Quotes / Dressing Up

One of my favourite quotes about feminism and beautification, but I think it also applies to a lot of other privileges in life as well.

Go Places / Make Things

Fall schedule: go places, make things. Rinse and repeat. I've been reading Jessica Walsh and Tim Goodman's super interesting social experiment/blog 40 Days of Dating so I felt like doing some hand-lettering myself.

Print of Go Places / Make Things is available on my Etsy shop, go have a look!

June TMI / This Month I: Got Back to the City

On my very last day in London I spent the afternoon wolfing down scones and chamomile tea at the top floor restaurant at the National Portrait Gallery, it's got one of the best and most interesting views of London, looking towards the Thames behind Trafalgar Square.

Feeling super inspired and creative from my trip in London, I wanted to make sure that I had a fabulous outfit to wear to The Golden Age, Duddell's 1st Anniversary Party. I went to Sham Shui Po, HK's sewing district to find fabric and trimmings and made my own costume, a gold lame qi-pao. I felt like THIS is how a young girl should live, like a F. Scott Fitzgerald adaption of Cinderella staying up into the wee hours to sew my own dress for the ball. Check out the final look here, complete with gold flakes under my eyes. Gold Dust Woman!

 Sketches from the Xu Bing exhibition at Asia Society, read the full blog post here.

"I will not just be a tourist in the world of images" - Anais Nin. Practicing hand-lettering which is always fun and easy.

Organizing my London-trip sketchbook, a pressed daisy, the flowers were ubiquitous on the sidewalks and in the parks all over the city. An art nouveau sticker from my favourite fast-food joint LEON's, and a ticket stub from Chatsworth House.

 Working slowly (but not even all that surely) on my London zine.

Spent an accidental afternoon at the beach, that's one of my favourite things about this cosmopolitan city, as cramped as the highrises are you are never too far from nature. This is Repluse Bay, a 20 minute bus ride from Central.

Just some loose sketches, since being back, maybe because it's the humid summer but I've had a hard time finding my daily rhythm and routine again. Doing little drawings without any purpose in mind always helps me feel better.

If you liked this post, make sure to follow me on Instagram for daily updates: @kittynwong

How to Make Better Art: 10 Ways to Develop a Creative Routine + Get Better

Say Lou Lou. 2014.

Pencil and gouache on sketchbook paper. Made just before bed, my most creative time.

The only way to get better at something is to practice it, and to practice regularly you must create a routine and stick with it. During the last year or two working as an artist and illustrator these are the top 10 habits I've learned so far to help me develop my craft.

1. Don't apologize for your work. I know its tempting because your work won't be as good as you want it to be yet and you don't want anyone thinking that's all you have inside you. You have so much more you want to express, I know! But fight it, if you don't believe in your work how can other people? If it's not as good as you want, re-work it until you can accept it. Share it and then leave it at that, don't make any excuses.

2. It's OK to make ugly stuff. Experiment in your sketchbook or scrap pieces of paper for even less pressure. It keeps your work fresh and you can find and explore new directions. Continually experiment. Try something that might not work, that's what making art is.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP.

#ZigWisdom / Seeing Farther

"Go as far as you can see, and when you get there you will always be able to see farther." --Zig Ziglar

This is #84 from Zig Ziglar’s list of 100 Things I Learned on My Way to the Top from my series with Brianne Garcia.

I've been thinking about this idea a lot lately since this year I want to take my illustration career farther, do bigger projects, make better work and really get myself out there. But sometimes our goals feel so loose and so large, so intimidating and you don't know where to start since you don't really know where you are going.

My mantra is this: Take whatever project is being offered to you, email people if there are no projects (try people you already know if it's easier), start there. Start anyway, start here and go as far as you can see.

Process:

On the left is my first draft. I kept the drawing which was inspired by this scene in Moonrise Kingdom, and added a background and changed the hand lettering. Hope you like it and godspeed on your journey.

#ZigWisdom / Someone to Inspire Us

"Our Chief want in life is someone to inspire us to be what we want to be."

This is #45 from Zig Ziglar’s list of 100 Things I Learned on My Way to the Top.

A couple of weeks ago, writer/hustler/general cool girl Brianne Garcia sent out a tweet asking people to email her if they wanted a PDF of that Ziglar list. I had no idea who he was but I personally find inspirational quotes completely irresistible, and I also felt like emailing people that day.

I tweeted out an offer to send the list to anyone interested, and the response surprised me: dozens of people responded or emailed me directly, interested in this list of lessons. 
This was a really cool realization; all of the people who responded are conscious livers of life. Instead of passively passing through their own lives, they’re interested in motivation, wisdom and advice on how to better approach all the millions of moments ahead.

