Sketchbook

This is a week of observing, reading, pondering, and doodling. 

1897 Art Nouveau book cover of Sketchbook by Washington Irving, 1820.

Idea Extravaganza

As a collector of magazine clippings I am prone to collaging surfaces, such as my sketchbook. Looking at layers of inspiration makes me want to get busy drawing and painting! 

Ladies

In the words of Anne Frank, "Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of a young girl?" Happy International Women's Day, ladies! Keep on using your God-given talents and making your marks in history!

Bow Tie Man

I sketched this dapper gent in a tux and embroidered his bow tie through the paper.

It's Later than You Think

It's definitely true that as I get older and older the years go by faster and faster. We're already coming up to Creatively Graceful's 1st Blogiversary! Here's my illustration of the lyrics to this plucky little tune (I can't listen to it without chuckling) to get you into a celebratory mindset. Woo!

Letraset Sketch

I recently had some time with a pile of Letraset, so I chose various fonts and created illustrations to match the words I wrote. This is one of my favourite forms of doodling!

Edith Head

Today, thanks to Google's home page, I was reminded that it is Edith Head's 116th birthday. Edith was an American costume designer famous for her ability to highlight the figure strengths of actors and actresses, and for her practice of working with the stars in a friendly and helpful way. If she doesn't sound familiar, you've almost definitely already seen some of her work, as she was the costume designer for many extremely popular movies (To Catch a Thief, Roman Holiday, and the like). Her contributions to these projects won her eight Academy Awards throughout her career that spanned from 1925 to 1981. She designed costumes for:

 Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face,

Debbie Reynolds in The Pleasure of His Company,

 Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun,

 Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas,

and Grace Kelly in Rear Window, to name just a few, as well as clothes for the personal lives of several Hollywood stars. "Building a proper wardrobe is like building a home. Indeed, you should think of it like a home, because it is something you're going to live in. It must be comfortable and suit all your needs."

--Edith Head