THINGS TO DO WHILE IN QUARANTINE: FASHION ILLUSTRATION

Hello there, just checking if you guys are all doing fine..I hope you do cause I am. I'm trying the best I can to stay sane and be optimistic. Keeping myself busy with things I love and enjoy doing to pass the time and ease my worries. I hope you do too. I know that for most of you, quarantine has been really challenging, but like what I have mentioned from my previous blog, there are so many things that we can do to make it easier. Easier said than done, I know, but we can at least try. So, aside from reading I want to share to you guys another thing I do to entertain myself and keep me preoccupied so I don't  think and worry about the pandemic that much. Fashion illustrations. Here, I'll show you some of my illustrations and a how I do it.

some illustrations I made while in quarantine

What is Fashion Illustration you may ask, well~ it is the art of communicating fashion ideas in a visual form that originates with illustration, drawing and painting. It plays a major role in designing to preview and visualize designs before sewing actual clothing. They are also used for ads and sales for fashion houses.

paper doll I made while in quarantine

So what I do is, I draw and design fancy dresses and other stuff.  It's something that I really love doing since I was little. You girls remember playing paper dolls and dressing up? Oh my gosh! one of the best parts of our childhood. It really started back then, I couldn't get enough of my paper dolls that even made my own so I can make as many dresses as I want. HAHA! I started with cut out papers then eventually drew and added colors with my dresses. Made more for my friends and sisters so we could all play together. I really loved it. I still do anyways, lols! As I grow older it became a hobby, one of the things I love doing when I'm stressed out and whenever I want to keep my mind off something. Though, I don't really get to draw most of the time because I am lazy, yes, you know that. HAHA! Oh well, going back, here, I'm sharing you a little bit of my process, how I draw and what are the basic things you need to do a fashion illustration. Disclaimer! Don't judge my illustrations guys, this is just a hobby, I am not a professional, I have never been to a fashion school. I am self-taught and still learning, I just want to show you  how I do it and hopefully to inspire you to add this to your growing list of new found hobbies during the quarantine.

still practicing color and fabric rendering with my markers and gel pens :)

First, you must prepare basic sketching equipment that you need like,

*Paper. You can draw on regular printing paper but it's kinda difficult to render on it especially if you're using markers and water color. Best is to use bleed-proof marker pad cause special marker pad (thin, smooth, and has a coating on the back) insures that the ink will not bleed through the paper, it can extend markers life and colors look more vibrant. But for starters, anything will do as long as you can draw on it.

*Pencils.You can use any but for me I prefer to use FABER CASTELL mechanical pencil with a 0.5  nib for my sketches because it provides more consistent lines, it's more convenient to use and  more cost-effective because you only need to replace the lead once it has run out. You'll need eraser and sharpener too if you're using wooden pencils.

*Coloring materials like crayons, colored pencils, water colors and markers. You can use anything you have available at home then later on you can try which coloring material you're more comfortable using. As for me, I tried colored pencils before but I figured I am more comfortable using markers. I am currently using  PRO MARKERS  (available at National Bookstore) but it's kinda expensive so I'm also using TOUCH FIVE MARKERS which I bought from Lazada, the quality isn't as good as promarkers and copic but it's a good alternative.

*Fine-line pens. You need fine liners to outline a figure and to draw details so it is also a must have. I'm using FABER CASTELL FINE LINERS 0.1 for outline and 0.5 for details.

COMBYN Street style inspired sketches

Now that you have the equipment you need, it's time to create a CROQUIS.

CROQUIS. A croquis is the basic drawing of a model pose that you can use for drawing fashion illustrations. You can find different poses online, print them out or you can try to create your own and just trace them whenever you feel like doing an illustration.

Croquis photo from Google

After creating a good croquis it's time to get some ideas and inspiration. You can search online, follow  fashion illustrators and  fashion designers, visit their blog, instagram, twitter, youtube channel and pinterest. Watch fashion videos, documentaries, movies and tv series about fashion. Look for things that inspire and motivate you. Create a vision board, use images, quotes and words to inspire yourself and make your vision and ideas come to life.

Zimmermann ss20 

Lastly, keep drawing, keep creating and keep learning until you develop a style of your own. Nothing beats practice, it's the only way you can get better. I have been doing fashion illustrations for years now and I am still learning. As you can see I'm still far from perfect but I am improving, I get better and you will too. Just believe in yourself, put your visions on paper and have fun.

illustrations I made three years ago

I hope this helps and somehow inspires you to finally give fashion illustration a go. Another fun thing to do while in quarantine. Enjoy sketching and just stay home for now. I will try my best to update my blog as much as I can and share things you can do to keep yourself entertained while helping the government and our front liners to flatten the curve.

illustrations I made four years ago

P.S.

