Friday April 1st, I will be drawing dogs Warby Parker Soho 4-7pm for their Warby Barker April Fools celebration. Dogs will have glasses to try on and I will be trying my best to work and not cuddle them all night.
See you there?
Goin' Fulltime Freelance
In the end of February, I left my corporate job doing children's graphics t-shirts and have transitioned to FULLTIME FREELANCE! Woohoo! I am very excited to be doing this fulltime now!
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Yes Williamsburg Instagram Takeover
In March, I took over the YesWilliamsburg Instagram page for a day. I shared 4 of my favorite neighborhood spots. Thanks for having me YesWilliamsburg.
Skin & Body Essentials
Winter is upon us and that means tight, dry skin! I've been wanting to update my Essentials list (previous essentials here, here, and here) - but this time, with my favorite skin and body products. These have been my top skin and body products I have been loving recently. (products listed in order of the columns, L-R) Do you have any favorites? I always like to check out new products, let me know about yours!
Nars Desire Blush ($30) The bright pink color initially turned me off at Sephora, thinking it would be too much for my face. Delightfully, I was surprised how much it warmed up my cheeks after swiping on the hue. Warning: this is very pigmented, so a little goes a long way.
Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Anti-Wrinkle Eye & Lip Cream ($42) Sephora must know what they're doing. I received a set of Caudalie samples from the beauty retailer and since then, the eye and lip cream made me a convert. This product helps maintain moisture in the skin around my eyes and lips. I hope to add other Polyphenol products to my regimen at some point.
La Mer The Moisturizing Soft Cream ($170+) This is my splurge item! I'm definitely a La Mer convert. My skin used to be so prone to flaking and drying with other moisturizers, but with this Soft Cream, my skin stays really hydrated with out feeling heavy or greasy. I'll be saving my pennies for this one.
Library of Flowers True Vanilla Handcreme ($25) The beautifully illustrated packaging originally lured me to this product, but it's the aromatic vanilla that has me buying my second tube.
Clarisonic Mia2 ($149) This motorized cleansing facial brush has been a well spent purchase. It deep cleans and buffs, resulting with a squeaky clean face.
Soapwalla Citrus Deodorant Cream ($14) I've been wanting to implement a natural and aluminum-free deodorant into my regimen. So far, this Soapwalla deodorant cream is doing pretty well. I may have to look for another option in the summer months though, as this is not an antiperspirant.
Avene Thermal Spring Water ($12ish) I purchased this at Duane Reade as something to give my face a nice moisturized pick up. It is the first thing I put on after washing my face and before my sunscreen. It feels fancy and reminds me of running through a sprinkler.
Beauty Blender ($20) My mom bought this for me as a stocking stuffer last year and since then, it has been a helpful aid when applying and blending foundation.
Supergoop! City Sunscreen Serum ($42) Vivre la SPF! My mom gave me a Supergoop City Sunscreen sample from Sephora awhile back (I guess my mom is the beauty guru in the family!) . It wore so nicely as a base layer under moisturizer and foundation, without any subsequent flaking, that I bought their retail sized product. And no breakouts! Highly recommended.
Oxalis Geranium Clay Mask ($18) Ah! One of my favorites. Oxalis is an apothecary brand started by a previous co-worker, Erin. I feel like this mask cleans out my pores like a vacuum. Anytime I miss completing a week's mask, I can feel it and can't wait to rub on this mask.
I hope some of these inspire you, and please let me know if you have any personal favorites yourself!
Warby Parker Event
In December, I was invited, along with fellow illustrators, Paul Hoppe and Ellen Weinstein, to illustrate at two Warby Parker Holiday events. Warby Parker is a American brand that sells prescription eyewear and sunglasses. Warby Parker had a large holiday marketing campaign focused around small buttons, so as an extension of that, we were asked to create custom illustrated buttons for their event guests. It was a really great time and kept me on my toes. Tom graciously asked if I would like some photos of the event, so he came to take a few photos. If you'd like to take a look, I have them here today. Thanks Jamal and their team for the invite!
