It's been a while...

Hi everyone, it has been a while hasn't it? I have been away from the blogosphere and from my YT channel for like a month now (or more) but who's counting? 

I've been extremely busy with Summer classes and my last Summer class ends in two weeks. (I wish I could be sewing instead!) I will be back on here blogging and posting more often, I promise. 

In the past two weeks I have purchased so many new patterns and checked out tons of sewing books from the library and have been reading them in my spare time. I totally recommend the Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting by Sarah Veblen. The book is so informative and it has great step by step photographs. I will be buying it on the 1st at Joann's and using my 50% off coupon so I can get it for only $12. I LOVE IT!

I just love that the library has sewing pattern books because it saves me a little money when it comes to buying patterns that I like. For example, there were a few patterns that I liked from the Sew Serendipity book that I just had to have, but there were also some that I wouldn't ever make so I didn't want to buy it right now. (Instead I bought the BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook.) So I checked it out from the library so that I could learn how to make the pattern that I did like on Sew Serendipity and it saved me some money:) I will for sure be adding it to my collection later, but it was just not a must-have right now. Thank goodness for libraries! 

Also, I have purchased some other patterns, which I will be posting a haul about later, but the best & biggest purchase I made was my PGM Dress Form! Oh My Gosh! I was just so excited when it came in the mail yesterday! I waited for the UPS man all day. It was like Christmas came early. I already drafted my first pattern on Audrey! Hubby named her that after I told him to help me with names. Audrey was my favorite, and it doesn't hurt that she's named after Audrey Hepburn:)

Anyway, I hope that ya'll are having a fantastic week and I will see ya'll very soon with lots of new posts about my latest sewing adventures. Btw: Should I name my first pattern piece/dress after my dress form, (like, "The Audrey Dress") or something else? 

Here's Audrey! :)

btw: I found this dress on Modcloth and I knew that I had to make something like it! It is so gorgeous! I just love the beading and jewels. So I will let ya'll know if I do!

So what do you think? Don't you just love it? Btw: What books that contain patterns do you just love and HAD to buy? 

Fashion Illustration w/Gouache and Makeup

I painted a fashion illustration for the first time today with my gouache paints and I added a little bit of pizazz to it by adding some glitter eyeshadow. Yes, you heard read me right, makeup. I was looking for glitter and didn't find any so I thought, "what the heck, Why not?" It came out nice. Though I have to say, I love the effect of glitter better on pictures I've seen online. Anyways, I hope that you love it! I will be making more, but of course I will be buying paper that will not bend because my sketchpad was not the best paper for it. 

The last time I painted something was in my 2D class last fall and let's just say it was horrible. I got an A on it, for effort, but I'm sure the teacher felt bad for me because he saw how much trouble I was having with it. So, much to my surprise, this one exceeded my expectations, Big Time.

Enjoy the process of pictures, and let me know what you think:)

 This is where I used a bit of clear glue. I also added it on the highlights of the hat, shoulders and top of bust.

 Here it is with the shimmer eyeshadow:)

 The quirky tools I used:)

My Gouache Paints

What do you think of my first painted fashion illustration?

Prismacolor Review: Pros and Cons

I bought a set of Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils in a 24 pack on Wednesday for $34.99. 

and 12 Prismacolor Markers in the Chisel/Fine Double Ended Art Markers ($3.50 each).

Here are the twelve colors I purchased:

Aquamarine (one of my faves)

Violet (one of my faves)

Cool Grey 80%

Indigo Blue

Blue Slate

Grass Green

Canary Yellow

Light Peach

Dark Brown

GoldenRod (for a better color check the necklace on Picture 1 below)

Spring Green

Scarlet Lake (one of my faves)

All pictures of color shades via Utrecht Art Supplies

Then I also bought two of the Brush/Fine Art Markers at Hobby Lobby because my school bookstore didn't have certain colors ($4.99 each).

I purchased the following colors:

Crimson Red

and Black

All pictures of color shades via Utrecht Art Supplies

The following is completely my own opinion after using the markers and colored pencils to draw fashion illustrations. I will show you three that I drew and then give the pros and cons. I was NOT paid for this review and I was not given these supplies by Prismacolor to review, I purchased these myself. 

