Fabulous Doodles Fashion Illustration blog by Brooke Hagel: drawing

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You're Invited: Lauren by Ralph Lauren

RL Invitation-Fashion Illustrator-Brooke Hagel

Tomorrow is the first of 4 sketching events I'll be doing for my friends at Lauren by Ralph Lauren and you're invited! The first event is here in NYC at Macy's flagship! The next three I'll be traveling down to Houston, San Antonio and Miami. We're celebrating the launch of new Lauren handbags and as a gift with purchase guests will receive a semi-custom fashion illustration of themselves by yours truly! I hope to see you there.

Macy's Herald Square

Ralph Lauren Handbag Shop. Main Floor (near Broadway entrance)

Sept 31st, 2022

11am - 4pm

Past posts to check out:

3 Ways To Find Inspiration When Facing a Creative Block

Fashion illustrators, like any other artist can face creative road blocks and ruts so I thought I'd share my top three ways to find inspiration when faced with a creative block and the dreaded blank page.

(One of my Met sketches inspired by Guo Pei gown at "China: Through the Looking Glass")

1. Go to a museum or gallery. Whether you have time for the whole museum or just one wing or exhibition, go. You never know how discovering a new artist or even seeing an old master will get your creative juices flowing. Bring a sketch pad, snap some photos (if that's allowed) or simply stroll the galleries and see what you find. I've been visiting the impressionist wing of The Met pretty religiously since I was about 14. I can’t visit the museum without popping in to see my old friends Monet, Cezanne, and van Gogh and without fail every visit I find a new gem. A new favorite painting, a new favorite spot that day, a new detail of a painting I never noticed before, or a combination of colors that strikes me that given day. If its photography that inspires you go see a fashion photography exhibit. If its vintage fashion, check out the Costume Institute. Or just gallery hop and see what you find and where the day takes you. A clear mind and an open afternoon is sometimes just what the doctor ordered sort of speak.

(92nd Street Y)

2. Take a class. This is one that, similar to a museum is probably easier in a city but if you look I’m sure you can find one at your local collage, art shop, or community center. If you’ve been wanting to learn more about portrait drawing, figures, watercolors, or fashion illustration, there’s a class for it. And if committing to an entire class is too intimidating then you may want to consider a workshop which is usually only one or two days. In the past I taught a few fashion illustration classes but I’ve actually been thinking about offering a workshop in the new year. (Click here if you’d like to add your name to a waitlist for info when it’s available.) The older we get the more distance grows between us and our school days so it can feel slightly uncomfortable taking the plunge but it's so nice learn something new and immerse yourself in learning and expanding your mind and creativity. Its also nice to meet to new people with similar interests.

(Ralph Lauren "Aviator" collection sketches by Audrey Schilt)

3. See a period movie. Once in a while epic period piece film comes along that makes its mark on pop culture. These type of films historically can also be quite inspirational to fashion design. Two examples that come to mind immediately, although I’m sure if I gave it some more thought I could write a blog post on this topic alone, is in 2005 when Ralph Lauren showed his Aviator collection inspired by seeing the film The Aviator. A second example that stands out in my fashion minded brain is in 1998 when the J. Peterman catalogue offered early 1900's beaded gowns inspired by Titanic. I vividly remember looking at those drawings (remember the catalogue was all sketches!) and wishing the replica of Roses dress was within my budget for a prom dress! Unfortunately it was not, at $2000 for the replica and $35,000 for the original my babysitting money certainly didn't cover that.

I hope these ideas of mine inspire you. And let me know in the comments if you have any tricks for a creative slump that have worked for you.

You're Invited: Sketching Clinique Mix and Matte Event with Saks and Glamour

Today I will be live-sketching custom fashion illustrations for Clinique. This is now my third consecutive year working with Clinique on their fall beauty events! This year we've teamed up with Glamour magazine and will be doing something slightly different to coincide with the launch of their new Pop Matte lipstick. Each customers custom illustration will be sketched in black and the only color will be on the lips, as I did with the illustration on the invitation shown above. I also drew a digital example on the plane last night (with Apple Pencil and iPad) which you can watch an actual sketch-in-progress video of on my Instagram today, here. The custom sketches at the event will be drawn with real art supplies on paper so guests can take them home, but its fun to see the whole sketch take shape from beginning to end. Appointments are encouraged but not required so you can pop by at anytime, but from experience of years past I suggest you come on the early side if you want to be sketched, as the last hour tends to be busiest.

