Blank slate

Really digging these Denise Nestor drawings right now. Nothing like a little white space and minimalism to really bring out the magic in an illustration.

Le animale

So lately (and by lately, I mean the last five or so years) I have this thing about animal jewelry. Particularly animal earrings. I've had leopard, starfish, deer, fox, and rabbit earrings, lion and leopard cocktail rings, and owl and fish necklaces (Is that it? I feel like I'm missing some). Imagine my delight at finding these super adorable animal studs from Le Animale. They're just so quirky and le cute, if I do say so myself.

Earrings not your thing? How about a totem, a necklace, a brooch, or even a greeting card?

featured in this post: wolf studs / owl studs / red fox studs / two custom pet totems / ocelot with glasses greeting card / gummy bear totem

(And yes, I do realize it's Halloween, but I don't really do Halloween (candy's another story), so happy spooks to all! Forgive me for not having a more ghoulish post; maybe later.)

Pink Friday

You know the drill. How much do I love this super kicky neon-accented space? Talk about a mood-lifter.

This wasn't a super blog-y week for me, as I've been too busy freaking out over picking up learning HTML and CSS again. You should have seen me in class a few days ago. Oy vey, 'twas not a pretty sight. I haven't taken a web class in two-ish years, so to have to jump right back into that, as a print graphic designer absolutely surrounded by web design majors who could probably code in their sleep...I get a little light-headed just thinking about it. It's a wonder I caught up at all. Luckily, I'm one of those type-A personality creatives who's got stores of organized, albeit sometimes useless, information in the back of her head somewhere (and a wicked memory, if I do say so myself). This is just the first coding re-introduction, but let's see how this goes. And if I don't "see" you as much next week, you now know why. So to all of you coders, non-coders, designers, and design-y people alike, have a wonderful and productive (if not relaxing) weekend! 


Images via Freunde von Freunden.

Sketchy

Posters by designer and illustrator, Sara Wood. If only all my little doodles were this good *sigh*.

Blue Elvis

Just some fun illustrations by Maisie Cousins (<––photo stream occasionally NSFW). The piece just below is the artist's self-portrait. Ya'll know I'm a fan of pink. There's what looks like some gold leaf thrown in there, too!

Ripe for the picking

By the way, after further inspection, I'm going with peaches on this one. Although the juice (or concentrate, or whatever it is) next to it sure looks mango-y. Either way, I'm really digging this packaging, and accompanying printed material for Fruita Blanch done by Barcelona design firm, Atipus. I feel like food, especially produce, is best when packaged simply. Because honestly, look at the richness of the color of this stuff. Doesn't need much else does it?

discovered on Graphic-Exchange

Pull it together

New in, this week at Athropologie. Have you seen the slightly new site design? (if you even visit as often as I do, that is) I'm seeing all this with white walls, wispy curtains, and seriously beat up floors.

one / two / three / four / five

Atonement

Have you seen that movie? Maybe read the book? Doesn't that first pic up there remind you of that one scene in the poppy field? Too many questions for a Monday, I'm sure. Loving the moody palettes – it is fall after all. Makes me wanna bundle up in a giant scarf with a piping hot mug of tea at hand. Photography by Prashant Ashoka.

Pink Friday

Oh, I love this week's Pink Friday. Not that I don't normally love every week's little splash of pink, but this one's really sweet. It's a collection of images from the 1964 children's book, The Busiest Boy in Holland. I just love the limited use of color with this gestural style of drawing. (Images via Mallory McInnis (Flickr) / My Vintage Book Collection(In Blog Form))

That blog is such a treasure trove, by the way. Definitely check that out in depth when you can. With that said, enjoy, and have a great weekend!

(discovered on Where the Lovely Things Are)

Well there you go

Collages by Beth Hoeckel. If the last one looks familiar, it's because I pinned it here. (via)

Two Too Pretty

Emanuel Ungaro Spring 2012 + Leaving Paphos Ringed With Waves III (2009) by Cy Twombly

Life on Earth

By Maria Sibylla Merian / via Notations 2011

Math was never my strong suit

These are chapter headings from the First Book in Arithmetic (1888). They remind me of this post from last week. Proving once again that if it's good, and it works, it'll come back around.

(images via Letterologist)

Creepy-slash-awesome (Part Trois!)

Settle something for me here, because I have a theory as to exactly why these are so wonderfully unsettling, or rather, how. These paintings were done by Shanghai-born artist, Lu Cong. The main draw here is obviously the disturbing, penetrating stares of the subjects. Notice if you will, that the majority of these folks have the same greenish-blue eyes. To me, that sameness implies that they are in fact the same set of eyes repeated from one painting to the next, almost like glass eyes being removed and replaced into another body (forgive me for that visual). What's makes these even creepier is that although everything else in the painting looks real, the eyes do not. Now it's not a question of skill, because clearly, the skill is there – he's perfectly capable of conveying realism. Which makes me think the eyes were purposely left a little dull, like he stopped just one step short of painting them realistically to ramp up the creep-factor, for lack of a better word (just how many words for "creepy" are there?). Of course, I could be wrong, but a little art analysis never hurt anyone, right? And right or not, it's a rare treat that an artist's work makes me think this much. Thank you, Lu. I really enjoyed that. (discovered on Conundrum)

...No, seriously, dude, thanks a lot. I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks, and I mean that as a compliment. Isn't Halloween just around the corner? Now. Stop. Staring. At. Me.

(and check out "Creepy-slash-Awesome" parts un and deux; an accidental semi-regular-but-not-really-all-that-regular feature on the blog)

Pink Friday

I'm so quiet on here on Fridays...Image via Beata Wilczek

Bless this mess

I have a soft spot for spaces dedicated solely for the creation of art. They get so wonderfully messy, but there's always some hidden order in the chaos. This is the studio of Berlin-based painter, Antonio Santin. Read Santin's interview about the space, and life in the Wedding district of the Berlin borough, Mitte, here.

via Freunde von Freunden

Two Too Pretty

This may or may not be cheating on my part.

Kate Spade Spring 2012 preview + Inslee illustration of the look

Details

...from Paris Fashion Week. Just a couple faves. Loving orange lately. Must be the weather. (via The Cut)

Picking favorites

...is impossible sometimes. It doesn't always happen, but occasionally I'll post about an artist, and I cannot for the life of me edit down to a small number of pics for the post. Such is the case today, with these works by Cy Twombly. Prominent in the art world since the 1950's, Twombly's online gallery boasts decades worth of consistently gorgeous work. Absolutely classic. I live for the classics.

Slow day. How 'bout some Pug pics?

I have two fantastic dogs, Louie and Leo. They're the best. Sometimes I can't help but take pictures of their sweet, funny little faces. And it's a slow day, so I thought I'd share – I'd say this falls under the "other pretty things" category. (taken with Instagram)