Kaleidoscope

While I was researching my next haircut, I got a little carried away with these amazing portraits I found on ukhairdressers. The first things I thought of was how the bold colours, the contrasts, the make-up (and those cheekbones!) remind me of Andy Warhol's portraits. That or maybe I just studied his art too much and I'm starting to see it in everything.

Company: Hooker & Young
Kaliediscope
Hair: Gary Hooker & Michael Young
Make-up: Natasha Lakic
Styling products: Matrix
Source: ukhairdressers

Something Beautiful

I first found out about Paloma Faith from a British tabloid (yes, I shamefully admit that I do occasionally read Sky Entertainment). But hey, something good came out of it! Or more like something beautiful... I am inspired by women who are not afraid of their femininity, who wear red lipstick and high heels on a daily basis and women who refuse to sing about heartbreaks. Not to mention that she used to be a singer in a burlesque cabaret, a saleswoman for Agent Provocateur, a life model, a magician's assistant and a contemporary dance graduate with a master's in theatre directing. No wonder her shows are so theatrical and her style is so impeccable. Intrigued? Then check out her video below for You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful, or her live performance of Broken Doll. Prepare to be blown away.

How To Avoid Making Art?

1. Make your first project really big.

2. Tell yourself you can only work in absolute quiet.

3. Compare your work to masterworks of the great masters.

4. Attempt something really complicated.

5. Be in a big hurry.

6. Take seriously every negative thing anyone says.

7. Slide into despair rather than take one small exploratory action.

8. Talk about it so you don't have to do it.

9. Consider the odds against whatever you make ever selling.

10. Demand that what you do be absolutely original, totally brilliant, and never done before.

11. Demand 15 hours of free time to create, so you can ignore the 15 minutes you've got.

12. Focus on how much is left, not on how much is done.

13. Under no circumstances make any art just for fun.

14. Tell yourself you have "no time" for a hobby, then watch T.V. to keep from being depressed.

15. Focus on your future as a homeless person, caused by your pursuing your dream.

16. Tell yourself you need your family's approval.

17. Tell yourself that art is a terribly hard career path.

18. Decide you can't afford a drawing class and get new jeans to console yourself.

19. Let your studio accumulate enough clutter that work becomes impossible there.

20. Ask a lot of people their opinion of your plan.

21. Rather than make art, read about art.

22. Think about your art instead of doing it.

23. Read books about "How To Avoid Making Art" instead of making art.

Ok, so I made up the last one, but the rest are taken straight from Julia Cameron's book - "How To Avoid Making Art (or Anything Else You Enjoy)". I swear to God, this book was written with me in mind!

He Rocks My Socks Off!

6 months and 1 day in a world without Michael. I miss him, I really do:(

Screenshots from Pepsi "Convention" commercial (1984)

A Holly Jolly Christmas!

Winterland

Cecilia Carlstedt

Another extremely talented Swedish illustrator. I'm starting to think fashion illustration is in their blood. I love how detailed her work is, yet it has that unfinished quality. If you want to read more about her, I suggest you check out an interview from After Art College blog.

Agent Bauer

Cassandra Rhodin

Big dark rimmed eyes, heavy lids, high arched eyebrows, small pouty lips and long necks. There's something very Tim Burton-esque about these characters. Unfortunately, all I know about this illustrator is that she's Swedish.

Agent Bauer

Kareem Iliya

Kareem Iliya was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1967. He studied fashion design at the University of Texas, Austin, USA and the Institute of Fashion Technology, in New York. He started his fashion career working with Giorgio Armani and he is currently a freelanced illustrator and a menswear designer. His medium is watercolour and inks on paper.

Kareen Iliya

Shingai Shoniwa

Yup, that's her: the lead singer of The Noisettes. I'm not sure if it's her hair, her voice, her clothes, her amazing skin, her energy on stage or just her attitude, but she just oozes coolness. The perfect combination of rock'n'roll, punk, 80's and soul...retro meets futuristic. Or "Afro-centric with an edge of couture" as she describes her style. Whatever it is, I like it.




Screenshots from Never Forget You


Screenshots from Every Now And Then

Laura Laine

While I was flickering through my book of Contemporary Illustrators, I came across this ridiculously talented illustrator from Helsinki - Laura Laine. I particularly love the texture of the hair, the exaggerated poses and their doodle-like quality. These is what princesses look like in my dreams.

all images from Laura Laine

If This Town Is Just An Apple/ Then Let Me Take A Bite

My "Chycal"

I've been his biggest fan for longer than I can remember. Literally. According to my mom, one of my first coherent sentences was "I love Chycal Jackson" and I swear I still remember scenes from the Moonwalker even though I was only 2 when I first watched it. I remember falling in love with him in Smooth Criminal, watching Bad, Leave Me Alone and all his videos (or short films, as he called them) like a maniac and deciding one day to pack up my toys for an imaginary trip to his Neverland. I remember watching Live in Bucharest when I was 5 with my mom and an old lady who lived next door and complained every time Michael grabbed his crotch...and how mesmerized I was watching him fly that jet pack at the end of the concert. My first cassette tape was Dangerous and one of the first books I ever read was Moonwalk (and probably the only one I read more than twice). I remember sleeping with his picture under my pillow, making my aunt steal posters from her roommates in college and of course, moonwalking the hell out of the carpet in my room. Later I became "that girl who made a complete fool of herself every time they played MJ" in a dance club. Today I feel like my childhood just died... I simply cannot imagine my 21 years of existence without him. To me, Michael is the most important person that I've never met and I feel extremely lucky to have grown up listening to his music, honoured to have lived in the Michael Jackson era and proud to have been his fan my whole life.

Thank you, Michael for making my childhood MAGICAL.

I apologize for the lack of credits for all the photos, most of them are from MJJPictures

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Ahh...Merry Poppins, the books of my childhood. Somehow I never got the chance to see the movie until now.

Orchids

(Watercolours - wet on wet technique and sepia ink).