Join the fight against animal cruelty!

In the spirit of EU's recent ban on animal testing for all cosmetic products, I've decided to join in on the cause. It has come to my attention that new technology have already appeared that are much better than animal testing in every way and produce much better results. However, majority of cosmetic companies are still refusing to change their policy due to various reasons (marketing products to countries where animal testing is mandatory, cost of changing product development process etc.). Personally I've decided to boycott those brands who are not working towards gaining a cruelty-free reputation and receiving recognition from PETA and/or Leaping Bunny.

Of course that means my choices when it comes to shopping for "girly things" have become severely limited, which is not necessarily a bad thing for me since I will no longer be dazzled by all the pretty bottles on store shelves. Plus, I get to start exploring for smaller brands that are not very well known but carry awesome, cruelty-free and affordable products.

So far, through referencing the PETA list and looking up company FAQs, I've gather a few more well-known brands that can be found at Sephora or Shoppers which are cruelty free. I am happy to know that I've been a fan of some of them even before joining in on this cruelty-free business.

Lush
Yes To
Joe Fresh (Loblaw's own brand)
Live Clean (proudly Canadian!)

Kiss My Face

Yes To 

Hard Candy

Physician’s Formula (great for sensitive skin)

Wet n’ Wild (awesome eye-shadow palettes)

GOSH Cosmetics

Organix (a treat for your hair)

Stila (favourite make-up brand of all time)

NARS

Too Faced

Hourglass

Tarte

NYX (sexy lipsticks)

Lise Watier (proudly Canadian!)

I encourage everyone owns a pet, who loves animals to look into this cause. What would we do, if it's one of our dears at home, that is being forced to have chemicals put onto them for the benefit (not survival) of us? 

Next time I visit a drugstore, or any store with cosmetics, I will be sure to look into the products myself in person. 

ADULT LANGUAGE...USER DISCRETION IS ADVISED

A couple of us came up with this new meme idea last night...and I just went with it. The picture is about a Chinese farmer, who one day just decided to build a helicopter for no reason...and succeeded. I think it's so awesome. I mean, who just gets up one day and decide to do something like that?

This is our tribute to this very smart (and funny) Chinese farmer. Maybe this meme will catch on?

Warrior

Got bored and did this quickly. Cave woman warrior. 

Sentimental

In literature it's a type of mode that describes a work that is a recreation of an earlier mode. When this recreation mode is applied in fashion, amazing results occurs.

This is a Dolce & Gabana dress Katy Perry wore to the MET Gala this year. It's so beautiful and reminiscent of the Byzantine culture and fashion. I'm squuuealing inside. Good job D&G!

A New Life

A sketch of Akbar from the Indian movie Jodhaa Akbar to celebrate the end of my life as a student.

Goofin Off

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.

Treasure Find of the Day

There is something charming about small details in history. So excited I found this blog/site.

http://theloveforhistory.com/

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.

In an alternate universe...

Halfway through first semester I started regretting all the major story changes I had to make to my film because it became like a completely different film. So I came up with this story and did the boards in like two days. Really liked the story and spent so much more effort on these boards than the boards for my actual film, and the scratch track is awesome.

A part of me wish I could go back to pick this story instead but in all honesty I probably would've died trying to paint all that forest scenery. Although I would've had so much fun researching and designing the costumes and settings of ancient Indus tribal civilization. Perhaps in the future I can make it into a reality.