Team SEE-ZOO - HK's not-so-secret Secret Garden

On Saturday my friends Belinda, Helene and I packed our art-making supplies and headed up to the hills to a (not so) secret little park in the middle of the city. Nestled in the hills above admiralty the Hong Kong Zoological & Botanical Gardens is an oasis that plays host to over 500 animals, though buffered by the surrounding trees the city's signature tall buildings could still be seen and I felt like we were in NYC's Central Park. 

Before our sketching adventures I devoured a ridiculously delicious brie & roast beef sandwich from Habibi Cafe at Pacific Place. Then, we found a little fenced in area with some animal benches and a table and this is where we set up camp for the day. It was strange little enclosure, surrounded by a fence and we felt like the other animals on display.

Thanks to my friend Belinda Love Lee for photos 2 through 4, she's a wonderful graphic designer and photographer, you should check out the blog she runs with her British boyfriend, Digital Dating.

What are some of your favourite places to bring your sketchbook in your city? Show us!

Sketches | Hipster Dykes

This is nothing but a self-indulgent little sketch of dykes I'd like to make out with. I went over to Wanchai last night to pick up art supplies and organic food, first I headed over to Artland and whoa! Is that place ever overpriced, so I picked up a little sketchbook and left without anything else. I did manage to pick up some cheapy student gouache and a nice Pentel brush pen over at Art Shop down the street, here's a small list of art supplies stores in Hong Kong.

The Pentel brush pen I ended up buying is amazing! Usually I hate brush pens but this one has indivuial nylon hairs instead of the usual lump of felt and I think I almost like it more than using a traditional paintbrush. Life 2.0. The annoying thing is that it's not waterproof nor light-fast, which is why I scanned the sketch and coloured it on Photoshop.

Thank you to Fuck Yeah Dykes for the eye candy and inspiration.

Red Carded! A Pretty Illustrated Business Card Commision

HEY GUYS! Remember me? I'm been lying low lately as I've been busy drawing and trying out new vegan recipes which you may have noticed if you follow me on Instagram. This portrait of Remedy Rouge blogger Jin Wong is one of the things I've been busying illustrating. A couple of weeks ago Jin approached me to help her create some custom business cards and I was super excited and flattered. 

Jin was looking to have cards done that were both elegant and fun (which is perfectly her style). So, we started out with a watercolour illustration from a few photos Jin had sent me and we went from there. And after some window shopping on ASOS for a dress to illustrate, a few tweaks, font hunting and a trip to the printers we were done!

Below are Jin's pretty new cards all ready to be handed out, let the networking begin! And if you too are interested in having your own custom illustrated business cards that make a lasting personal impression, please don't hesitate to drop me a line!

A little bit about Jin: she's a media strategist by day and runs the fashion blog Remedy Rogue by night, she also created the lifestyle blog HK Girl Talk which is all about Hong Kong's unique culture. If you want to have a candid look on life as a twenty something young professional woman here in the city make sure you head on over to HK Girl Talk and have a read. Thanks so much for the commission Jin, it was a pleasure working with you!

Live on ZaoZao!

As I talked about previously, I've been working with Shop ZaoZao to get some of my designs online. It's been such a pleasure working with the ladies of the startup and I'm excited to announce my first listing is now finally live on the site!

There are 5 of these tops available and I've got 17 days left to get this design funded so it can go into production. Please check it out and help me spread the word! Thanks so much!

Photos by Helene Kwong.

Inspiration Scramble | Hollywood & Parisien Nostalgia

Happy October! Inspiration Scramble is the new feature where I share with you all of my favourite links, articles and inspirations. Inspired by all the link love posts, I realized I spend sooo much time on the internet and come across some many gems it would be a shame to waste them. So I'm going to share the best of them here with you guys!

• Not one but two very beautifully illustrated zines about Paris. These illustrations from Priyanka Pandit make my heart ache and ache for Paris. When I was a student and very frivolous with my money, I used to go to there every summer, one time I even spent a week wwoofing in the South of France. Hats off to Iveta K for the tip, she's also an illustrator and a beautiful one at that.

• Just Tell Me That You Want Me. A roaster of cool hipsters team up to cover my favourite band Fleetwood Mac on this tribute album. I'm especially slayed by the Best Coast song. Via my friend Esther.

• Greta Garbo is the best, and why Kirsten Stewart is my favourite. Scandals of Classic Hollywood and Friday Bargain Bin are my favourite features on Jezebel.

• The legendary photographer Cecil Beaton was a compulsive scrapbooker. Did you know that? He'd be a star Pinner if he was around these days.

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• Cool retro letterheads from everyone you've heard of.

• The Gloss on why it's so hard to bring your own lunch to work like a big girl.

• Danielle Meder, one of my favourite blogger and illustrator on the joys of the unplanned career.

• An Andy Warhol quote for artists who are feeling discouraged.