LL Cool Jay

Something a little cheeky this week. =)

He's Going Back To Cali

Bird reference - California Scrub Jay
Completed with -  drawing inks, watercolor, gouache, and micron pens on vellum bristol paper.
Approximate size -  8.5 x 11 inches.

Prints available through the links below:

- RedBubble
- INPRNT


Cheers!

Wig Is Fashion (WIF): LF772 Wig Review

Happy Wednesday to all!

Today, I will be reviewing the "26 Inch, Straight Light Blonde Lace Front Synthetic Hair Wig LF772" from WIG IS FASHION (WIF).

Style Code: LF772
Color: Light Blonde
Cap Size: Head Circumference about 22" - 22.5"
Length Available: 26"
Wig Type: Lace Front
Lace Type: Swiss Lace in Nude Color (1.5 inches)
Parting: Any Direction
Material: Synthetic Fiber
Heat Resistant: 150C Heat Resistant




















Becoming increasingly more interested in costumed portraiture, I was looking to start putting together a solid assortment of higher quality looking clothing, accessories and hair pieces. The goal was to have a wardrobe that would look more believable on film, both in still and motion footage.

The biggest hurdle for this was the wig quality for the times when a look with long hair was preferred. So, I began researching into getting a front lace type of wig which would be to have the versatility for parting the hair in any direction, creating a larger range of hair styles, and have a more natural overall look.

In March, I decided to try one of WIF's wigs - "26 Inch, Straight Light Blonde Lace Front Synthetic Hair Wig LF772". And after reading and watching some tutorials on how to apply lace wigs, I decided to take it out for its first quick shoot on my birthday.

For the first look, it was styled into a simple half-updo. I used a stocking style wig cap that was a beige colour, and did not use any wig tape of glue.

On first glance, the results were pretty good, but as I wore the wig more and more, some areas of concern started to reveal themselves.

The overall rating I would give this wig would be: 3.25/5 stars.
Please find a detailed breakdown below:

1. Product likeness: Upon first looking at it and trying it on, there weren't any obvious differences with what was represented on the website and what arrived. The hair was approximately the same shade and length as on the website.

2. Quality and Comfort: Putting the wig on was not too difficult and I immediately enjoyed that the strands were more silky and natural looking than those from the more inexpensive wigs I've previously purchased. It felt fairly comfortable and it didn't get too hot for me to wear it for long periods of time. I do have pixie-cut short hair though, so maybe that helped. :) I think the hair looks pretty nice in photos, not too obviously synthetic or wig like, especially with the addition of accessories such as wreaths, hats, and hoods. Some Photoshop retouching is required at times, but not too much.

However, it was definitely more difficult to style this wig than some others because of issues in product quality. 

-For one, after putting it on for the first time, a track of hair fell out immediately, which was quite a surprise. I decided to have it sewn back in rather than trying to exchange for a new wig, since the other wig hair seemed to be still securely attached. 
-Another reason I found it difficult to style was because the wig was sparse in places, and even doing a simple half updo, or by parting the hair a certain way, would reveal the stripy wig structure underneath. (Click pictures to view larger)

So, that made the styling options much more limited. Not impossible, but we had to be very careful and strategic about styling, so that none of the sparse sections could be seen. (I had to get help from my mom, because she's far better at braiding hair than I am)

Strategic braiding to conceal any spareness

-The next factor which made this wig a bit more difficult to work with than I expected was its weight. Though not particularly surprising, because the hair is long, the wig was heavier and because of the weight, it kept sliding back where the forehead is, which led to revealing the wig cap/my real hair underneath. I will definitely be experimenting with wig tapes and glues to resolve this issue. 

3. Versatility: As I already touched upon in the previous point, this wig so far has not been as versatile as I hoped, because of the sparseness which limits the styling options. 

Regarding the styling possibilities using heat tools - since I do not own a curling iron which shows the degree temperature of iron, I was a little hesitant to give my wig rigorous curling attempts at risk of damaging it if my iron was hotter than the recommended 150C maximum heat. Though, I once put my iron on a lower heat setting and tried to give one strand a few curls. The resulting curls were very weak and the most impact was seen only on the ends. 
Using my flat iron was successful in straightening the hair though, which was nice. 