Thursday, Sept. 22nd

4:30-7:30

Saks 5th Avenue, Clinique Counter

5th & 50th Street New York, NY

RSVP: 212-940-2034

I do apologize for the short notice! It's been a crazy week with multiple sketching jobs in multiple cities. But if you can't make this one there will be two more similar Clinique events coming up as well, one of which will also be in NYC and the other as of now is Connecticut I believe. I've also sketched a special gift for customers who can't get their custom sketch drawn! I'll share what that is on my social media at the event!

Hope to see and sketch you there! And if you can't make it be sure to follow along on my Insta-story and Snapchat (@brooklit) to see sketches and behind the scenes from the event.

Party Sketching for Brooks Brothers

Recently I sketched another Brooks Brothers event, this time live-sketching custom fashion illustrations of party guests at their Madison Avenue flagship here in New York. The event was a charity cocktail shopping party, and custom illustrations were given to guests as gifts with purchase. A few of the woman at the event were so excited about their new Brooks Brothers x Zac Posen designed buys that they chose to be drawn in them which was a unique aspect to this event. Some women even went back to the fitting rooms to model their new frocks for me to sketch!

It was a really fun night working with the Brooks Brothers team again live-sketching, mingling with wonderful women, raising money for those in need.

Brooklit x Burberry | Custom Notecards

Last week I worked with Burberry again, this time at their flagship Manhattan store. It was a unique job, and a slight departure from my typical custom fashion illustrations I often do at client events. I was asked to do calligraphy, writing personalized notecards as a gift with purchase. It was Mother's Day weekend and Burberry hosted their VIP clients, so needless to say most of the sales were gifts for moms and customers were excited to be offered this special extra touch.

Between clients I painted little fashion silhouettes (as I often do! Tiny doodles like these have been adorning my notebooks for ages) using white calligraphy ink atop textured tan and gold embossed Burberry notecards (shown below.) After spotting them on my desk a few customers asked if I could add one to their cards as well, which I was happy to do.

It was a fun two days working with Burberry again. As a life-long artist and eternal art student I truly love using my hands and continually experimenting with different mediums. And of corse its even better when I get to do it with such a renowned luxury brand as Burberry!

Similar posts to check out:

Inspired Weekend: Spring

Yesterday was the first official day of spring and although it was actually snowing here in NYC I had quite the spring inspired weekend. So much so I thought I'd write a new "Inspired Weekend" post, which I haven't done in ages!

1. Flower crowns have been on my mind the past few since live-sketching a Beverly Hills party where half the girls I drew were wearing them from the on-site florist. They were so pretty and really added to the illustrations and when I returned home I found myself drawing them over and over again.

2. Saturday afternoon I celebrated my friend Joanna's birthday. Each guest was asked to bring a bouquet or two of blooms for a flower arranging party. To my surprise not only did we learn how to arrange flowers in antique teacups but we also learned to make our own flower crowns! I rarely post selfies but I couldn't resist once I had mine on!

3. Last week Woops bakery reached out to me to share that in addition to being the first day of spring, Sunday was National Macaron Day and they wanted to print a box of custom macarons for me. I immediately thought portraits of some of my flower crown girls could be adorable on a set of french macarons. They came out even better than expected, tasted delish and although I wasn't sure at first, I ended up loving the sketch assortment I sent them of portraits from previous instagrams and client projects. (Modified this Dreamdry x Teen Vogue sketch with a flower crown, a Viktor and Rolf bowed beauty, and two Naeem Kahn/Frida Khalo inspired illustrations.)

4. Last but not least, I finally added a bevy of new beauties to my long neglected Etsy shops! Even though I sketch new work constantly it had been forever since I added new prints to the shops. I decided to list some new prints with groups of three looks, like these pink, black and white embellished designs inspired by Giambattista Valli Couture.

Custom Pet Sketches

The past few weeks I've been filling orders drawing one pet pup after the next and I want to share a few of my favorites here with you. Fashion illustration has always been my focus and I have to admit I was a little hesitant to commit to drawing something so different, but these darling dogs have charmed my socks off!

(Drawn above: Gracie, Poppy, and Henry & Berkley by Brooke Hagel)

In the past I would only occasionally draw a pet if a custom commission client requested it and until about a month ago I'd drawn maybe a half a dozen dogs, ever. But when I teamed up with IfOnly and we began brainstorming fathers day custom commission ideas, drawing man's best friend and offering dads ands dogs was a no brainer. Sometimes its refreshing to try something new and step out of your comfort zone. I'm so pleased I did and with the outcomes of all these delightful dogs. I hope they and their owners enjoy their custom illustrations as much as I enjoyed illustrating them!

