Modern Nail Art

Chao everyone,

If you haven’t figured by now, I’m a sucker for mixed media artwork and designs. I recently follow an artist named Katie Rogers; on Instagram, she’s Paperfashion. She’s a fantastic watercolor artist! I was that Instagram maniac that liked every single picture on her page. My favorite is the one where she uses nail polish as her medium (below).

Tiny Dancer on a Puddle of Pain. Pinned on Pinterest.

It’s so simple and elegant. So….I attempted it. Let tell me ya, this was not simple. First of all, nail polish comes in different viscosity, so depending on how long you’ve had that polish, it might not come out all at once. I basically waited awhile for a decent amount of paint to come out.

Not a good start.

I decided to recreate the Tiny Dancer since I would fail dramatically if I did something else. Well, I failed dramatically anyway.

Has it occurred to anyone that my “painting” looks very similar to that doll head/spider body thing from Toy Story?

The creepy thing that gave me nightmares from Toy Story. Photo from Blogspot.

Not exactly the look I was aiming for. I’m sorry you had to witness that.

Anyway, check out Kate Rodger’s PaperFashion on Instagram! She also has an amazing website that blogs all of her unconventional work. Maybe that will help erase the memory of the creepy doll head.

Until next time,

Nhi

 

Fashion Illustrations using Flower Petals

Chao my readers!

A few months ago, my sister sent me an email with a link to a Huffington Post article. She knew I am super into the fashion industry, so she always spams me with pretty neat stories. The story shows a Singaporean fashion design student, Grace Ciao, who creatively uses flower petals to form beautiful illustrations of dresses.

Grace’s illustration named Violet Iris. Photo courtesy of graceciao.com

Sunflower dress design. Photo courtesy of graceciao.com

When I read this, my initial reaction was, “OMG, why didn’t I think of this?!” My mind was blown. The flowers’ vibrant colors made each of her design jump off the page. Grace told BuzzFeed that her inspiration came incidentally; she noticed that a red rose that a boy gave her was dying.

Instagram photo @grace_ciao

Her unconventional method has made her noticeable all over the internet, including Mashable, BuzzFeed, and Huffington Post. Just to think, she’s majoring in business! I follow her on Instagram and sometimes, I get lost in her wonderful works. Honestly, it makes me want to start gathering flowers and create flower petal dresses too!.Although, my medium will mostly consist of cacti and a variety of sage. Living in the desert pretty much limits you.

Anyway, I’d imagine it being very difficult preserving the shape and texture of these petals, but it would make a great portfolio piece if she wants to showcase her work to clients or potential schools. What would you use as your medium? Would you use flower petals for other illustrations?

Until next time,

Nhi