Curling attempt

 Another thing I noticed was that after I had some of my wig strand braided, left them braided for a long time (weeks/months), and then un-braided them - there was a gentle wave present. I'll be experimenting more with this in the future. 

4. Durability: So far, my LF772 is holding up pretty well. I haven't worn it too many times, maybe just 5 times for a few hours each, and haven't put it though bad weather, or anything like that. I think some of the ends aren't as smooth and silky as they once were, but this might be due to how long the hair on this wig is, making it more prone to tangling. 

Summary: At this time, I'm quite reluctant to purchase one of these types of wigs from Wig Is Fashion again, but I do see them having sales and promotions fairly regularly on their website, so maybe if the savings were tempting, I'd try again. For now, I'll just keep experimenting with the piece I have.

Thanks for reading!

Also seen in the photos from this post:

-Periwinkle coloured outfit: created by my mom, inspired by one of Legolas' outfits.
-Silver elven headpiece: created by SweetElvenChestnut

Till next time!

Memorial Portrait

Hello there,

It's been some time since my last post, and I hope that everyone's summer has been a nice one.

I've been very fortunate in that the circumstances in my life had finally worked out in such a way that I was finally able to visit Iceland, which was a dream of mine for about 10 years now. It was definitely a much needed getaway and a very uplifting trip. Though I did not do any plein air sketching or painting, I took a large number of photos and perhaps in the near future I'll use these for a fantasy illustration.

In more sad news, a month ago, my beloved childhood cat Toma (nicknamed Tomcat) has passed away at the age of 18. Although she passed peacefully, it was (and is) still very hard to come to terms with. Rationalizing that she had a healthy and comfortable life did little to ease ease feelings of loss, regret, and pain. So, I just tried to do something nice to honor her memory. I was very nervous about how it would turn out, but in small steps I worked towards painting her portrait. In the end, I'm pretty happy with the results.

Looking through all the photos we had of her, I picked a reference which I thought would work best for the composition I had in mind and would come closest for the expression and mood I was hoping to capture.

As usual, I started with a pencil sketch. Then did some ink with my micron pens to map out the main features and stripes in the fur.

Next, I tackled the background. I wanted it to have an impressionistic feel; suggestive of some of whimsical, forested area, but keeping the focus on Tomcat's face. I wanted to believe her spirit lives on somewhere green, lush and happy.

Then, I worked at building up subtle layers of colour to illustrate the softness of her fur, finishing off with touches of white gouache for the whiskers, eyebrows, and eye glimmers.

close up

For the final touches, I added a little bit of gold paint to add some accents to the eyes, fur, and the background. It's by no means an addition that has a visible impact on the finished piece after digital reproduction, but I find it to be a pleasant, understated feature of in person viewing.

 (I apologies for the lesser quality images of my in-process work. Unfortunately, I did not have the scanner conveniently within my reach, so all the work in progress photos are made on my phone.)

1999-2017

Anyways, if you enjoy the piece, there are now art prints and post cards available for sale. Profits from the sales with will be donated to two local cat charities which I like to support - VOKRA and Katie's Place.

Please find prints available on:

-Society6
-RedBubble
-InPrint
-TeePublic
-DesignByHumans 

Media: Pigma Micron + Prismacolor fine line archival marker pens, Koh-I-Noor (waterproof) drawing inks, watercolour, Acryla gouache on Strathnore "Mixed Media" vellum surface paper.
Paper Size: 8.5 x 11 inches
Painting Size: 5.5 x 6 inches

Thanks for visiting! In farewell, I leave you with one of my favourite pictures of her.

"Outside seemed better from far away."

Meet the Artist Tag

“Meet The Artist” tag from @Sketch_Dailies topic on Twitter. A little something to show that I'm still alive and working.

I used Kyle T. Webster’s digital brushes for all the Photoshop drawing and some experimentation with the Gradient tool to do the rest.

Portrait without text

Process gif!