Fabulous Doodles posts you may be interested in:

She's a Sketch: Photographer Illustration

Recently I found inspiration at a party I attended with my friend Lindsay for La Maison du Chocolat. Lindsay was running a little late and I decided to people watch outside as I waited for her. I stood to the side as the event photographer snapped photos of guests arriving and posing on the step-and-repeat, all the while admiring her look. From her Tibi-esque ensemble to her on-trend laced up summer sandals and sophisticated but simple pulled back hair, pretty makeup, and sweet smile, she was a walking sketch! At least to this fashion illustrator.

Once Lindsey arrived and it was our turn to be photographed I introduced myself to the photographer, Kelly Taub, and asked if she would mind pausing a minute to pose for me. I explained I was a fashion illustrator, loved her look and was eager to put it to paper. The very next day as I worked on the illustration I was so excited about it I decided to share the work-in-progress via Instagram. I posted a close up of the initial pencil line drawing and a sneak peek while applying finishing touches. Now I'm happy to share the full illustration, and Kelly can officially say: "she's a sketch!"

"She's a sketch" is something I used to write about here years ago when I first started Fabulous Doodles. It's a phrase/title that my friend and designer Renaldo Barnette and I always say to one another when we spot a girl with either an impeccable fashion sense and sketch-worthy ensemble and/or exquisite fashion illustration proportions or facial features. I haven't done one in ages but I hope you enjoy it! When inspiration strikes you have to go with it, and I'm so happy I did.

Similar posts that might interest you:

Bright Bazaar Menswear Sketches of Ted Baker AW14

Today I have menswear illustrations I sketched for Will Taylor, aka. Mr. Bright Bazaar, who just so happens to be my best friend! Will collaborated with Ted Baker and chose his top A/W 2014 picks for a bright London photoshoot feature which I then interpreted into an illustration. In addition to working with my stylish bestie, I rarely collaborate with menswear brands so this was a fun project. We went with one full illustration and then individually highlighted some in flats. Flats are silhouettes of the garments which designers frequently use in house for pattern making, draping and line sheets. The flats I chose to draw are considered stylized flats because they're fully rendered in color and show the fabrics and textures. Back in college I always preferred stylized flats, as I'm not a technical person and liked a more organic look over a basic black and white line drawing. This eclectic collection translated well since it consists of quilting, luxe leathers, jersey and denim.

(Illustrations by Brooke Hagel, Photo by Will Taylor)

Plus, a few related posts you may like:

Inspired by Gray Gardens

Today I'm sharing another fun floral fashion illustration on craft paper. This one was inspired by gray gardens, not the movie of course or the eccentric Beales but by the beautiful monochromatic floral patterns that are popping up throughout both fashion and home in various shades of gray, as shown in the examples above:

1. Gray floral printed dress by Styul.

2. Printed floral tote with leather handles by Gap.

3. Lauren Ralph Lauren Cocktail Dress dinnerware. (Side note; a few years ago I had the pleasure of the visiting the Ralph Lauren Home design studio and offices and was blown away by their extensive trend boards and how meticulous they are about translating fashion to home decor. Which this intricate "Cocktail Dress" dinnerware pattern is a perfect example of.)

4. Duvet set by H&M Home.

I hope you enjoy seeing how I take a trend and interpret it into fashion illustration. This illustration was actually drawn/painted with gouache the same day as the one from my last inspiration post, Blue and White. The dramatically draped skirt is based on this photo from my She's a Sketch Pin board and I adorned it with a loose organic gray floral print. For more snapshots of my daily inspirations and things I'm working on you can follow me on Instagram @brooklit.

Live-Sketching at NYFW with Samsung Galaxy

This past New York Fashion Week I had the opportunity to try something new, sketching on a tablet. A Samsung Galaxy Note Pro tablet to be exact. As a sponsor of NYFW, Samsung had a space in the main lobby and I was hired to live-sketch fashion illustrations of fashion week attendees who passed through the Samsung lounge.

Live-sketching NYFW attendees is great, since even with this crazy winter "polar-vortex" people still tend to dress to impress for shows and aren't donning the typical head-to-toe black typically found at most New York events. I was able to really experiment with tablet fashion illustration, rendering a variety of furs, leathers, knits, prints and even sheers all in an array of colors and styles.

