Viking Lady

 

Revised sketch. She is suppose to be a viking beauty queen. I really want to give her a very strong "vain" look.

Red

Inspired by a dress I saw on a window display. 

Sketchy

It's time to restart  my art life. 

This is a sketch of Mulan in (somewhat) historically accurate outfit. The poem recording her legend appeared around the time of Northern Wei dynasty (386-557 AD) and thus it is believed by most Chinese historians that Hua Mulan was in fact a girl of middle class family in the Northern Wei Dynasty and joined the army for her father in the war against the invading barbarians, the Rouran Khaganate (429 AD). 

More research to follow. There are several great women generals in Chinese history such as Liang Hongyu, Mu Guiyin and many more. There are poems, stories, (inaccurate) historic dramas about them. I want to do a series of drawings out of respect for them. 

New In Progress

I realized that I've only been drawing girls exclusively for a long long time. But now it's time to buckle down and challenge myself with something new. I vow to only draw men for the next month and learn how to do it properly. 

Here is my first piece now in progess! The father from my leica "Ameya". He is a tribe leader of the Ancient Indus Valley tribes.

Venice: City of Fortune

Today I woke up early because my cats sat on me, and I decided to revisit an old project I started helping my friend Linda design Venetian Renaissance costumes. Naturally, I started with a research session to get things going. One thing led to the other and now I'm learning all these new things about the city of Venice: a hub of commerce and culture sparkled with the romance of many historical events.

Talk about your humble beginnings. Venice began as a medieval version of a bomb shelter against terrorist attacks because of its advantageous geography. In 5th century the barbarians set their eyes on the town of Aquiliea. The townspeople fled at the sight of the barbarians, southwards towards an island called Torcello; because it was marshlands, it was easy to defend there. Eventually the small community of people decided to stay there and made it into a real settlement. Due to the presence of the barbarians, this settlement was both geographically and politically separated from the Byzantine empire and therefore, became a self-reliant community with their unique cultural flare.

It's because of this attitude that is the reason of their inevitable success. Because of their self-reliant nature as a city, many citizens became skilled tradesmen. Venice was the first city to witness the emergence of the middle class.

Ok, I'm gonna stop myself right here because it could take all day. These sites are great though!

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=426&HistoryID=aa43&gtrack=pthc

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/italy/italy-history-guide-history-of-venice/365


Also here is a quick sketch of a medieval Venetian girl. There is not really any drawing or picture of medieval Venetian clothing so I just pulled some inspiration from renaissance clothing.

Did you know hair bleaching was a popular activity amongst venetian women? They would sit on their terraces with their hair exposed to the sun for hours to get a natural blonde look.

Alexandria

A quick sketch of Alexandria, daughter of the Muscovite ambassador in "Orlando". I finished watching this movie today. The Russians, who used to be known as the muscovite all wore tall furry hats and big fur coats. Alexandria in particular was very pretty and looked quite fashionable in her fur hat and fur dress and fur boots

It really was a weird movie, but the costumes are quite nice.

Costumes

Quite rough and unfinished but I just liked the energy of it. I gotta start doing more of these costume pieces. Maybe like one topic or something. Lately many classmates of mine have formed drawing groups of different subject (Pokemon, extinct animals) I think it's a fun and effective motivation. Also this cool tumblr is created by two lovely ladies drawing different outfits and costumes. It's very inspiring, check it out!

Draw This Dress!

Frankish Lady

An old sketch of a noble lady in Frankish clothing...along with some notes on developments of ancient linguistic groups...basically I was nerding out lol.

Feeling Sketchy

I don't know what Victorian era feel or look like, but I suppose this is a start. 

Pretty Dress

I needed a break from film layouts, and so this happened. This dress was worn by Betty Draper in Mad Men season 3 episode 8 when they went to Italy and Betty got a beauty salon makeover. She was absolutely stunning. I wish I didn't clean up the sketch but I did, and now I regret it. I'll remember next time. 

I must say that after all the modern television I've been exposed to, I've come to appreciate the subtle beauty that is Mad Men. The art direction is absolutely stunning, the acting is superb, and it's nice to not have all that noisy melodrama for once. Good show. Loving the costumes and production designs. They've worked their charm meticulously, and I appreciate it. 

Pazryk Girl

Inspired by the documentry "Scythian Ice Maiden" Hopefully this can turn into a full colour piece one day.

Another Indian Girl

India

One of the four oldest civilizations of the world. Fascinating history and diversity. I need to learn more about it! After watching "Jodhaa Akbar" I just fell in love with their clothing and jewelry and architecture. When I have time I will be doing some more research into it :D

Venetian Lady update

Fix some mistakes and changed to a much better background. Now it looks much better...I feel good :D

Cute

Just relaxin'
Outfit worn by Amy:)

Finally...Painting

I'm slightly terrified actually...this is the first time I've actually tried digital painting seriously. Obviously theres tons of mistakes :( That's ok! Hopefully as I practice more and mor it will look better

Lady

Trying to sort out some stuff art wise. Amidst that here's a lady sketch

NEW

So I lost my USB that has all my process work and backup files in it :( It's tragic, but at the same time I guess it's an opportunity to pump some new blood into myself and the portfolio.

I'm actually taking on a new project where I collaborate with my friend Linda for her stop-motion thesis film. It takes places in the magical medieval Venice. I will be doing costume designs for her beautiful, elegant Venetian aristocrat lady. It's so fun! Already did some preliminary sketches.

Lil Black Dress

I did a quick little cartoon sketch of my friend Amy with the cutest black dress :) It's not colored in black for the purpose of showing off the design of the dress.

Dancing Lady

I don't know why but this is one of my favourite drawings. Maybe because of the sleeves lol. The posing is slightly referenced from a dancing scene in a Chinese TV show, but I had to change some places for better flow. She just look like she's got the moves, doesn't she?