Monday Sketchbook 7/8/13

Changing things up a bit with some menswear sketches for my friend M.O. His character is a vampire slayer, so I was trying to come up with a formal look that was also functional.

Monday Sketchbook 7/1/13

I want to update the Green Outfit I wore for Up in the Aether - here are my ideas. Mostly I just want to make some things a little bit nicer.

Monday Sketchbook 6/24/13

Victorian Wedding Gown

Monday Sketchbook 6/17/13

Victorian Weeping Angel

Monday Sketchbook - New Feature

So, I'm going to try to start updating more regularly. Since my actual projects tend to be feast or famine, depending on the convention schedule, an easy way for me to update is to include all of the crazy IDEAS that I'm coming up with.

Without further ado, a glimpse into the chaos that is my sketchbook:

Purple and green Medusa outfit.

Up in the Aether 2013

Just got back from my annual steampunk Memorial Day weekend! World Steam Expo was replaced with Up in the Aether, and they managed to pull off a pretty decent convention. My friend L and I really appreciated the vacation aspect of it this year and had great fun (as usual) wearing pretty costumes, visiting with some old and new friends, and learning many new things.

I decided to enter the first annual Miss Steampunk contest; while I did not win, it definitely challenged my costume making ability, and I had a blast doing it.

Fair warning: picture heavy post ahead.

Day 1 outfit: Adventuring! I went for a sort of field biologist approach - if you look carefully you  can see a tiny (fake) butterfly and bird in the cages on the left. I also have a snake on my hat. 

Here's a full length look at the adventuring outfit. Who would have guessed the skirt used to be bedsheets?

The Ace of Spades brought a super cool light up gun that also made noises when you shot it. Didn't you know, steampunks love noisy light up things?!

Day 2: Egypt Punk. This is my 3rd Egyptian outfit that I've created, and I am finally happy with it. 

My bustle is a little crumpled in this shot (from sitting through a couple of panels already), but I was really quite pleased with how it turned out. 

Swimsuit competition! It's a little hard to see in this photo, but my bustle is made out of pool noodles. I then covered it in chiffon and netting, and attached little tiny sea creatures. 

Total fangirl moment: meeting one of my favorite musicians, Voltaire!

Day 3: Serene in Green. This is the outfit I'm probably the most proud of. I used an old 2 piece suit as the base, and then added all of the fun trim and sleeves and poofy underskirt. I'm also wearing my brand new hat from Blonde Swan!

Close up of the corseting on the skirt. I will probably do a How-To post on this later; it's great for being able to change the size of thrift store finds. 

The Mr. and Miss Steampunk Contestants. It's ridiculous how good looking we all are. 

Serene within the chaos :)

One of my favorite photos of the weekend, taken by the talented David M. Rozian. This was part of the Dastardly Alliance's Miss Bad Ass Competition's War Face Round. 

Overall, we had a fabulous time (in case you couldn't tell by the photos. UitA, see you next year!

Doctor Who Art Break

Med school has been seriously cramping my artwork. However, I do find time to do some things (or rather, I MAKE time to do things...."Eh, Neurology can wait. I need to paint!"). Most recently, I've been on a Doctor Who and tea kick, mostly because I need some wibbley-wobbley-timey-wimey fun in  my life, and tea is my hot beverage of choice.

I did not make the shirt; it's just funny because it's true. 

I was inspired by this pinterest pin, and after I found a super cheap blue teapot at Goodwill, I had to make my own.

I just used plain old paint pens - I probably should have used porcelain pens, but I couldn't find any, and since I don't plan on dishwashing this, I figured it would work. I did seal with a coat of ModPodge just be sure.

I used the same paintpens to spruce up my new sketchbook, inspired by Neil Gaiman's speech "Make Good Art".

I plan on making some nerdy teacups to match :)