In the beginning...

I wanted to start off with a drawing or somesuch, but I just spent a greater part of the afternoon watching TV. I never watch TV, so this is something of an event. Luckily, I was watching fashion shows, so this is still somewhat topical. (I am aware there is no context to speak of. But still.)

Now, I enjoy fashion – one might even say I have more than a passing interest in it, given how much time I spend trawling the web for fashionable things. But while I enjoy looking at fashion shows sometimes (Alexander McQueen jumps to mind), in general I have a rather more vested interest in the everyday, casual appeal of fashion and beauty, because I am neither a model nor a designer. This is changing (the interest, not the model/designer-status). There is something deliciously sumptuous about the deepness and richness of the colors in a well-styled fashion spread or advertisement (Prada ads = YES PLZ), and there is something inexplicably wonderful and artful about the manipulation of fabrics, shapes, and textures to accent and change the human form. The fashion world has had an undeniably impact on my drawing, and if I were an art student, I'd be all up on that "erasing the boundary between art and fashion" shizznap on my midterm exam.

That reminds me: I've had several conversations with naysayers about whether or not fashion is art. It is. But like all other forms of art, it requires vision, expression, and above all, good direction. Those atrocious Guess ads are, well, atrocious – specimens of banality, empty sex appeal, and poor execution. I won't say they aren't art, but, well, they're just not very good. I can imagine why you might look at something like that and be skeptical.

Somewhere in there I was going to talk about my first experience watching Project Runway. But all I can think of at the moment is... dang, them peeps is catty.


EDIT: An illustrated guide. First, the good:

I have a very real weakness for subtle blushes of color.

What's brilliant about this image:
1. The clean, crisp lines of contrast between the top and the model's skin.
2. The juxtaposition of the face in the painting against that of the model, and the line of movement the placement of both creates.
3. The way the pattern of the top complements the background sketch.
4. The colors, man, the colooorrrssss.
5. The bag is super-cute. YES, FRIVOLITY.

Alexander McQueen. My friends, you will come to realize this in the coming months: I really, really, really like shoes. It's an issue. A female issue.

Anyway, these remind me of Chinese junks.

And now the bad. Only one!

Barring the fact that they are trying to use Paris Hilton as a fashion icon, this is just garish. I shouldn't have to say why.

The end!