something off my chest...

I'm not gonna lie, it's tough doing this art thing.

Since completing my University studies, there was a plan - put my degree to good use and get a job in the fashion industry. But then I discovered there wasn't anything I wanted to do within the industry. What I wanted, more than anything else in the world, was to create beautiful illustrations.

I've been trying ever since.

I didn't go to art school, so I've spent the last year trying to develop/refine my hand drawing techniques. It's hard when you're doing it all on your own, even harder when the only thing you have to go on are the images in your head and your gut feeling that you're doing something right. I feel like I've worked so hard and I believe that I have made some progress. But it's been tough. Some days I believe I can do it, but then there are also days when I feel like putting down the pencils and walking away.

I live day by day questioning whether I've made the right choices, whether I'm good enough to pursue this dream or whether I'm just kidding myself. I ask myself these same questions over and over again. However, in the end, I alway come to the conclusion that I believe I have made the right decision, and I will go on record and swear that I will pursue this passion to the very end...

So it upsets me when I find out that certain people in my life, who supposedly 'have my back', feel that they are in any sort of position to question my choices.

So, to these naysayers, I will keep it brief:

Get. The Hell. Off. My. Ship. !

Snip. Snip.

- S.

Progress Report

2011-04-20T16:10:00.005+10:00

Yep, still here, still alive. Above is a progress shot of piece number 3 on the series I'm currently working on.

Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be finished before the apocalypse.

* When your muse cuts his hair, one must adapt.

You Alone Can Make My Song Take Flight

2011-02-17T09:48:00.005+11:00

Yes, (above) is an old picture from an old project. But it's a good prelude to the following post.

Having viewed Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan recently, I am entranced. I loved it. I was enamoured by the intensity of the performances and the poignance of Aronofsy's representation of an artist's descent into madness. In a nutshell, the movie depicts a dancer (Natalie Portman) losing herself in her role, striving to embody both the white swan and black swan in the famous ballet Swan Lake.

As an 'artist', I found myself completely relating to the character. I could feel her fears, her doubts, her perfectionism, and above all, her obsession. The intensity in her approach to her art - to literally lose one's self in one's own obsession, in the struggle to achieve absolute beauty and perfection - is something very real and also very frightening. It is a film that I think all artists, musicians, performers, and athletes can relate.

I have the soundtrack playing on a loop as I work. Clint Mansell's haunting appropriation of Tchaikovsky's original Swan Lake score is the perfect accompaniment to draw to.

Oh yeah, the work:

I have chosen to keep the project under wraps so as not to 'jinx' the work, but I thought I'd share some progress shots with you. It is no secret that I find inspiration from the male form, and that I often work with a male muse in mind. So if the following colour drafts appear to place heavy emphasis on my muse, then you're probably right. For it is my muse who inspires me to create, to guide my vision, the vessel for my thoughts on paper. It is my muse who drives me to keep doing what I'm doing. To do him artistic justice, it is my muse for whom I strive to achieve absolute beauty and perfection.

Obsession?

No.

Ok, maybe just a little.

Süß

2011-02-14T18:47:00.012+11:00

It's Valentine's Day today so I thought I'd share with you a different kind of eye candy. When I'm not doodling or pottering about, you can find me in the kitchen trying to perfect my Domestic Goddess act (although honestly, I more closely resemble an athlete doing weight training than a young Nigella Lawson in the making).

Today's result: Red Velvet V-Day Cupcakes.

Happy Valentine's Day :-)

xoxo S.

What I'm Listening To

2011-01-17T17:58:00.011+11:00

At the moment, I'm drawing to....

Please Stay - Kylie Minogue

F**k You - Cee Lo Green

Baby, Now That I've Found You - The Foundations

Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi

It's My Life - Bon Jovi

Summer Of '69 - Bryan Adams

Black Or White - Michael Jackson

Brimful Of Asha - Cornershop

Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season) - The Byrds

Alright - Supergrass

It Don't Come Easy - Ringo Starr

Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles

It's All Been Done - Barenaked Ladies

Ready For The Floor - Lissy Trullie

Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer) - Ironik ;-)

Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap

Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf

Can You Feel The Love Tonight - Elton John

*Yes I did just waste this post and possibly humiliated myself listing my current iTunes playlist. But hey, it could be relevant some day.

