Never mix champers and Trib Too's

Santa done goooooooood !


Ok so littttle Christmas prezzie to moi, but absolutely B-E-A-UTIFUL !
1.5 inch platform, 6 inch heel, grey suede, Italian leather, gold mirrored heel ... need I go on !
Just recently, I've started going a tad higher with the heels on my shoes, I love how the higher the heel the skinnier your legs appear to be. This is my first pair of YSL's, I was told by a friend that they were comfortable and easier to walk in than many other 6 inch heels, and with the 2 Louboutins I have thought it was time to try someone else . . . and my god I'am glad I did! .
These are a must for New Years !!!

Twas the night before christmas ......... and I bought D&G

Very poor photograph of a gorgeous top I bought at work today !
Its a silk-chiffon babydoll, in cream/black bow print from D&G's s/s 2010 range.
My plan is to wear it for Christmas dinner with the family tomorrow, by pairing it with skinny jeans and my YSL trib too's that Santa's dropping off tonight ;)

YSL cosmetics

I ran out of my favourite Clinique foundation last week and since then I've been using my back-up. On Friday I had my make-up done by my friend Julie, she used all Mac foundation for the night however recommended YvesSaintLaurents Teint Radiance. Being lucky enough to get discount in the beauty department at work I picked some up on Tuesday, and after using it last night before cocktails, I can't believe how nice it is ! It makes your face look really smooth but doesn't make you orange or unnatural ! It also smells lurrvely !

That was fun !

After completing my photo-shopped images, and all the research for the study, I can say that this unit has been my favourite since starting college.
I've seen so many friends and artists use photo-shop, I also to some extent in high school, but through this brief I have learnt to use it in different ways. For example, I only ever used the programme to edit photographs, yet now I know how to improve my drawings using simple tools within this programme.
My "Bridgets Back" piece was my favourite as I used layering effects to add a variety of textures to my piece, and it was the one piece of work I created that clearly used traditional and contemporary styles together.

Photo-shop has hundreds of tools, therefore to improve further I need to practice using it more often to further my skills, also by taking more time with the pieces I edit, I'd achieve a more professional finish.
I also really enjoyed the research part of this unit, as I was able to look into a mixture of areas in the fashion industry and see how widely used computers are in every job.
The best thing of all about this unit, was using the blog. It makes things very easy to stay on track of, and is very easy to add too. Using my blog for this unit has definitely made me see how much more practical it is as opposed to a hand kept journal. And I now want to keep on top of my blogging and post more regularly.

THE photoshoot :)

Whilst on the subject of airbrushing, it gives me perfect opportunity to make a post on the AMAZING photographs I just received back from my recent photoshoot from my birthday. Like I said I LOVE the airbrushed look found in so many fashion magazines, and therefore was ridiculously happy with the results from my shoot.

My photoshoot was done by STUDIO 900's John McCulloch ( http://www.studio900.co.uk/ ). The entire day was amazing ( including the interval for me and the girls to sneak in a few cocktails down the road at Gusto ) and comments I have received on the pictures since have been lovely.
The Photoshoot took place on October 29th, and within a week my photos were ready to view and choose final images. Now all the chosen pieces are produced as a coffee table photo album. and after seeing the layout he designed last week, I'am now really excited to see the final outcome.

Although I don't think i could pick 1 favourite here are a few that I really love !

And finally .... Fashion Photography !

My personal favourite area in which digital techniques are used has to be photography, Something that has always interested me was how all the supermodels in vogue would look so amazing and skinny, the answer is Airbrushing. After seeing a professional photographer use an airbrushing tool on his work, I think its one of the best techniques a computer can offer. I find it amazing how a average photograph can turn into an amazing work of art with a high resolution glossy finish. Airbrushing tools can be used for simple things like red eye and making the sky blue, right the way through to completely transforming the shape of a models body. I especially like the work of Vogue photographer Patrick Demarchelier who's use of light effects and contrast levels make his work look really sophisticated.

In my eyes, there is no Cons in Photography's use of airbrushing, however magazines such as Vogue have been regularly criticized for there use of airbrushing their models, as it creates a fake image to the public, which can cause young girls to aim to look a way that is unachievable and cause illness. I am regularly told about this when pouring over the glossy pages of vogue, however I've seen what Kate Moss looks like after a night out, and can realise what is fake and what is not !

Bridgets Back

This is my own fashion illustration, again inspired by my shoe theme. I took an image from Hello magazine of Victoria Beckham and drew a rough version I then also added a drawing of my favourite Louboutin shoe " Bridgets Back" (taken from the kylie video).
I have again cleaned the image up by correcting colour levels, with this image I needed the white to be bright as, i wanted the sketch of Victoria to stand out.

I have used the Clone stamp again to take the effect of gold mirror, for the platform and heel of the shoe, I also used a a simple fill tool to give the Louboutin it's crimson soul.
Again using the Clone stamp tool, I copied the pattern from the real shoe to fill in my drawing. I'am really happy with the overall look of the shoe as it looks quite realistic... but not as beautiful as the real thing.

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Finally, I added a background behind my sketch, I did this by making a transparent layer and cloning a picture of The Eiffel Tower into it. I chose the Eiffel Tower as its iconic to Paris, which is where Louboutin originated.


I'am really pleased with the final outcome on this piece as i think the layered effect works really well, my favourite part is the shoe as the cloning worked really well.
I'am also pleased that i managed to combine the drawing with photography, which is what interested me most when researching artists earlier in the brief. I think this is my one piece that really shows both Traditional and Contemporary art. As the sketch of Mrs Beckham is a simple drawing yet the shoe is mainly digitally produced.