To be honest I was really nervous to try sketching on a tablet. I'd never done it before and wasn't sure if I'd be able to figure it out and achieve the look I wanted with only a stylist pen, tablet screen and no actual art tools. To my surprise though it was very user friendly and I got the hang of it pretty quickly. (I also had Samsung experts there to answer any questions, which was helpful.) The "S pen" has such a fine point and the screen is so touch-sensitive that the level of detail and precision you can achieve is pretty incredible, much like an actual pen or pencil. The Note Pro is very lightweight and has a large paper-sized 12.2-inch screen. Lastly, it was especially great for live-sketching since I could email jpegs of the illustrations directly to the people I was sketching, like Bella shown here (above) from Elle Magazine. I enjoyed drawing on the Galaxy Note Pro so much that I'm now considering purchasing one for more digital drawing.

(Top photo by Gloria Chik and fashion illustrations by Brooke Hagel.)

Inspired Weekend

Today I'm starting a new feature here on Fabulous Doodles called Inspired Weekend. My goal is share a just few things each monday that I've found cultivate creativity and inspire.

1. The latest issue of Elle magazine with this gorgeous minimal cover of silver, black and white. I had a meeting last week at the Elle offices and was given a copy of the March '14 Spring Fashion issue and I couldn't wait to tear into it.

2. Helping a friend decorate her new apartment I came across the IKEA Ranarp wall lamp. With its overall industrial look paired with a white metal shade, gold and silver finishes and black and white striped cord, its a great combination and at only $19.99 I have to pick one up for my studio.

3. "For the first time in forever" I went to see a kids movie this weekend, Disney's Frozen and let me tell you, I loved it! Later that night I found myself not only downloading the main songs (including: For the First Time in Forever and Let it Go) but also sketching the main character, Elsa. I added this print of her to my Brooklit Etsy shop and who knows, I just may sketch her sister Anna and few other favorite Disney princesses as well.

4. As a lifelong artist I have a sweet spot for brushes and art supplies. This beautiful photo is by Anna-Malin a Swedish photographer and interior/lifestyle blogger. I'm excited to start following her on Instagram and seeing her work in my daily photo feed.

And lastly, a quick thank you to my friend Will Taylor, aka Mr. Bright Bazaar, for inspiring this post with his 10 Things I Learned & Loved This Weekend series, which obviously I love.

Asperkid's Charitable Fashion Coloring Book

A few months ago I was asked to contribute fashion history illustrations for a wonderful new charitable coloring book that has just been released; The Asperkid's Not-Your-Average-Coloring-Book written by Jennifer Cook O'Toole. This unique coloring book covers topics that appeal to kids on the autism spectrum by encouraging them to try new things and showing spectrum kids the potential career value of their natural talents through artwork based on science, nature, history, math and myths.

It was great to work on these historical fashion sketches and solely focus on the designs through line drawing. I have to mention that while the 1960's mod look (at the top) is probably my favorite of the group due to the strong pose and bold accessories, the 1970's illustration was inspired by one of my favorite photo's from the 1970's of my grandma (which I also featured here on Fabulous Doodles a while back.) As for the other two line drawings, they gave me a great excuse to whip out my art and fashion history books and seek out some primary resources for inspiration.

I'm honored to be a part of this coloring book and encourage you to show your support for Asperkids and order a copy for the little artist in your life, whether or not they are on the spectrum. A portion of the proceeds will go towards supporting art programs for children on the autism spectrum. Although I'm only one of the contributing illustrators featured in the book, I've added The Asperkids's Not-Your-Average-Coloring-Book to my Amazon shop under titles I've illustrated, to make it easy to find and order. Happy coloring!

Teaching Fashion Illustration at Stitched Fashion Camp

A few weeks ago I spent a day out in East Hampton teaching fashion illustration to the adorable campers of Stitched Fashion Camp. Stitched is the brainchild of Elle's creative director Joe Zee and Parsons adjunct professor Rob Yonkers. Its a week long summer fashion day camp that encompasses all the elements of the fashion industry and I had the honor of being asked to join as the industry expert on fashion illustration!

