Happy Chinese New Year!

Drawn on Jan 27th , 2011

Chinese New Year is coming~~~It's one of my favourite festival : )

Soon I will be surrounded by different flowers~My family always buy a lot of

flowers to decorate our flat, from plum blossom to peonies to daffodils to chrysanthemum,

all so colourful and they all smell sooooooo good~~

let alone the red packets and delicious niangao ~

la la la la la~I am excited just by the thoughts~

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone~~

I wish you all a delightful year and might all your wishes come true~

by the way , the Maison Michel head piece is really gorgeous isn't it~?

Perfect for the year of Rabbit!

Inspirations and Affections 1

My dad used to buy a lot of art books for me to read,

I was comparatively tranquil when I was just a little girl,

so I spend most of my time reading and drawing.

There are a few artist that I 've been loving since the first time I came across their masterpiece.

The first one is French Impressionist Pierre Auguste Renoir, usually we call him Renoir.

Up Till now I can still recall that in one of my dreams, when I was like 6 or 7,

I dreamt about a girl with long and curly red hair,

profile, wearing a blue satin dress and a blue ribbon on her hair.

When I flip though the books that my dad brought me,

I found this.

Irene Cahen d'Anvers(1880)

I was shocked at that moment and I have a feeling that it definitely meant something to me.

So I began to read about the life and Renoir's works,

the theme of his works are always about women,

the use of colour are often pastel and soft,

with his signature rounded brush stroke,

women were expressed in absolute beauty :

The rosy cheeks, innocent facial expression, well-rounded body figure,

the play with light and shadows like bokeh ....

all so inspiring.

I was convinced that women should be sweet natured, peaceful and claim

to achieve the moral standard that leads to that absolute prettiness.

(Small Part of ) My secret little drawing

Drawn on Jan 18-19 2011

I've been working on this drawing these two days, spending over 30 hours on it,

will let you guys take a glimpse of  a small part first : )

It is the my best piece of work so far...

I am so excited about it~Something very exciting is going to happen

on this piece of illustration..bless me~

The Whole picture would be like a flower fiary falling apart beautifully,

something I've been going though recently.

Well, luckily drawing is something that can calm me down,

that is why, most of the time my emtions are under control.

I will keep my finger crossed : )

Book that I love - A Guide to Elegance

Other than drawing, I used to read a lot of books back then,

and there is one book that I would like to recommend to all girls,

it is 'A Guide to Elegance:

For Every Woman Who Wants to Be Well and Properly Dressed on All Occasions '

by Madame Genevieve Antoine Dariaux, in which she formerly worked in Nina Ricci.

She is like a traditional Parisian, Elegant and polished.

Not all the advice in the book should be followed, but then it is the attitude

that is worth learning. As a girl, we should always pay attention to the items we wear,

the way we talk and the way we walk.

And we do not have to wear designer labels all the time, it is the materials and

cutting that is important.

Clothes using good quality materials can be brought at a very low price,

that day I shopped around UNIQLO and found cashmere sweaters at a very low price.

So, it is not about showing the status but showing that we actually care about

ourselves. And had requisition, both inside and outside.

Inspirations - Colour

Inspirations can come anytime, anywhere from anything.

It can be either tangible or intangible.

A single idea, a picture, a mood or even a smile of a mysterious women.

Rather than just sharing my illustrations,

I would like to share something more in-depth when it comes to design and drawings...

in which I seldom had chance to talk with my friends because they are probably not interested nor will they understand what am i talking about,

let alone my parents.

Most of the time my mind runs a lot faster than my mouth,

and so most of the time I cannot fully describe what is really on my mind,

So I occasionally speaks very less or just stay silent.

Because at that status, I can't catch the fast-forward ideas all over my mind.

it is not like I had any difficulties in explaining things but then it's just word can not

describe the complicated situation happening.

I spend most of my time thinking, I seldom leave my mind blank,

I always ponder, explains and finds the answer of different things,

which I would like to tell you from time to time.

If you want me to talk about fashion, design , art and beauty,

I can talk for whole day long, from Gustav Klimt to Coco Chanel,

Le Corbusier to Philip Stark, but then time is limited.

So, today I am just going to talk about Colour.

