A Sketch of a Selfie

I hate trying to take selfies, especially with the iPhone. Sure, they make it real easy by putting a camera on the front, but the picture quality is really poor. Sometimes I feel awkward asking people to take a picture of me with my boyfriend when we are on a date, so I’ll just snap a quick pic.

I did this at Boomsday the other night, trying to get some of the fireworks in the backdrop.

Not a bad shot really, but its so grainy. At least it captured the moment though, right? Not worthy of printing or putting in a photo album, though.

So I come across these moments where I wish I could take better pictures, or recapture moments where we didn’t even break out a camera.

And I thought,

“Time to break out the pencil and paper!!”

And here’s the result. I was inspired to re-capture that moment together in front of the fireworks, so I doodled what it might have looked like to someone passing by. This was a very quick sketch, not even 15 minutes. But I went ahead and did it because I need to get back into practice again. I have a big idea in mind…..bigger than the fictional living room.  But that’s a long way off, and I can’t say anything more.

Either way, hoping to practice these little doodles more and improve my cartoon style.

Hope you enjoyed today’s doodle!

Keep watchin!

My Fictional Living Room

I love to draw. I don’t know if I always have but I remember it really taking off in Jr. High when I had was a bit of an outcast. I never took any art classes outside of my elementary school, but I started drawing my favorite cartoons constantly when I had nothing better to do at lunch time.

Through the years that cartoon style has stuck with me, and fueled my enjoyment when I was into role-playing because I would draw the characters I created. I also continued to develop a cartoon version of myself.

Which brings me to the picture I share today. After going through Interior Design, I began to pay attention to my surroundings more. When I moved into my new apartment after college, I had so many ideas on how I wanted to re-design it. Since I couldn’t afford it, I decided to draw it. And this is the most proud I’ve ever been of a personal drawing.

I’m proud of this drawing for a number of reasons. The proportions are the best of done when doing a complete setting. Most times I just draw my characters, no backgrounds. This is a complete snapshot! Plus, it was fairly close to my real apartment, with fictional elements mixed in to make it the space I saw in my head.

By the way, I don’t have a dog. That’s a wolf actually. Why is there a wolf in this drawing? It’s a long story…

But I will tell you, its my favorite animal, and was my main role-playing character during those days. So that wolf there, is basically my alter-ego, Kironi. I developed the character so much that it’s hard to get her out of my head now. But that’s ok :). Just another layer to my personality.

The final reason that I really love this composition is how much it challenged my graphic skills. Through online video tutorials, I learned how to color my line drawings on Photoshop and bring new life to them. And thanks to the classes I took in college, I was able to hone those skills into this wonderful result.

This is where my graphic skills really started to develop; when I really became interested in the avenue more and more. Its always fun to look back at how things began, especially now as I take my skills to new levels and hopefully build a business from it!

Thanks for reading! Keep watchin!

Wood,Glass, and Metal Console Table

Once upon a time I lived right down the street from a crappy flea market. Once upon a day I drove by and saw a discarded desk in good shape but in pieces, sitting in the parking lot all by its lonesome. Being a Good Samaritan of dilapidated furniture (or least that day I was), I decided to save the only piece in good enough shape to survive reuse, the desktop. So, Once upon an idea, I give you the first of my designs that is developed from re-using this desktop piece.

Brainstorm <—–click here to see the sketches

a quick 3D drawing to help myself visualize the idea better with color and dimension

I’ve been wanting some sort of thin console table from my bedroom. Something that could be a fashionable desk in a sense, but thinner and possibly serve as a vanity as well. Anyways, here are the sketches of my initial brainstorming, and a 3D view of my favorite design. In the top right corner of the sketch page is the approximate size and shape of the desktop. I would cut it length wise for an 18” tabletop and use what’s left for part of the base. Then add in some metal and glass for support and interest. The tabletop would then be painted black and plastered with magazine pictures of some of my favorite interiors, furniture pieces, light fixtures, and other interior design pictures I’ve collected over the years. I think it could make a very interesting piece that’s both modern and personalized. Almost eclectic in a way. That’s why I also did a 3D drawing on it too see how it might look more realistically.