I prepared a handful of lessons including croquis (aka. fashion figures, its taken from French, the literal translation is "sketch." Its pronounced crow-key) development and various fabric and pattern rendering techniques, many of which were taken directly from archived Fabulous Doodles posts. I gave the fashion campers a lesson in fashion figures and poses and demonstrated rendering fabrics including sequins and beading, leopard, zebra, and denim. We also worked together one-on-one and I gave mini tutorials on drawing elements like faces, hair, hands and feet, just about anything the kids said they were struggling with drawing.

Throughout the day the kids tried the fabric rendering techniques I taught them and worked on illustrations of looks from their own mini collections. Many used the ditto's I handed out as a guideline, one of which is the photo-to-croquis example shown above (for more fashion figure info you can click over to my pose tutorial post.) And others created original fashion figures of their own from photo inspiration. Below is a picture of some their fabulous illustrations fresh from their sketchbooks.

Spending a day out in Hamptons and getting to work with these 12 kids ranging in age from about 10 to 15 was truly fantastic. The kids were so adorable, and so eager to learn and improve their illustrations. I have to admit I was a little nervous going in, as I had only ever tutored before one-on-one and this was my first real classroom setting but I have a feeling it won't be my last! It was such a wonderful and fulfilling experience, especially seeing the excitement in the kids eyes and the pride they exuded when they saw what they could achieve.

Click here for more about Joe Zee and Rob Yonkers Stitched Fashion Camp and if you're interested in my private tutoring and located in NYC you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com for rates.

Party Guest Illustrations for Vogue & Piperlime {Part 2}

Time for more fashion illustrations from my live-sketching at the Piperlime store preview party hosted by Vogue. Sorry its taken so long to post part two, September turned out to be a crazy month! This was such a fabulous event to be a part of and resulted in some great illustrations to add to my portfolio of live event sketches.

There was quite the spectrum of sketchable models (aka. chic party guests) in attendance to preview the beautiful new Piperlime Soho store. I got to sketch everyone from fashion bloggers, Vogue staffers and Piperlime shoe designers to teachers and private jet flight attendants! Everyone seemed to love their sketches and were thrilled to be taking them home as a custom favor.

It was truly an honor to be hired by Vogue and Piperlime to sketch at this event and hopefully it will be the first many. To see more sketches and the guests that inspired them, check out Part 1, and afterwards you can even click over to this Piperlime video covering the event and see if you can spot some of the guests I drew. (I spotted 6!)

For questions about my live-sketching or you're interested in my rates for your next corporate event or private party you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com.

Party Guest Fashion Illustrations for Vogue & Piperlime {Part 1}

A few nights ago I was honored to work for Vogue and Piperlime illustrating guests at an exclusive preview party for the very first Piperlime store, here in Manhattan. The beautiful new store was packed with designer labels, lust worthy shoes and jewelry, and hundreds of guests all eager to have their outfits captured in a custom fashion illustration.

I want to share some of my models (aka. Vogue & Piperlime party guests) here along with the quickie sketches they inspired and got to take home as a custom party favor. The guests were all so great to draw in their fun and flirty end-of-summer party dresses.

Throughout the party I was busy sketching away while chatting with my models/guests but afterwards on my way uptown, I shared via Twitter and Instagram (@Brooklit) a few snapshots from the night, also shown below.

Later in the week as I'll be posting more favorite sketches, guests and photos from my memorable night with Vogue and Piperlime, so stay tuned.

Birthday Girl

This fancy little sketch adorning my party invitation is part of a group of line drawings I've been working on here and there inspired by my Pinterest finds. My birthday was this past weekend and I decided to throw a last minute party on the roof of the Empire Hotel for any friends who were in town. (NYC tends to clear out on summer weekends, especially in Aug.) I designed and emailed the invite literally the night before, and quickly chose this little sketch to go on it since she was fun and festive. The next day a friend pointed out that she looked a lot like my current Facebook pic (also shown above) and asked if I drew it especially for the occasion. I honestly didn't even realize it! Although the photo is similar I'm no where near a size zero, like the girl in the sketch. Since I really like how the invite turned out, as well as the fun night with friends that followed, I thought I'd share it with you. (Here is the girl, fashion blogger Blair Eadie that actually inspired the drawing, from my She's a Sketch board.)

Tuesday Tip: Illustrating Leopard

Have you always wanted to learn how to accurately illustrate leopard print? Well its your lucky day, and you may be surprised to learn that leopard just so happens to be one of the easiest and most foolproof prints to draw and draw well. Being an animal skin, leopard print is organic, some parts are clustered and messy and some are open and spacey. You really can't make a mistake with this one I promise.