The first thing I do when I starts my illustrations is finding a colour palette for it.

Colour is something very interesting, without light, there will be no colour,

so I always think the designers which used to use grey scale are always under the mood of depressed,

which no light goes into their life.

There are hue, lightness and saturation in colour, and changing either one of it can lead to

whole new different mood.

I am going to show how do I get my colour inspirations from a single picture.

Of cause it can be a several pictures but I am going to make it easier to understand.

for example, when I see a picture like the below one,

Retrieved from acreativemint.typepad.com

the above would be the colour palette I got inspired from the picture.

most of the time we need to find out the pantone number to be more professional

and I always give them delicious names.

For instance, the left one I would name it ' Frosty Snow '.

It is not just useful for fashion designers or illustrators, it is also a very

important practice for photographers. Beautiful photographs always consist of

harmonically combined colour.

And remember, there is no such thing as an ugly colour,

there is just something called an ugly colour combination.

There is even a formula for it called The Müller Formula .

It is so so interesting, isn't it?

Tell me I'm right.

Chloé Chloe

Drawn on Jan 13, 2011

There is always a secret voice in my head saying that my name should be Chloé instead of Lilian.

Due to the fact that my chinese name, Kwok-Yee, had similar pronounciation with Chloé.

And I always found this name seducing, but then Lilian had been my given name,

I guess I shouldn't fight my fate.

As seducing as her name, Chloé Fragrance is one of my favourites.

But it's not a scent for me,

because of the woody smell of amber and cedarwood,

my personality do not carry much of those strength, yet.

According to the perfume bottle designer,

the bottle is inspired by the delicate pleats on a Chloé blouse,

with a loosely tied bow, How lovely.

Another fact that made this name even more seducing, is the film by Atom Egoyan , Chloe(2009),
again, one of my favourites.

Amanda Seyfried looked extremely gorgeous in her blonde hair,
green eyes, coral lips, short neat red nails.
Pink is always adorable and sweet, but coral in a peachy tone,
is alluring as well as elegant. This, I must say, is a very delicate detail of this movie
to bring out the core message.

Cold Cold Weather

Drawn on Jan 12, 2011

It is so cold today, and some little accident happened to me made me hard to move...

so I choose to stay in and rest. And when I stay in, I have nothing to do but draw.

I flipped though magazine and found this picture.

But after drawing it I found I drawn her  like Lady Gaga...opps!

Girl and Lace

Drawn on Jan 9, 2011

I encountered some computer problem and it cost me whole day long to

fix it, this drawing supposed to be kind of simple when compared with my others,

though I spend whole day on it.

This time I used a colour pencil approach to draw it,

the 'noise' made by the touch of colour pencil on paper are always delicate instead of disturbing.

The Lace is from a book I brought back in Hokkaido,

it included many types of different lace in eps format, which are very useful

for designers.

For lace, I always admired how bobbin lace are made,

they are pure hand creations, it is hard to imagine those fine lines are all connected by pure hands.

Although most of the lace in the market are made of low quality polyester or nylon,

and of course, made from machines instead of hands.

Still, I admire the little mistakes or defects caused by human mistakes.

Lily Cole with Frozen Yogurt

Drawn on January 5, 2011

Lily Cole is one of my favorite model, with her doll like facial features,

slender limbs andsignature red hair, she's just like a life size porcelain doll,

very adorable indeed.

I used a new approach to draw this illustration,

more oil painting like,

little bit old fashioned with the contrast of fashionable colour palette and polka dots.

By the way…..I love eating frozen yogurt : ) do you?

Scent

Drawn on January 4, 2011

I did mentioned that I recently changed my perfume did I?

Although it is not preferable that we change our scent frequently, anyway,

it's a gift from my mentor and coincidently it is very suitable for me.

It's Night Jewel by JILLSTUART.

Scent is something very personal, some prefer oriental, while some favour aromas of fruits.

I personally like floral bouquet with a touch of fruity aromas and vanilla, which add

sweetness to elegant bouquet.

The slogan of this perfume is ' Enjoy a dazzling aura, just like Cinderella',

well....can it be more suitable? Due to the fact that I always have to reach home

by 'Cinderella Time', which is mid-night. So Ironic.

