Pretty as a Picture

Hello dearhearts, back again with a brand new illustration and yes, you guessed it, it's another addition to the Candy Doll Club!

so instead of wittering on about it (like I usually do) i'll just go ahead and show you...



Now you might have noticed over recent months that lately i've been heavily inspired by a few of the many lovely ladies I follow via Instagram and Pinterest, in fact this new piece is an illustration inspired by a very lovely British blogger named Megan aka Briar Rose and she is basically a real life Disney Princess!



Look at that amazing hair! WOW! I always enjoy seeing Megan's gorgeous OOTD blog posts and snaps on Instagram, she has the most incredible wardrobe, so she seemed like an ideal 'real life' candy doll to inspire a new piece.

I was actually inspired by the photos from this blog post, and although usually I cover my drawings with candy coloured tattoos and pops of neon colour, this one felt better suited to pretty paler pastels similar to those found in Megan's outfit post.


Although obviously in my version that 'Princess' hair has a few pastel shades thrown in for good measure! But then how could I EVER draw a Candy Doll without giving her Pastel hair?! Also, i'm dreadful at drawing hats, they never seem to translate well when I add them so this one gets a flower crown instead!

I also wanted to have a go at drawing a girl holding a camera, following on from my 'time for a selfie' illustration, so when I spotted the pictures of Megan with her nifty little Praktica camera it seemed like time to get out my pencils and pens!

I had a lot of fun drawing this one as you can probably tell, it's been nice just working on aimless projects these past few months while I take some time off from work, I can't wait to see what I conjure up next (maybe something special just in time for Halloween... wait and see!)  

anyway the design is now available via my Society6 Shop on various items + there's Free Worldwide Shipping on stuff in the shop until October 12th so if you feel like getting some early Xmas presents, go have a skeet!

alrighty then i'll stop babbling now. Hope you liked the new illustration, i'm pretty sure that the Candy Doll Club will forever be gaining new members! So thanks for the inspiration Megan!

YOU can keep up with all of her fashionable snaps by following her on Pinterest or Instagram + here she is on Facebook and Twitter and of course, here's her brilliant Blog

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in other news, I FINALLY finished my two latest paintings!

here they are perched on my desk (along with a recent diddy posca piece) waiting to see what i'm going to do with them next, I haven't a clue where to put them!

I suppose I ought to try and sell them but i've gotten kind of used to having them around now, unless someone else were to grow particularly partial to one of them of course...

 i'll do a proper Blog post about them soon + show you the process snaps of how I got from blank wooden board to finished piece!

AND i'm starting two more BIGGER paintings v soon, I haven't decided 100% what to paint yet but who am I kidding, we all know it'll be members of the Candy Doll Club.

so until next time, that's all folks!

Super Sunday #9 ♥

so... it's the second Sunday and you know what that means...

it's time for another Super Sunday post!!!

wow, can't believe we've almost hit 10 Super Sunday posts already! that's flown by... scary stuff!

anyway, this week it's a fabulously fashionable little dedication

i figured that i'd rambled on about my favourite artists/illustrators for enough weeks in a row so i thought it would be nice to have a stylish post again

so without any further ado, this weeks Super Sunday post is dedicated to the fabulous, the fashionable, the totally estupendo y muy bueno... 

Jasmin Rodriguez aka Vintage Vandalizm

so who is she i hear you cry?!

well allow me to fill you in on this super styling señorita...

Jasmin Rodriguez (aka Vintage Vandalizm) is a Puerto Rican super duper stylist, model, writer, designer, blogger, artist and all round fashionista living in New York (update 2014, she now lives in Las Vegas!)

she writes the most awesome blog posts about her super fashionable life + always posts amazing photos of her shopping sprees/nights out/fashion shoots

now i follow quite a few fashion blogs (including Jane Aldridge's 'Sea of Shoes' and Tavi Gevinson's 'The Style Rookie') but Jasmin's blog has got to be my top fave. 