You may visit FASHION ILLUSTRATION BY MYRTLE and check more of my illustrations and progress through the years :) TIA!

Carrie Diaries illustrations I made seven years ago

xoxo

Mai

Met Gala 2017: Best Dressed

The highly-anticipated Met Gala has begun. Yes, it's that time of the year again and I am so excited to show you guys my faves from this year's red carpet. I haven't done this for quite some time now, oh gosh! how I've missed doing my red carpet best dressed post. So here you go, let's start this with a bang. This isn't just an ordinary red carpet, we're talking about MET Gala here people, MET Gala is glamorous fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute which is held annually on the first Monday of May--at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially "the Met" (the largest art museum in the United States, and is among the most visited art museums in the world), located in New York City. It's a fashion festival where famous faces from fashion, film and music gathered on the red carpet dressed according to a specific theme (which this year was Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo, founder of fashion label Comme des Garçons, Art of the In-Between) to pay tribute to the Costume Institute and their new exhibition. And since this year's theme is all about Rei Kawakkubo who is well known for her monochromatic, voluminous and asymmetrical designs, expect for extraordinary and fabulous looks. I really can't wait to show you guys my favorite looks (in no particular order) on fashion's biggest night. Here you go!

Rihanna in Comme des Garçons

Priyanka Chopra in Ralph Lauren

Hailee Steinfeld in Vera Wang

Haley Bennett in Dolce & Gabbana

Stella Maxwell in H&M

Felicity Jones in Erdem

Liu Wen

Elle Fanning in Miu Miu

Emma Roberts in Diane von Furstenberg

Rita Ora in Marchesa 

Candice Swanepoel in custom Topshop

Laura Osnes in custom Christian Siriano

Zendaya  in Dolce & Gabbana 

Lily Collins in Giambattista Valli c

Miranda Kerr in Oscar de la Renta

Emily Ratajkowski in Marc Jacobs

Lily James in Burberry

Kate Hudson in Stella McCartney

 Kylie Jenner in Versace 

Kendall Jenner in La Perla

Kim Kardashian West in Vivienne Westwood

Cara Delevingne in Chanel 

Selena Gomez in Coach

Blake Lively in  Atelier Versace

Gigi Hadid  in Tommy Hilfiger

So many gorgeous looks, I hope you like them guys. I also want to make some illustrations--hopefully soon and post them here, so watch out for that. And if you want to see more about the creation of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's you can watch The First Monday in May. It's a great documentary guys. It's so inspiring how fashion can bring cultures together. Arggh, I just wish I could attend the gala in the future or better yet have my designs worn by some of the world's most famous. There's nothing wrong in dreaming, after all, a girl can dream--can't she? *keeping my fingers crossed*

GIRLBOSS: A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

There are so many things that I love doing but more often than not I spend most of my free time watching tv series. It may sound lazy but seriously, you have to believe me it's therapeutic. It keeps me sane. When I watch, I can totally turn off the world around me and get completely sucked into whatever it is that I am watching. It's a total escape for my brain. It's great feeling, trust me. Thank goodness there's Netflix. Netflix will just  dump the entire season all at once and voila, you can binge watch all you want. All day, all night. And speaking of binge watching, I binge-watched 13 Reasons Why a few weeks ago and it was so great but disturbing at the same time. And as much as I love to blog about it, I just feel that it isn't my story to tell, so if you guys are interested and you need help you can check this link to get more info about it. I couldn't really stop thinking about Hannah Baker, so after finishing the series I looked for another series to watch that will help me forget her, good thing Netflix released GirlBoss the next month and I so love it. It excites me and and motivates me to start doing things I like. It reminds of the things I have been neglecting. It inspires me. I really love it when inspiration kicks me. Who wouldn't anyway? After all, we all need a little inspiration to keep us on track and to keep us going but sometimes inspiration is just so damn difficult to find. Too difficult that you just want to give up, let go of your dreams and just live life without purpose. You feel like you're stuck in a tiny bubble with no direction, just floating and waiting to vanish in the air. You have no where to go. Just like a stagnant water. A motionless murky puddle of water. I should know. I'd been there so many times. I am dreamer. I dream big. My Daddy told when I was little that I am special and I am capable of anything. That I can be whatever it is that I want to be. And I believe him. But there were days that I felt like it wasn't real. There were days that I felt like I failed him. That I wasn't capable of anything. That I couldn't be whatever it is that I want to be. I guess that's life. It's cruel. It's not always about unicorns and fairy tales. It's life. And no matter how tough you are it will hit you and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there if you let it. But the good thing is, you always have a choice to get up and fight for what you're worth. Keep moving forward and win. It doesn't matter how long will it takes for as long as you're moving. Always remember that every little step (no matter how little) is a step closer to your dreams. Take chances. Take the risk. Accept challenges. Accept failures and learn from it. Get out of your comfort zone. Get better. Do what you love. Do what makes you happy. Be inspired. Be an inspiration. Live life the way you want. It's your life after all, be your own boss. Just like what Sophia did. My gosh, my introduction is so long but all I just wanted to tell you guys is I love GIRLBOSS and I am going to blog about it. I have been reading a lot of reviews about it and while others are hating it, let me tell you guys why I love it.