Ophelia

Drawn on December 27, 2010

I happened to flip though a magazine and found a picture like this,
I have to draw it , I speak to myself.
Those desirable red lips and facial expression,
the colour palette, all so perfect.
So I spend like three days on it.
Not that the magazine imply anything, but I happened to found it familiar.

Like Millais's Ophelia, and Klimt's Danaë.
The composition and atmosphere.
Girl in water, dying, with floatings flowers.
while Danaë, is being visited by the golden shower of god Zeus.

P.S. Danaë is a character in greek myth while Ophelia is a character in Shakespear's play Hemlet.

Staring heels

Drawn on December 22, 2010

I always enjoy staring at my own heels,

when I am lonely and feeling confused.

Especially the bling bling Mary Janes,

My Favourite.

Birthday Card

Drawn on 23 December 2010

A Birthday card for my dear friend,

with Ladurée cake on her head : )

Revising History-Marchesa

Drawn on December 10, 2010

Perfect dress for a christmas Party,
Marchesa had it in blue , but I like it red,
more suitable for eastern beauty. 

Revising History-Jill Stuart Wedding

Drawn on December 3, 2010

Opaque fabric with tulle,
peonies and white rose.
Girl pondering.

Enjoy.

Revising History- Dita Von Teese

Drawn on December 1, 2010 

First Drawing of December,
featuring the sexiest Dita Von Teese.

One of my wish is to watch Dita Von Teese Dancing in the Champagne glass,

she is so sexy that even a girl like me would blush for her.

Revising History- Merry Christmas

Drawn on November 27, 2010

This is the Christmas card I drawn for last Christmas,

with the festive mood and joyful atmosphere,

it's the best time to do some shopping.

Although I am strictly prohibited to buy anything,

as my wardrobe are currently too full. Haha~

Anyway, I had a wonderful Christmas,

I hope all of you did too : )

Revising History -Chanel CHANCE

 

Drawn on  November 22, 2010 

Scent is something very personal, when we find the scent that can represent us,

we should stick to it and every time that smell pops up,

people around recall that it's you,

it gives a 4 dimensional memory to the people around.

But opps, as time goes by, our preference of scent changes too,

so what I did is,

I changed my perfume recently,

picked by one of my good friend,

stating that it is a more charming scent when compared

with the freshly picked rose scent of my previous perfume.

I will draw the illustration of it  later on : )

Revising History- Dior Eyewear

Drawn on November 21, 2010

Streamlined  Ribbon and Glossy red with Red Lips,

How can we not love it?

Revising History 5 - Tim Walker

Drawn on November 12, 2010

Tim Walker, My favourite photographer,

with his unique atmosphere and use of props.

All so inspiraing.

The above is the Illustration of  the ALBION advertisment took by Tim Walker.

Revising History 4 -Van Cleef & Arpels

Drawn on November 11, 2010

Van Cleef & Arpels advertisement featuring Lisa Cant,

and the beloved signature Alhambra necklace and ear rings.

The smooth enamel surface of the collection together

with the tiny circular dots which surround the motif made it so adorable : )

I always enjoy browsing the web site of Van Cleef & Arpels,

with the high saturation colour and delightful descriptions...

Revising History 3 - Chantal Thomas

Drawn on November 10, 2010

The advertisment of Spring Summer 2010 Chantal Thomas,

Sexy, Seductive and Playful at the same time.

The 'Mannequin' featured is Louise Donegan.

Although the lingerie are all so fabulous, but what impressed me most was the 'accessories'

How can we not love it?

Check out the offical web site of Chantal Thomas for more information.

http://www.chantalthomass.fr/

Revising History 2-MIU MIU

Drawn on November 6

The MIUMIU FW 2010/11 advertisment,  the collection was totally lovable,

with Metallic flowers ,lace applique and scallop edgings,

60s Colour palette. Miss Miuccia Prada always know what a girl wants.

Revising History 1- LANVIN x H&M

Drawn on November 2, 2010

This is one of my favourite dress from the Lanvin x H&M Collection.

I looked forward to buy the collection one month before it lanuches,

unfortunately I had school on that day, which I failed to queue up...

well...I end up brought a clutch by the help with one of my friend,

equally fabulous.

November 2, 2010

November 2, 2010