it's the fashion blog i go back to time and time again whether i need inspiration for a painting, a new illustration, make-up tips or ideas for an outfit, her blog never fails to supply exactly what i'm looking for!

so why is she one of my style icons?! (because let's face it, she is!)

well for starters her style is massively influenced by all things Pinup and Rockabilly (and we all know what a Pinup fan i am right...) she loves to mix styles from the 40's, 50's and 60's too, yet she puts her own unique twist on every look no matter which decade it's inspired by!

add to this the fact that she always dresses in a very pretty feminine way even if she's wearing trousers, she still manages to look feminine. it may sound daft but so many style bloggers nowadays just focus on wearing the latest trends and designer labels and disregard the rest!

as Jasmin herself put it "I think the world is too fixated on trends that people tend to forget who they are and what they like"

she's also an avid vintage shopper and despite having a wardrobe to die for packed with some verrrrry desirable designer pieces, some of her best looks have consisted of 'thrifted' vintage items or smart sale buys. she really is a super styling shopaholic! 

she always looks fabulous, she always dresses in her own unique style and she always looks totally gorgeous!

it doesn't seem to matter what she's doing, she could be out grocery shopping and you can bet she'll still be looking fab! it's that sense of glamour about her, it reminds me of Dita Von Teese (check out a previous Super Sunday post all about her here - Super Sunday #4) that timeless quality of glamour, no matter what the occasion or location.

Jasmin has it too and just like la Dita, she always dresses to impress

she's such a doll! i just love her, she ALWAYS looks fabulous

it's not fair really is it! she's super talented and let's face it... a total superstar!!!

she's modeled for a ton of awesome websites, magazines, brands etc etc and recently she even modeled for Bernie Dexter Clothing 

as you can see, she looks totally 50's fabulous in the pics from the shoot

i've been a fan of Jasmin's blog for about a year and a half now and i never get tired of her fun, fabulous and fashionable posts 

the thing is, living on the Isle of Man means i don't really have many places to get 50's fashion advice (apart from Charlotte... who is leaving me to go back to England!) so Jasmin's blog is a great source to go to (along with several other 50's/vintage fashion sites, of course) 

her blog is a great place to visit though, even if you're not a massive 50's fan, she has a generally awesome sense of style and is never afraid to be herself

it was actually around this time last year i first decided to have a go at drawing some VV inspired art

i can't believe it's been a year already! seems like only yesterday!!!

there are three VV pieces i worked on

there's...

'the Vintage Vandals'

inspired by this gorgeous Moschino dress from Jasmin's lookbook

you can read her full post about the illustrations HERE

there's also...

'Jasmin in Wonderland' (click image for full view)

inspired by this post where Jasmin co-ordinated outfits based on 4 characters from 'Alice in Wonderland' - wonderland fashion

you can read the VV post about the artwork HERE

Jasmin also hires out her styling expertise to people in New York, she'll be your personal stylist/shopper and find exactly the look you're looking for

i know my friend Charlotte (aka Loretta Jane's Vintage Boutique) is also a massive 'Vintage Vandalzim' fan and i guess it's our shared dream to one day head over to New York and go on a 50's fashion shopping spree with Jasmin

who knows! it might happen... one day

* * *

ok time for some lovely links

here's Jasmin's Twitter page - @VintageVandal

here's Vintage Vandalizm on tumblr - VV tumblr

here's the official Vintage Vandalizm facebook page - VV facebook

and of course, her super duper website/blog - Vintage Vandalizm

enough mindless gushing?! ok i'll stop now, but you KNOW she's awesome!

* * *

back to college for me tomorrow, assessment this week...

this is NOT a good thing and i AM going to be killed by my tutors because although i have about 19-20 pieces of artwork to show, i have 0 logbook pages

this = me dead soon

anyway, enjoy the rest of your Sunday dear readers

until next time, that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ♥

muchas gracias y adios

(that's thank you and goodbye in Spanish on behalf of Puerto Rico, i couldn't remember if i've done a thank you for them before but i know that Jasmin is Puerto Rican so i thought a Spanish farewell was fitting, gracias muñeca ♥)