Kitty was one of those who emailed me, and of course, I stalked her a bit and realized her drawings run the gamut from glamorous and beautiful to photographic, in a sense, sometimes telling the literal story of the subject in one snapshot.

So I messaged Brianne asking her for a copy. And when she said she loved my illustrations and asked to work together on something I jumped at the chance and suggested doing a series of drawings from our favourite quotes from the list.

On the drawings: It look me much longer than I thought it would to translate the concept into a drawing. And I wanted to make them cool.

I made so many sketches but then for some reason kept thinking about Fran Lebowitz all the time for the word ‘inspiration’, mostly from her doc Public Speaking. So I drew her. She seems like someone who would be an amazing and terrifying mentor who’d toughen you up and be pretty inspiring.

Here's the other sketch I was thinking of using: 

If you love inspirational quotes as much as I do, look out for more! I'll be drawing and we'll be posting weekly. Enjoy! Don't forget to share it if you dig it.

Sketches | Rainbow Scarf Girl and DIY Gouache Palette

Yesterday was a public holiday here in Hong Kong and my friend Helene came over and we had a drawing date. We chatted, ate snacks and doodled stuff while looking at jealousy-inducing pretty people on Instagram.

It was really good I haven't been feeling very inspired to draw these last few weeks and whenever I do none of my drawings turn out the way I want. So it was so nice to have a friend over and doodle while we chatted, reminds me that making art doesn't have to be grueling and solitary for it to be good. Making art is play.

Know that it is good to work. Work with love and think of liking it when you do it. It is easy and interesting. It is a privilege. There is nothing hard about it but your anxious vanity and fear of failure.
– Brenda Ueland

I drew the scarf girl from a really old issue of H&M magazine from a House of Holland photo using this DIY paint palette I made. I couldn't find any reasonably priced gouache palettes at the art supply store so I decided to make my own out of a mini toolbox I found at the dollar store.

Sketches from LFW | Driving Miss Kelly to Eudon Choi

Eudon Choi. Pencil, gouache, Photoshop. 

We've been on the run/Driving in the sun
Looking out for number 1/California here we come

I almost can't even listen to that Phantom Planet song anymore, you know when something brings back so many powerfully happy memories it almost makes you sad? Like you'll never be that young or have that much fun again?

Listening to that song reminds me of being 15 and watching the first season of The OC with my best friend and spending a very unsupervised summer in Ontario discovering for the first time what it felt like to be thought of as pretty/popular/bad. And also of the the summer after highschool when my friends and I drove down to California for Coachella where we played this song on repeat and I insisted on eating nothing but powdered donuts the whole way.

Stealing citrus fruits in Indio, California. 2005.
That's me on the left, can you even recognize me?
Polaroid from my friend Crystal. 

Day 3 of Drawing Fashion Week. The headscarves at Eudon Choi reminded me of Grace Kelly driving in cars which then reminded me of road-trips. I drew this girl with only one eye because it just didn't look right with two.

This drawing isn't really my favourite but I still kind of like it. Lately I've been thinking it doesn't really matter, since I've drawing so much it's okay if sometimes things turn out kind of ugly. We're just experimenting here, gotta give yourself room to fail and room to grow.

"Don't worry about genius and don't worry about not being clever. Trust rather to hard work, perseverance, and determination. The best motto for a long march is "Don't grumble. Plug on." You hold your future in your own hands. Never waver in this belief. Don't swagger. The boy who swaggers - like the man who swaggers - has little else that he can do. He is a cheap-Jack crying his own paltry wares. It is the empty tin that rattles most. Be honest. Be loyal. Be kind. Remember that the hardest thing to acquire is the faculty of being unselfish. As a quality it is one of the finest attributes of manliness. Love the sea, the ringing beach and the open downs. Keep clean, body, and mind."- Sir Frederick Treves

Eudon Choi photos from Style.com

The Secret Art of Happiness

Sorry I haven't posted this week. I've been busy designing and illustrating an entry for the Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers competition, cutting it close the entry is due in 4 days and I've got nothing finished yet. This week, I've been dealing with health issues with my thyroid (again) and the anxiety that comes with it.

Found this nice quote by Mikao Usui while fooling around on wikipeida, it fits this week.

The secret art of inviting happiness,
The miraculous medicine for all diseases.
At least for today:

Do not be angry,

Do not worry,

Be grateful,

Work with diligence,

Be kind to people.

Every morning and evening, join your hands in meditation and pray with your heart.
State in your mind and chant with your mouth.
For improvement of mind and body.
Usui Reiki Ryōhō.

The founder,
Mikao Usui.