This one is a bigger drawing of the French Girl that Kate Rodgers did on her Paper Fashion Blog. Check it out, she is amazing! I can only hope to make illustrations like her one day. Ever since I saw her French Girl I've wanted to recreate it, so I did and I changed her up just a bit:) I also only used the markers here, except for a bit of white mapcolor for highlight, and didn't really overlap the different shades so that I could see what it looked like with just the basic markers.

 On this one I used all of the things I bought and added an sKm Quick Dry All Purpose Correction Pen with a Metal Tip for the highlights. (if you click on the link, it is the second pen from the top) As you can tell, if you don't blend the lines very well, you do get streaks. I intended to create streaks, but if you want a solid yellow color, do not lift your hand and glide it smoothly and easily and it WILL blend the color.

And for the last one I am showing ya'll how I used both the markers and mapcolors and also the white out; and, I also layered the different markers and colors to create shadows and to create new colors. As you can tell, I was able to layer purple over the blues, and greens over the blue, and mapcolors on the markers. The hair alone has different shades of black, peach, brown, and mapcolors in orange and yellow. The hat started with the Aquamarine color, layered again with the same color, followed by Violet, then Indigo Blue, and lastly with Cool Grey 80% and Black. I made highlights with the white mapcolor and the white out. The shirt has the Crimson Red marker and different shades of red and orange +white on the shades. The darker hues are the markers. The lighter tones of white shades on her for highlights are the mapcolor, the bright white ones is the white out correction pen.

These are drawn with regular Crayola Markers. As you can tell there is a lot of streaking, lines, and it is very choppy in the colors. You can't really blend them, layer over them, or keep from getting streaks.

First off, the Pros:

• I really like the fact that if you keep your hand relaxed and glide over the paper it creates a paint like color. (See Picture 1) It all looks like one solid color unlike the last picture of the Crayola markers. 
• I like the variety of colors, they have hundreds! They have 4 main sets for markers, Warm Grey

Cool Grey

French Grey

and Primary/Secondary Colors

and this is just the markers! They have tons of colors and packages for the map colors.

• They also carry Pastels

Charcoal

and Graphite & Sketching.

• If you want, they also carry accessories such as erasers, sharpeners, or cases for your Prismacolor tools.
• I like that you can layer the markers and it won't create streaks and it doesn't make your paper rip or rub off like it does when you layer Crayola markers. 
• You can also layer the different media to create different shades/effects.
• You can use the Prismacolor Colorless Blender Marker to erase any marks with the marker that you did not want, or if you went outside the lines of your drawing, just erase! (Prismacolor Colorless Blender Mapcolor available also). 
• You can also drain the other colors onto it and then draw with it and it creates stripes or rainbow of the different colors you added to it! Very cool technique. (See video at end of post)
• You can also drain your markers onto a plastic paint holder and then using the Prismacolor Colorless Blender Marker, mix the colors to create your own color. (See video at end of post)
• You can also use these Colorless Blender Pencils & Markers to blend colors and enhance your artwork.
• The markers are solvent based not alcohol based so they don't smell very bad, but they do have a "marker smell" to them. I didn't mind it at all, didn't even think about it. 
• Easy to store in a bag or in their actual case that you can buy separately from Prismacolor, or you can find storage containers online. 
• You can leave them open while you draw and then close them afterwards and they won't dry out. I don't do this because I like to make sure they last longer, but you can if you want. 
• Each marker comes with two sizes, one small (fine) and a thicker/broader size on the other side. Or a brush side if you buy the brush one, which I prefer best now.
• They have Metallics & Golds in their collection for a bit of shimmer/shine. I love the gold ones, tried it out, but didn't purchase. I regret it now, so will go back for it.
• You can use any paper, I find that it works nicely on my medium weight Bristol paper without roughness.
• Completely Waterproof, in case you get it on your clothes.
• You can lighten colors by adding lighter colors on top of darker ones, even black to a certain extent.
• Prismacolor Pencils blend extremely well. I compare them to my Conte Charcoal Pastels and they pretty much look/draw the same except that the Charcoal Pastels blur and if you touch them, and they will leave the color on your skin or other paper until you use a stay spray. These don't do that, but otherwise the colors are the same.

Now the Cons:

• Of course the price for one. I am an artist and will use these regularly, as in almost every day. I paid $3.50 each for my 12 and $4.99 at Hobby Lobby for the two that they didn't have at my bookstore on campus. I will be purchasing more later but it will be online for sure. Especially if you are buying in bulk and don't have any to begin with, buy a pack online, it will be cheaper that way. I just needed them and had a bit of extra cash so I decided it was good for me. If you are buying only a couple that you are in need of, of course it's smarter to purchase separately. 
• I find that in the beginning they did create smears. Blending the markers well takes practice in order not to get streaks. This might disappoint people who wanted the blended technique instantly. I didn't achieve that until a few tries. 
• It doesn't come with storage! Unless you buy them in a pack, like my mapcolor 24 pack set. They came in a tin container, but my markers, since they were purchased separately, didn't have a container. They don't sell them at any stores where I live, not even Hobby Lobby, and I have to order the case online. You can use a regular pencil pouch, but if I'm going to spend almost $5/marker, I want a nice cover to protect them. 
• There really is no white for a highlight that is bright. (At least not that I know of) I looked online and didn't find one, not even in the markers. I had to use the white MapColor and just after three drawings of just highlights I had to resharpen, so they do wear out quicker because they are softer mapcolors. I ended up using a white out correction pen for the brighter highlights. I will be buying the white sharpie fine pen for this use and I'll let you know how it goes.
• Sometimes the color is not the exact color of the Prismacolor sticker, it comes out darker, sometimes lighter depending on the pressure you push.
• They are NOT refillable! I've heard that the Copic Markers are amazing, I will be buying some later and reviewing them, especially since they are refillable.
• I found that they do bleed through to the next sheet of paper if you layer a couple of times. I had to place a white sheet of printer paper under so it wouldn't leak through to my next page in my illustration book.
• They are the size of the crayola markers and I wish they were a bit slimmer.

Overall Opinion

• I do love these, they are a big, ok, VERY BIG, upgrade from my regular crayola markers. 
• I would purchase again, but then again, I haven't used the Copic's, so my opinion is based on the fact that I have not used those and so far these are really nice, and would purchase again.
• I preferred the Brush/Fine Art Markers instead of the Chisel/Fine Markers. They blended better and I got less streaks from those. It was hard and a bit awkward sometimes to paint flat with the chisel side. I'd go out of the lines all the time. I will now be purchasing only the Brush/Fine Art ones unless I can't find the color I need.
• A 24 pack of Mapcolors was sufficient enough for my drawings, except for the fact that there was no grey in the pack. I will buy one separately, but other than that, I felt I really didn't need a bigger pack. It had a good range of colors.
• My 14 colors of markers were sufficient for my everyday collection/illustrations. The only other ones that I would "need" to purchase is a bit of darker shades on the peaches and yellow, and lighter ones on the violets, scarlets, and reds. I also need an orange, and a light orange, and different shades of grey. Again, I will use these on a daily basis, but if it's a gift for a friend or child, I would purchase a set of 12 from the top. For sure the primary/secondary colors at least.

Here is the video I mentioned above for the Colorless Blender Marker

if you can't see the video or just see a code, copy & paste the following url and it will take you to it:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO2tr-3vYig

Here are a few pictures from Artists, where Prismacolor media was used.
Steven Miller:




Vilas Tonape:


and lastly, Diana Garrett

Alas, that is my review. I hope that you enjoyed it and that you found it informative. Let me know what you think about them. I understand that many people favor the Copic ones, but they are $6.99 here at Hobby Lobby, and I am giving a review without ever having tried those. Once I do, I promise to do a comparison:)

All pictures of Prismacolors are via Prismacolor's main website, unless otherwise stated.