Warby Parker event
I'll be drawing buttons at Warby Parker Soho tonight, WEDS 12/9 and next WEDS 12/16 from 6-8pm.
Hope to see you there!
More event info can be found here.
Our Wedding Details
My fiance and I got hitched this June. Hooray!With limited time and energy between a job and freelance work, I focused on projects that I knew I could handle. I needed to avoid a total bridal meltdown! Some of those projects were our invite, our wedding favors (which also served as our table assignments), as well as signage for the event.
For our invitation, I illustrated the front, the inside map, as well as the assets used throughout the invite. My fiance worked on the inside typography and layout. We decided on a limited color palette of black and yellow to ensure a minimal use of ink. We printed the invitation suite on our own and wanted to avoid buying tons of ink cartridges. Plus the color palette kinda screamed "NYC" to me. Taxis, stoplights, black and white cookies, oh my!
Oh, here's a fun gif of our invite. :)
With the signage, I used the same illustration from the invite and added directional information for the venue.
For the table assignments, it was important to me that they were both functional for the event, but also useful after the wedding. So, I decided on illustrating notepads that would have the table assignments written on them, but could also be used afterwards for list making or note taking. I had a lot of fun illustrating this whimsical NYC scene.
To complete this favor, I bought some adorable pencils from Knot & Bow that were engraved with adorable food pairings. Mac & Cheese, Meat & Potatoes, Pancakes & Syrup!
New York City is bracing for mega blizzard 2015 to strike tonight, so I finally had a minute to play catchup with my blog. Please stay safe wherever you may be. And thank you for reading about our wedding details.
I hope to share some photos from the wedding in the next few weeks. Take care!
Fall Essentials
It seems that Fall has arrived, at least that is what the calendar is telling me. It has been unusually warm here in New York, leaving me a bit perplexed on what to wear for the day. October has always been a sort of personal refresh button for me, as my birthday falls in this month. I always feel it's the right time for me to take stock of what I have accomplished in the past year as well as write some personal and professional goals for the year to come. So along with taking stock of my personal achievements, the season also makes me want to assess what items I would like to add to my wardrobe. Like the Honeymoon Essentials list I shared a few months ago, I was hoping to share with you an updated for this crisp season.
These are items I would love to add to my closet: - Classic all the way. I think a trench and aubergine hat is the way to go this fall. - I would like to add some beautiful "school" supplies for the studio and for keeping up with clients, so it has to be an iPhone 6 (my 4 needs an upgrade), Poppin Pens, and this gold Hay Brass Scissors from Huset. - I'm trying to upgrade my hair routine by adding this Oribe conditioner. So far it's great for sleek blow-outs. - Dy-ying for this beautiful Mansur Gavriel bucket bag. Gorg-eous! Some day soon, I hope to buy a nice bag! - Easy, classic slip on boots to wear with skinny jeans. I've got my eye on these Dix Tab Ankle Boots by JCrew. - Something about the Peter Pan collar on this Gap oxford makes it a simple and sweet update for fall. - Simple MiniDisc Stud earrings by Loren Stewart. Accessorizing is easy, done! - Love the new Curses collection by Falconwright, especially this Hands Print Card Holder. These ladies always kill it with their collections!
What do you have your eye on for fall? I would love to hear!
Some Work Photos
I had taken these photos a while back of the two page spread from the Spring into Action article in Rhode Island Monthly.
Honeymoon Essentials
Hey! I just got married and we went on our honeymoon!I tried to pack light and found certain items were in constant hand's reach because they were so helpful, useful, or just a plain necessity! 
If you are going on a vacation to a tropical area or looking for packing tips, here are some items I thought were super helpful while traveling! Starting from the top center and going clockwise...
