Vivere a colori ( Fashion illustration of the day/ Modna ilustracija dana 24.11.2016)

Hi! Do you like colours? I sure do, but I think you already know that. So, this outfit I illustrated today shouldn't come of as a surprise to you. Yes,  it is time for another fashion illustration. It's been an entire 24 hours since the last one. Well, I did warn you that this week will be all about fashion illustrations. Today I'm positing something a bit different. This illustration was made with ordinary cheap  markers and water. As you can see it turned out a bit messy, but hey it was my first attempt at something like this.  I did use markers before and mixing them with water isn't new to me either, but this was my first attempt of trying to use only markers to achieve a watercolour effect in a fashion illustration. To be honest, it wasn't a complete success, but I'm happy with it anyway. Markers can be a bit unpredictable when they come in contact with water but I kind of like that element of surprise. If you are a regular follower of my blog, you know that as a painting tool I'm pretty much ready to give anything a try. When it comes to painting, I experiment a great deal. I'm always looking for new ways to express myself in visual arts. Not that I consider myself an artist. I've seen way too many exceptional painters to consider myself a painter in that sense. The title of this post is inspired by this song. My two years old niece loves Alessandra Amoroso, so I have to play this song on YouTube for her all the time. Well, at least this video  is appropriate for children, something that you can't say for the majority of today's music videos, but about that topic some other time.

Zdravo! Volite li boje? Ja ih volim, ali mislim da to već znate, tako da vas kombinacija koju sam danas ilustrirala neće iznenaditi.  Vrijeme je za još jednu modnu ilustraciju, već je cijeli dan da nisam jednu objavila. Dobro, pa i upozorila sam vas da će ovaj tjedan biti posvećen mojim modnim ilustracijama. Danas objavljujem nešto drugačije. Ova ilustracija je napravljena s običnim jeftinim markerima i vodom. Kao što možete vidjeti, ispala je pomalo neuredno, ali to je bio moj prvi pokušaj nečega ovakvoga. Koristila sam i prije markere i miješala ih s vodom, ali nisam nikada pokušala koristiti samo markere da bih postila efekt akvarela na modnoj ilustraciji. Da budem iskrena, to nije bio potpuni uspjeh, ali sam zadovoljna kako je ispalo bez obzira na sve. Markeri mogu biti malo neprevidljivi kada dođu u kontakt s vodom, ali mi se pomalo sviđa taj efekt iznenađenja. Ako pratite moj blog redovito, znate da sam spremna sve probati kao slikarski alat. Kada  je u pitanju slikanje, dosta eksperimentiram. Uvijek tražim neki novi način da se izrazim u vizualnoj umjetnosti. Ne da se smatram umjetnikom. Previše sam vidjela izvarednih slikara da bi se smatrala umjetnikom u tom smislu.  Što se tiče naslova objave, nadahnuće je ova pjesma. Moja dvogodišnja nećakinja obožava Alessandru Amoroso, tako da joj stalno moram puštati ovu pjesmu na Youtubu. Barem je ovaj glazbeni video prikladan za djecu, što se ne može reći za većinu današnjih, ali o toj temi neki drugi put.

Now, something about the outfit that I illustrated. Vivid colours are my things, even (and why not?) in Autumn. Another thing I always loved are pencil skirts and I do believe they're one of those items that always come in handy. In this illustration, I paired a classic item (pencil skirt) with trendy items that is a lace up top and long vest ( or sleeveless trench- if you prefer to call it that. What is the difference between a long vest and a sleeveless coat anyway? Perhaps somebody can explain but they look the same to me.). I think that matching classical items with trendy ones is always a good thing. That way we don't look to eager to follow all the trends. When I say classic, I mean whatever is classical for you. Some feel best in jeans and really there is no reason why a pair of jeans can't be your classical item. 

Sada nešto o odjevnoj kombinaciji koju sam ilustrirala. Jarke boje su mi uvijek drage, čak i u jesen, a zašto i ne uostalom? Uvijek sam voljela suknje olovka kroja i vjerujem da su jedan od onih odjevnih komada koji uvijek dobro dođu. U ovoj ilustraciji spojila sam klasični komad (suknju olovka kroja) s komadima koji su u trendu, dakle majicom na vezivanje i dugim prslukom (ili kaputom bez rukava kako ga neki nazivaju, mada ja iskreno nisam sigurna je li to samo drugo ime za dugi prsluk, koja je razlika te ima li je uopće). Uvijek mislim da je dobro iskombinirati neki odjevni komad koji je klasika s onima koji su u trendu tako da ne ispadne da smo previše opsjednuti praćenjem trendova. Kada kažem klasično, mislim da što god je klasično za vas. Neki se najbolje osjećaju u trapericama i zaista nema razloga zašto dobar par traperica ne bi bio vaš klasik.

I would say we all need some classical pieces in our wardrobe to fall back on.  There is nothing wrong in having favourites. Moreover, our 'staple pieces' can actually turn trend following into something a lot more easier and fun (not that I'm saying you need to follow trends, but if you want to, don't think you need to give up on your style to do it). If there is a piece of clothing you love (the way I love pencil skirts), by all means rock it and pair it with all the trendy (or not) pieces you want. Don't ever feel like you need to give up on things you love. Sure, in life we always have to make some changes and adapt things, but it is not the end of the world. Adaptation was the key of our evolution into human beings. There are many ways to adapt, depending on the situation, some are better than others. Yet we must remember that there is not an aspect of our inner life that you're not a creator of. What happens in the world, we cannot always control, but we can control  the choices we make. We can let ourselves enjoy the simple pleasure of life, like a cup of fresh coffee (tea) or an outfit that makes us feel good, and let those little things fill our batteries so that we can take on big challenges. Or we can overthink everything we do and end up feeling exhausted. There is a lot of sanity to be found in little things. Have a lovely day everyone and thank you for reading.  For those of you living in USA, I wish you a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

Mislim da svi trebamo imati neke klasične komade u našoj garderobi na koje se možemo osloniti. Nema ništa pogrešno u tome da imamo svoje favorite. Dapače. ti neki naši najdraži i prepoznatljivi odjevni predmeti mogu nam uvelike olakšati igranje s trendovima i uživanje u njima (ne kažem da morate pratiti trendove, ali ako to i želite, nemojte misliti da se zbog toga morate odreži svoga stila). Ako ima neki odjevni predmet kojega volite (onako kako ja naprimjer volim suknje olovka kroja) onda uživajte u njemu i nosite ga s svim komadima kojima želite, bili oni u trendu ili ne. Nemojte nikada misliti da morate odustati od nečega što volite. Istina, ponekad morate napraviti neke prilagodbe, ali to nije kraj svijeta. Prilagodba je bila ključ naše evolucije u ljudska bića.  Postoji više načina prilagodbe, ovisno o situaciji, neki mogu biti bolji od drugih. Ali moramo zapamtiti da ne  postoji aspekt našega unutranjega života kojega sami ne kreiramo. Ono što se događa u svijetu, ne možemo uvijek kontrolirati, ali možemo kontrolirati svoje izbore. Možemo dopustiti sebi da uživamo u malim zadovoljstvima života kao što su šalica svježe kave ili (čaja) ili kombinacija u kojoj se osjećamo dobro, te dopustiti da nam takve sitnice napune baterije tako da možemo preuzeti veće izazove. Ili možemo previše razmišljati o svemu i biti posve iscrpljeni. U malim stvarima možemo pronaći tu neku svoju dozu mentalnoga zdravlja. Svima vam želim ugodan dan i hvala vam na čitanju.

UPDATE 21.2. 2023

If you enjoyed this post, you may have a look at my more recent illustrations: