Recent Work / Into the Mild: Canadian Holiday Fashion Comic for National Post.

One of my resolutions in 2013 was to get one of my illustrations published in print and last week just before the year was over I reached that goal. My holiday fashion comics feature with the National Post's Weekend Style came out on Sunday and I was so nervous!

Head on to the National Post to read the full comic.

I had never been commissioned by a newspaper before but not only that, the feature was huge, 3 pages! It even got a little mention on the front page of the paper! I still haven't seen it in person yet, waiting with bated breath and I think I might just very blissfully pass out soon.

Thanks for the snap Markus!

The comic was to be a fun illustrated holiday special featuring all the biggest trends and pieces from Canadian fashion this past year, Hudson's Bay x Converse crossover sneakers, Jeremy Laing, that Mercy camo sweatshirt dress, Beaufille and Roots mukluks amongst others. The editor had seen my previous fashion comic for Dazed and loved the format. The idea we came up with was a group of Canadian fashion-philes go cabining in Banff for the weekend and get stranded.

Probably my favourite panel is of the girls moose hunting, the girl in the camo dress we just get each other. Head over to the National Post site to view the online version. Huge thanks to the editor and fashion director Nathalie Atkinson!

Click through to see a snippet of my drafts.

This Month I've Been: Banana Leaves + Art in the Flesh November

This Month I've Been: Exploring.
Since I spent my wonderful October travelling all over Canada when I got back to Hong Kong I didn't want to stop. Seriously, Hong Kong is a paradise, I always forget this. This banana leaf forest was off a side trail on Lamma Island, just a 45 minute ferry ride from Central Hong Kong. 

Eating herbal jelly and having drawing dates on the rooftop by myself before the winter turned too cold.

Spending my last month in Toronto amongst friends has inspired me to go out more. Snapping a selfie in Wanchai before meeting up with my new illustrator friend Pearl Law, check out her amazing work. Yay to Twitter for connecting people.

A WIP shot of a painting of Shu Qi I've been working on from a series called "Women I've Wanted to Be" which I'm also hoping to turn into a little mini zine. In gouache and pencil, as always. I'm so into painting hair lately.

More work in progress. Another piece from the "Woman I've Wanted to Be" Series. This one is of Kate Moss.

When I was in Toronto I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) three times and I realized how much it inspired me to see art, not just scrolling through images on Tumblr or Pinterest, but really nose-pressed-to-the-glass-security-guard-death-stare seeing it in the flesh. So since I've been back, I've made a point to go to more gallery events and see more art and I think my work has already improved for it. There's more to life beyond the safety of the computer screen glare. This was at the fantastic Carne Griffiths show at Above Second. The photo of the dog and me is courtesy of the photographer Jordan Joe.

Checked out the Little Thunder exhibition and book signing at Rat's Cave. I'm such a fan, her work is so sexy and intricate.

A quick little Marilyn Monroe sketch in pencil and gouache which initially inspired the "Women I've Wanted to Be" series. Marilyn is the number one person I wanted to be when I was little, I watched all of her movies and memorized her lines when I was in elementary school. I still sometimes watch How to Marry a Millionaire and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes whenever I'm not feeling well.

Getting my products ready for the Tangram Christmas Edition Pop Up Shop. It's on until this Sunday, December the 22nd at Little Square in Hong Kong. I have postcards, prints and original paintings for sale. It's full of beautifully curated stuff and perfect for X'mas shopping.

And lastly, my most recent illustration for Hong Kong Tatler on an article about produce diversity by the wonderful food writer Janice Leung Haynes. Thanks always to editor Charmaine for the project. See the full piece here.