-Feel cute and chic in these sunny shades by Illesteva, the Leonard style via The Dreslyn. -The cutest hat from Banana Republic protected me from the sun and has this great 90's Blossom vibe. Sorry, I purchased it a few months back! -A collection of sunscreens, lipbalms with SPF, and deet-free bugspray for skin protection. I really liked Coola lipbalm and mango sunscreen, Neutrogena Clear Face, and Natrapel bug spray. -This net bag from Pearl River helped keep the sand out and stuff in. Just be sure to pack your small items in a larger bag. I used Baggu small 3d zip bag for keeping all my personal items together and keeping sand out! -Keep it easy and pretty when walking to and from the pool with this coverup by Band of Gypsies. -These gold Lillien JCrew wedges actually were my wedding shoes that I bought last minute. Really easy to fancy up an outfit for going out to dinners on vacation. -To keep our medicines together we used Baggu Medium 3d and Large 3d (not illustrated here) helped store a pair of shoes. -An old, peppy JCrew lobster scarf helped make a beach hair-day look pulled together. -I was influenced by a co-worker to take the plunge and try out an SPF protecting rash-guard. I found this cute and classic striped one from Old Navy. -And last but definitely not the least, I kept my jewelry simple by just bringing my wedding band and a simple gold necklace. It was better to keep stuff at home to limit the possibility of losing any!
These articles were so helpful to me, I hope that they can help you too when you are packing for any summer trips!
App Illustrations
Earlier this year, I was asked to redesign assets for math app company, Slate.I had a really fun time working on this. Unfortunately, the illustrations were never used, but I still wanted to share them. I especially had fun "designing" my ultimate teenage boy room, pizza rug included!
Thanks Noel for his project!
Peony season
A new piece for summer. I love seeing peonies at the farmers market.
E-Coupon Addict
I did a piece for The Globe and Mail's Facts and Arguments page. The article was about a woman's addiction to purchasing e-coupons. Read the article here (click on the read more button below for the active link).
Thanks AD: Matt French for this assignment.
Wedding Season
Before I left for Japan, I completed a quick-turn-around job illustrating a sign for a wedding.Sam, the bride, was a previous co-worker of mine at American Eagle. I was so humbled when she asked me to illustrate something for her big day!
Sam was looking for an illustrated sign that would sit on the favor table and would tie back to their handmade granola favor. The granola recipe was her mother-in-law's, so Sam wanted to make sure her MIL was mentioned on the sign. I think it is a cute idea and gives a nod of appreciation to her new in-law.
Congratulations Sam and Nick!
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It's the start of wedding season! If you have an idea for your wedding that includes illustration, I would be happy to bring it to life!
Dr. Seuss
I did a piece for Ten Paces and Draw's Dr. Seuss swap. You can check it out here.
And here is the sketch that I submitted for someone else to complete.
A Car a Day
I'm starting a month long drawing series over on my tumblr. I'm drawing a car a day for a month. Right now I am on Day 2. Check it out over here.
Oh Christmas Tree!
A holiday illustration to accompany an essay written by Christopher Cameron for The Globe and Mail's Facts and Arguments page. I was really excited to do this piece because of the holiday theme.
You can read the full essay here. Thanks AD Matt French!
12 Days of Christmas
Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving! I'm selling my 12 Days of Christmas greeting card set on my etsy shop. $22 for 12 individual cards. Use code HOL15 for 15% through the end of November. Happy Holidays!
Empathy
I posted the above image on my tumblr, but I wanted to put it up here too because you can see it bigger. This is a piece that I did a month or two ago in conjunction with a larger educational piece that shows children how disabled peoples move about (it's a personal piece that is taking me a bit longer to complete). The subject of disability is a personal topic for me since my mom developed a neurological disorder when I was in highschool. She has a chronic disability that she constantly has to battle and learn to adapt to. I think it's important for young people to learn about disabilities and just have empathy and compassion for all people. Especially people that are different than you. *more on this subject later.
Winning Jeopardy
I have a new piece with the Globe and Mail and it's all about Jeopardy.
Check it out here. Thanks AD Matthew French.