If you'd like to see more frequent art updates, please "like" my Facebook page, and if you'd like to see miscellaneous snippets of my daily life, then please follow me on Instagram.

Have a great Tuesday guys!

Stamps for a Cause

Hello!

It's illustration time! Here is a my first project of the spring semester. For this assignment we were to illustrate a stamp (or a series of stamps) and a stamp sheet for a charity/cause/organization we feel passionate about. (If they were to hire us) I love wild animals and think they shouldn't be endangered so I chose the Canadian Wildlife Federation as my organization inspiration.
And since I'm particularly fond of predators I decided to paint a trio of stamps of vanishing canids - foxes and wolves.

Here they are:

And the stamp sheet:

After class critiques I'm making some improvements as we speak =)

And here's how it all came together:

Composition sketches. I was still deciding between CWF and WWF

Penciling. Originally I wanted a soft, blue wave type of sky background, but I afterward I thought it would be too distracting

Initial linework

Painting part I -- no background yet

Close up of my favourite portrait with background

 And again - the finished triptych =)

Save the wolves and foxes people!

And here's a different version of the triptych I just whipped up. I digitally removed the next animals' overlaps.

Info:
Each animal portrait is 3.75 x 4.25" (cute and little !)
Completed on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper
Painted with watercolors + waterproof coloured inks + 0.05 micron pen

Art prints will be available by the end of the day =)

Happy Friday!

Meticulous Maiden - Fair Flora

Hi!
It's been a while since I've posted some art along with my steps.
After acquiring a hand injury this piece was particularly challenging, especially since it's likely my most detailed illustration thus far.

I present to you my vision of the goddess Flora. This piece was inspired by various interpretations of flora I've seen throughout my life, and from quite recently a description of the Welsh goddess Olwen. In my version though, she is adorned with red clovers (for stylistic purposes) and she her hair is made from spring flowers. (Flowers include: clovers, dandelions, crocuses, camellias, magnolias, periwinkles, catkins, bell flowers, baby's breath, hyacinths, hydrangeas, lisianthuses, daisies, snow drops, lilies of the valley, morning glories, and perhaps some more flowers which I've forgotten.)

Oh, and this piece was for as set of promotional postcards.

Here's how it all came together:

The humble, little thumbnail

Rough sketch

Loose pencil. Really, if I penciled in all the flowers at once I would have gone bonkers.

Colour study. Ended up taking a different approach in the end

Inked line-work, stage 1. (I worked in chunks penciling and inking, one right after the other)

Inked line-work, stage 2. I decided to try out a method less familiar to me - 'silhouette inking' certain vines and leaves

Here, I coloured most flowers. (Still needed to paint her face and add more depth to certain sections)

(click to enlarge) Finished piece! Front and back of my postcard

close ups

Materials:
`Bristol Smooth Paper
`Micron pens
`Koh-i-Noor waterproof colour inks
`Gouache
`Watercolour

Approximate Size:
7.5 x 10.5 inches

1st assignment of 2011

Whew! It's been a busy week for me. I'm pretty beat, considering I've been staying up late working on my various illustration projects, especially today when I got 1 hour of sleep, haha. Anyways I'll begin to post my work slowly in the upcoming days.

I'll begin with my first project of the spring semester for my Illustration Essentials class.
It's a visual metaphor portrait of another student we had to "interview" or get to know during class.

4 x 4 inches | 0.05 micron ink pen

Sometimes It's Hard to Choose!

Hi!
This will actually be a post on photography - something I haven't posted on in a long time! Basically I'm going to show you a process of editing and visually selecting what images I put out there on the web. I love editing, but sometimes it's hard to choose which version I like best, or I think works best.

Here we have my retouched image in it's full, original crop:

Now, I'm trying to decide how I'm going to crop it. Though in the end I'll usually choose one version to post on my web portfolios, I'll end up liking a few variations. Like these 3:

Today I picked the 2nd version. But THEN I get I come to a point where I'm not sure which editing to stick with...

No!! I like all of them...but then eventually I decide to go with the 2nd editing. So there we have it, a little glimpse into how I work with my photos!