A Fresh Start

2011-01-14T08:29:00.022+11:00

Hi Everyone. I hope you've all had a great holiday.

I'm starting 2011 with a clean slate. It's Australian high summer at the moment, I've just returned from vacation, so I'm just starting to get back in to the swing of things - I redid my studio space (translated: bought new furniture for the room I do/store my work in) so as to create a more "productive environment" (translated: get rid of procrastination inducing distractions). I have also a new major project on the undertaking, so now I'm pumping to get those illustrations out.

Here's hoping it will be a great year!

Cheers.

S.

Frohe Weihnachten

2010-12-19T08:37:00.006+11:00

Nothing says Merry Christmas quite like a box of homemade cookies. Especially when they come in homemade boxes too. So, from me....

Merry Christmas. Joyeux Noël. Frohe Weihnachten. Feliz Navidad.

xoxo S.

Into The Wild

2010-12-14T09:55:00.012+11:00

What's inspiring me at the moment?

One of the best things about calling Australia home is the many beautiful worlds we can access right in our very own backyard. For me, the annual family trip down to Tasmania is one of the highlights of any year.

One of my favourite places on earth is Cradle Mountain National Park. Almost too beautiful to be real, this little gem remains untouched by commercial civilisation, and boasts exotic flora and fauna unseen in any other part of the world, providing an ethereal dreamscape that makes it the ideal retreat for any creative mind. Here I share some holiday snaps to try and entice you:

So to my fellow Australians, if you're planning on a holiday this summer, go out and see your own country. You don't know what you are missing!

The Leaves Are Greener On The Other Side

2010-11-24T07:42:00.013+11:00

If you've been following this blog, you will know that I've been working on a piece which requires the plotting of many many leaves. And I wasn't exaggerating. I've decided that the best way to go about the leaves is to turn the piece into a collage. I suppose I was somewhat inspired by this beautiful breathtaking collage I saw (and love) from the MoMA by artist Marcel Odenbach entitled You Can't See the Forest for the Trees (2003) below:

I've been dying brown paper and cutting them up into tiny leaves to plot onto my tree of love. It's exceedingly painstaking and mind numbing at times, as each leaf is carefully selected and laid to create tone and shading. But hey, that's what DVDs and iPod playlists are for. I thought I'd share some progress shots with you to show the work behind the work.

Getting there. Slowly.

Erotische

2010-11-23T18:26:00.009+11:00

I love getting lost in a good book. And what better way to pass a long haul flight than to get lost in an old favourite that is Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl. Not only the perfect travel companion, this book comes off the shelf every summer, for what better way to pass the long hot balmy days than to indulge in a little naughty 16th Century scandal.

Enjoy.

PS. Drawing saucy images on any form of public transport is guaranteed to raise a few eyebrows, so do so at your own risk.

10/5/1984-8/11/2010

2010-11-09T12:46:00.004+11:00

Two ravens in the old oak tree and
One for you and one for me and

Bluebells in the late December

I see signs now all the time...

I see signs now all the time

But you're not dead, you're sleeping

I believe in anything

That brings you back home to me...

("Signs" song & lyrics by Bloc Party)

To my friend Mick. May you rest in peace.

Electric Feel

2010-10-29T12:02:00.003+11:00

Check out the power in [his] hand
To shock you like you won't believe
Saw [him] in the Amazon
With the voltage running through [his] skin
Standing there with nothing on
[He] gonna teach me how to swim...

I say ooh [boy]
Shock me like an electric eel
Baby [boy]
You turn me on with your electric feel...

("Electric Feel" song & lyrics by MGMT)

Just Wishing And Hoping And Thinking And Praying

2010-10-28T15:31:00.017+11:00

A sneak peak at yet another piece I'm working on. It's quite a large piece (it's reaching A0 in size) and involves the plotting and hand drawing of a lot of leaves, so please bear with me. Above is a block colour mock up I quickly generated on Photoshop just to get a rough idea of colour proportions. Below are working sketches from initial conception (drawn in a waiting room, of all places!) to a sort of semi-final draft.