1. The first step is to choose your color way, and the three markers you'd like to use for the print. With the lightest one you lay the ground color for the print. I chose a dark tan color, in order to render a more realistic leopard print.

2. Let your base color dry then add a second "coat" in streaky and somewhat rough stripes, one being down the center and then as few or as many as you'd like to each side. This will add depth to the print.

3. Choose a marker that is darker than your ground color and randomly draw comma or kidney shaped "spots" with it, as I've illustrated for you in step three with brown.

4. With your darkest marker (I used black) draw three dashes or kidney shapes of varying lengths surrounding each of the kidney shapes you drew in the step three. Its as though you're messily outlining each spot with three dashes.

5. Add highlights, shadows and any garment design details with your black and white (or white charcoal) pencils. And ta-da! There you will have a classic leopard print.

Its been quite a while since my last Tuesday Tip post, but I figured what better way to get back into the tutorial mode than by showing you how to render this fun and classic print. Since I drew the tutorial in standard leopard colors I thought I should also show how easy it is to use the same steps but with colors that are a little more on-trend. Gray, black and white shown above, is a little more pop and edgy and the purples below are a colorful alternative.

If you're hungry for more you can check out my previous Tuesday Tip here, and come back next week because I'm working on another one for you. (I promise not to wait almost 2 years for another one this time!)

***I'm also taking suggestions so let me know in the comments section if there's a tip you'd like to see to help improve your fashion illustration skills.

Related posts you may like:

Secret Weapons {Part 3}

I am continually asked what tools I use most in my fashion illustrations so I thought it was time for another installment of Secret Weapons. First up, is my sketchbook and paper of choice. This may come as a surprise, being that I make a living as an artist you may think I'd use something fancy and expensive from an art supply store, but I do not. For years I've been using these Barnes & Noble exclusive sketchbooks. The reason I like them so much is that the paper is thick, almost a card stock, and super bright white. The whiteness is important to me because I scan most of my work. They have a spiral binding, which I prefer so the book can lay flat, thick hardcovers that protect the pages well, should I decide to throw in my bag, and the piece de resistance is they have perforated pages for easy tearing out. They also come in different sizes, so I have small ones (above) for quick thumbnail sketches and traveling, and larger ones for my more polished sketches. (Keep in mind however that these are not the best choice for a beginners because, as I mentioned, the paper is thick, and not conducive to tracing. It also soaks up the marker, which means you have to move fast. When I was in college, and learning, my paper of choice was Bienfang marker paper.)

Next I'd like to share the white charcoal pencil. These are fantastic for creating highlights over marker, even better than white pencils because of how dense and opaque they are. If you take a look at my last post about my new print Miriam, you can see that I used a log of the white charcoal pencil to render the large brimmed hat and create texture and highlights within it. I also use it to add shine and highlights to hair in almost all my illustrations.

Lastly is something I absolutely cannot live without when sketching, the amazing kneaded eraser. It picks up everything from the faintest smudge to heavy thick lines. Its pliable and can be molded to easily into a sharp point or stretched out for easily self cleaning and it doesn't leave marks. The kneaded eraser is a must have. (I realize I sound like a infomercial here, but its true!)

For more of my secret weapons you can check out part 1 and part 2 here.

Back to Basics

Lately I've felt I needed a little jolt in the creativity department and these drawings may be it. I dusted off my sketchbook and am really excited to share my latest sketches. These are not the usual fashion illustrations I share here on Fabulous Doodles but they're a well needed breath of fresh air for me and my Etsy shop, Brooklit. I haven't drawn like this years and its such a nice thing to revisit.

It started about a few weeks ago when I decided to dig out my watercolors and paint some little mermaids for my bathroom (shown below). Then continuing my obsession with Pinterest, I found some fantastic photos, like this beautiful ballerina (above,) that inspired me to start drawing again. I used to be so opposed to drawing from a picture, that it wasn't really drawing if you were working off a 2D image. (I guess I've gotten over that one since building my custom bridal illustration business!)

Drawing, shading, and texturizing my subject with only pencil and using brushes and paints again has been like visiting an old friend I haven't seen in a decade. (I feel like I sound crazy, I realize this, but its true!)

So for the summer I've decided to keep this sketching momentum going by adding these sketches, starting with Brooklyn Ballerina to my etsy shop available as $6 mini prints. I think this will be a nice little summer project to reinvigorate me and the shop. Are you trying anything new for summer?

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