Monthly Archives: August 2012

Polka Dot Blooms

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Just experimenting today with some pretty bouquet-blooms spied on pinterest. I didn’t quite have time to brush off all the remnants of the glitter that I decided against, but I posted this anyway, because they’re cheery and fun! And Thursdays could always use a little more of that, right? I hope all my lovely followers and readers have a wonderful day!

Where Fashion Meets Ballet

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My alter-ego is a ballerina, I’m sure of it. I’m often making lofty, although never really real, resolutions to attend an open ballet class at my city’s beautiful ballet company school, where I was lucky to take lessons for a few very short years as a very young child, as many of you may have done in childhood years. All I can remember from those lessons is a whole lot of running around with scarves, dancing like we were “trees” in a “forest,” and pointing and flexing our toes (endlessly it seemed to my 7 year old self.)

I’m still enchanted by everything ballet-related. So I absolutely love shoots like the one this sketch is taken from, from a J. Crew catalog a few years back, in which they travelled to Russia and photographed dozens of Russian ballerinas in a woody studio clad in snowy tutus and warmly-hued, sumptuous cashmere sweaters. Magical!

Sitting Pretty

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Today’s illustration is simple – drawing furniture was the first thing I’ve gotten paid to do - sketching concepts for an interior decorator. It’s like fashion, but in some sense it’s easier to draw stationary inanimate objects. I think illustration works great with pretty decor (check out Deborah Needleman’s 100% illustrated decorating book, for instance. I love it.) I added a little sparkle to this simple but pretty loveseat.

Dancing and Singin in the Rain

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Today is my little tribute to a dancing icon, Gene Kelly, whose 100th birthday was a couple days ago – but first, please take a minute and be blown away by the genius that is my favorite film scene, and his greatest achievement.

During the filming of this scene, Kelly was running a temperature of 103.

For my Gene-Kelly-Themed post I have have a thank-you card and a “Singin in the Rain” print that is now an iPhone case for people who like “Singin’ in the Rain” way too much, (like, obviously, me.) The vintagey look comes from the fact that I accidentally ended up finishing my painting on regular typing paper (usually awful for painting, but I’ve decided it was a happy accident here.) Have a glooorious weekend everyone!

Singin in the Rain iPhone by rishann

Katie Rodgers

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I almost saved today’s illustration for later – I had the idea to post a Gene Kelly-themed post in honor of his 100th birthday today (he is one of my favorite artists of all time – if you’re not a big fifties musical lover like me, you might know him vaguely as the “Singin’ in the Rain” guy.) But, sorry Mr. Kelly, I haven’t had the time yet. So look for a Gene Kelly post soon.

But today, I have this portrait of a lovely lady for you – Katie Rodgers at paperfashion.net (brilliant, brilliant fashion illustrator) posted an instagram snap of herself all gussied up for a photoshoot, and I just had to illustrate it! I could see it in my mind as one of her illustrations, so did it more in the essence of her style of illustration - after all, it is a drawing of her! I had to include her cello which was sitting behind her in the photo, as a fellow classical musician. She kind of looks like a glamorous cellist backstage before a concert, actually. If you want a treat check her website out – you will be addicted, no doubt!

Soup du Jour, S’il Vous Plait

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I think I must be on a French food kick – probably because I’ve been watching a cute BBC food program, “Little Paris Kitchen.” (And when it says little, it means little. This girl’s kitchen is seriously small.) The show actually includes cute little illustrations for each dish that I think the chef did herself. (Oh, I wish I had British TV. Here we get “Cupcake Wars” on reruns. Not that I’m knocking cupcakes.)

So in the spirit of that I started sketching whimsical little objects for/in the kitchen - blue Le Creuset pots and pretty latte bowls and whatnot. Before I even finished I started chopping them up in Photoshop and playing around.

In my best Meryl-Streep-as-Julia-Child voice: Bon Appetit!

La Fille avec une Baguette

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Pardon my (probably improper) French grammar…I’m afraid 2 years of high school French seemed to have flown from my mind in a regrettable case of memory loss. I assure you I had good grades at the time, but now I have to look up “avec” and whether “baguette” is feminine. Tsk, tsk. I’m banking on the fact that you will focus on the, for instance, adorable striped dress, rust scarf, and yummy baguette here. This is my idea of a what a chic French girl looks like on a trip to the grocery store…probably unrealistic, but definitely cute. I have to say I’m pleased with how yummy the baguette looks. Must be hungry…

This should be available as a print soon. If only because I want it on my wall. ;)

Le Chic Chevron – Prints and Cases

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A snazzy iPhone case…anyone…anyone? Hop over to Redbubble where I’ve made a couple of my illustrations available as prints and cute cases! Click the link or take a peek at my sidebar. You can also browse the (only three) selections on my (very official) ’shop’ page, which will forward you to Redbubble. Hoping to add more soon!

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NYC

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Paging through a magazine on a long car ride home, this tiny photo of a brightly colored floral skirt  stood out at me. I used it as a reference but replaced the neon green socks with a sensible white pair (the girl in the photo actually rocked them, but I wanted to try for a more classic look.) I decided to add some NYC lettering and now have “NYC” from “Annie” playing over and over in my head…