Birds, flying deer and other beasts may be squeezed in there somewhere so keep watching this space. In the meantime, I'll be here with my pencils - wishing hoping thinking and praying my brains out that it all comes together in a timely manner.

He Gonna Teach Me How To Swim

2010-10-05T12:26:00.039+11:00

Ok, confession time. Here's the deal - I don't have an Art Degree. I have a Bachelor in Fashion & Textile Design, but, I must admit, I majored in it on a whim. Those who know me will agree that 'Fish out of Water' barely begins to describe my 4 years in design school. I didn't go to art school, I didn't even take art related subjects in high school. Everything I know about drawing I learned from watching Disney movies when I was growing up, and, well, stalking people. So while my drawing skills may be alright, and while I'm pretty handy with Adobe, I will be the first to admit that my hand colouring skills (or lack thereof) leaves a lot be desired.

But if there's one thing I know for sure, this is what I want to do. So bear with me.

While this year has seen me swearing off my MacBook and all things quick and digital in favour of learning traditional hand rendering techniques, sometimes a gal needs a helping hand. Above are 2 drafts of a piece I've been working on, inspired by MGMT's song Electric Feel. Originally inked and coloured in with pencil on brown paper, I've given it a little bit of a psychedelic boost with the aid of Photoshop. The plan now is to replicate the digital enhancements by hand. And then some.

Stay tuned...

Sometimes I Take Photos

2010-10-04T09:28:00.028+11:00

Let's get one thing out of the way first - I am well aware that owning a camera and having the ability to take a decent photograph does not make one a "Photographer". I just want to share some of the images I took at the Floriade Flower Festival I attended in Canberra yesterday.

No iPhone apps, fancy trendy cameras, Photoshop, or other image altering devices required - the vivid colours and ethereal lighting all provided by nature itself. I'm just the one lucky to be pressing the button.

Enjoy.

Your World, My World - a work in progress

2010-09-30T17:34:00.017+10:00

For every artist, there comes a piece which is very meaningful to them, and becomes almost an obsession. This is one such piece. It's been a work in progress for a while now, a vision which I cannot seem to fully realise...yet.

I'm almost there. Keep watching this space.

Peacock Male

2010-09-08T12:15:00.013+10:00

One of my greatest difficulties is placing the male figure within an Art Nouveau context. The organic sensual lines characteristic of Art Nouveau traditionally makes it more suitable for the female form, which is probably why you mostly see female central characters featured in Art Nouveau illustrations. My ambition is to create beautiful Art Nouveau style illustrations featuring the male figure. From where I sit, the difficulty lies in presenting this without compromising the male subject's or the male viewer's masculinity.

Here is an example of a piece I've been working on:

I'm not entirely sure if I've nailed it here, but I hope I'm getting there.

You're Beautiful

2010-09-01T15:23:00.022+10:00

There must be an angel

With a smile on her face

When she thought up that I should be with you

But it's time to face the truth

I will never be with you.

("You're Beautiful" song & lyrics by James Blunt)

Springtime

2010-08-30T13:14:00.009+10:00

Because it's in the air.

Be Inspired

2010-08-24T14:45:00.009+10:00

So go on.

You get Sprung...

2010-08-05T13:21:00.025+10:00

I don't know about you but I'm getting awfully bored with Winter. I'm hanging in for an early Spring...

I found these on my Mac. I photographed them last October at the annual Floriade flower show held in Canberra.

Funny how illustrations just spring in to your head.

M..Muse

2010-07-27T17:00:00.025+10:00

Watch this face, er, space...

Good Distractions

2010-07-07T17:24:00.030+10:00

I assure you I have not neglected this blog. I've just been a little preoccupied with the FIFA World Cup.

Football has always been a passion of mine. Well, I say 'passion' - some would say 'obsession'. For those interested, I support FC Bayern München . Above is Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez.

Enjoy.

S.

*image taken from kickette.com

Hello. My name is...

2010-06-09T13:49:00.002+10:00

THE SERENE BLOG.

As the description says, this is an outlet for my illustration process (and the occasional rant).

You can check out the finished stuff on my website, SERENE IMAGES.

So here it goes...I hope you enjoy.

HIT IT!