I’m already having other ideas of how I could use this good piece of wood. I’m needing a pair of nightstands after all, so who knows what I’ll actually end up doing with it.

Have any stories of repurposing furniture, or pieces of it? Creative reuse of materials, old furniture, and other random things is one of my favorite aspects of design.

Keep cool readers, it’s hot out there!

Area Rug from the River

I think today is one of those moments where I try to create an idea from something that has inspired me and it doesn’t always work out.

On my way to work everyday I drive over a large river. Today as I was driving, I glanced over and saw the river had churned sections with smooth as glass areas cutting through it. I love seeing that because it looks so unreal. I don’t know if you understand what I’m trying to describe but either way I find it beautiful.

In the distance you can see a smoother part of this water view. This is the best picture I could find to show what I saw this morning.

So I thought maybe I could come up with a design that would be inspired by this natural occurrence. Thus, I came up with an area rug design that was an attempt to recreate and interpret it into a piece of décor.

I used photoshop to apply the colors I was thinking of.

As I was writing this, I thought of other ways to use this inspiration for a design of either another piece of décor or even a whole room. But, sometimes it can be forced when I focus too much on it so I’ll let this sit for a while. So I’m not too proud or excited about this area rug design but maybe I’ll come up with a  better design or something new entirely.

Hope you enjoy either way. Feel free to comment and offer improvements.

Bottles Light Fixture

This is one of my personal favorites. A random spark of genius even. If it has been done before I haven’t seen it.

Inspiration

Every idea has a story or source of inspiration behind it and I plan to share that with every idea, especially the original ones. This light fixture idea was inspired by the movie The Princess and the Frog, the recently released classically animated Disney Movie. There is a musical scene in Mama Odie’s tree house where she has hung millions of colored bottles from the branches. As the sun hits them, its paints the world in beautifully brilliant colors. And that’s when the idea hit me. How awesome would this be to recreate in a room as a light fixture?! Plus, I have sort of a fetish for colored and oddly shaped bottles, and glass.

The Sketch

My original design featured in a dining room.

Some construction ideas and notes based on my original idea.

With this idea floating in my head, I quickly sketched it out and even drew it into a room. Then, as I was preparing to share this today, I thought about a practical way to construct it and sketched that out as well. After all, I may want to make this someday and have it hang in my dining room or foyer. So there’s another little sketch featured that is close up and more detailed.

Construction

My first idea was to have the light bulbs rest inside the bottles. Its still an option but because bottles are not always very large, this would limit the size of the bulbs to little skinny ones that don’t give off much light. So instead I designed and ceiling mounted structure that would have 5 small recessed lights that were directed at the bottles, arranged in a circle to cover all sides. In theory this should 1. Create enough light to illuminate a dining area or foyer and 2. Should reflect the color of the bottles in all directions. That’s the theory anyways. The structure holding the lights would be made of metal and would be deep enough to hold the can lights and hide the wiring. It would also be what the bottles would hang from, making it all one simple fixture. The bottles would hang from a strong clear wire to give the appearance that the bottles are floating. I also think that hanging the bottles at different heights make it more interesting, as well as varying shapes and, of course, color.

Unfortunately, I do not foresee this idea becoming a reality anytime soon. Not unless I suddenly become friends with an electrician. Of course, I have a wonderful grandfather who could probably construct this. So maybe someday.

Thoughts? Recommendations for Improvement? Offers to build, with the artist (me) referenced as the designer and a cut of the profits?

On a serious note, this is in fact an original design by me. If you wish to use it in any way, shape, or form, please ask me first. If you have the capabilities of constructing it and would like to, I would love to work with you.

Thanks for reading!