GirlBoss is a Netflix original series consist of 13 episodes and was released April 21, 2017. Inspired by Sophia Amoruso's best-selling book. This series follows the rise of Amoruso's multi-million dollar fashion empire, Nasty Gal. And here are the 6 Reasons Why I love GirlBoss.

(First) just like Sophia, I love fashion. I want to be my own boss and just like her I am dreaming of having my own fashion empire in the near future. And watching it gives me tons of realization about me and my dreams. It inspires me to keep dreaming. Stay focused, go after my dreams and keep moving toward my goals. It won't be easy but it will be worth it.

(Second) I love Britt Robertson. She's so pretty and talented and has played all sorts of characters from quirky and sweet, to those with a harder edge. In the series, she plays the starring role of Sophia, a rebellious, broke anarchist who decides to start selling vintage clothing online. Brit really did a great job portraying nasty Sophia. Sophia really is something, I hate and I like her at the same time. LOLS.

(Third) I love her friendship with Annie, her bff played by Ellie Reed. I love how they care for each other and  how much they love and inspire each other and yes, I love the 'I love you in case I die' thing they tell each other when saying goodbye. I totally cried when they had a falling out and then realize how much they love and need each other. Definitely bff goals. Made me miss my bffs. I can never really imagine life without them.

(Fourth) I love Sophia's creativity. The way she alter clothes. How she re purpose old clothing's into entirely new ones is amazing. I see myself in her. We actually have lots of things in common, including our love of thrift stores and altering clothes. My love for thrift stores run so deep that I would rather spend long hours browsing through racks and racks of old and used stuff than shop in the mall. Alter them and called my own. That feeling, so fulfilling.

(Fifth) I love the outfits Sophia and Annie wore in the series. So stylish yet look so comfy and cool. I love dressing up, it  actually boost my mood and overall confidence. I love mixing and matching old and used fashion pieces. Dressing up doesn't really need to be expensive, it doesn't require you to have a closet full of branded and expensive clothes. It's all about expressing yourself, being you and your style and be comfortable with it. You don't dress up to impress and please other people, you dress up to please yourself and to feel great. And besides, life is too short to wear boring clothes.

(Lastly) I love how the show empower women, the title speaks for itself. Sophia is without a doubt an example of an empowered woman. She knows who she is, what she wants and isn't afraid to go and get it. She takes full responsibility for her life. She makes her own rules. She values her passion. She takes a stand and most of all, she empowers other women. She is an inspiration to us. If she can achieved her dreams why can't we?

So DREAM BIG. Big dreams are the reasons why the world changes for the better. BELIEVE. When you believe in yourself, other people believe in you, too. WORK ON IT. Because dreams don't work unless you do. Everything is not as easy as it seems but nothing is impossible if you put your heart into it and keep a positive mindset. Don't be afraid to fail because failure isn't a bad thing, it's essential to learning. Never give up. When the going gets tough, keep on going. Keep moving forward and keep pursuing your dreams. Eventually, you'll get there. It's exhausting and draining but the rewards are well worth it all.

So there you go people. I hope you like the post and somehow it helps and inspires you to dream big. And if you haven't seen the show, it's out now and you can binge-watch all the episode from the first season online. Watch and be inspired to follow your dream and to never give up. After all, a DREAM is a wish your heart makes. Have faith in your dreams and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving if you keep on believing- the dream that you wish will come true. (I just so love this song). So yeah, just DREAM, BELIEVE and WORK ON IT like a GIRLBOSS.

ctto: All photos from Google.