New art crush!

Iain MacArthur. Is. Awesome.

He's 26 and from Swindon, England.

His art is amazing.  That's all I have to say about him.

Here's some of his stuff that I totally love.

The cakes and sweeties in her hair are too cute!

Part of me seriously wants to colour this in... Then have it tattooed  on me.

This owl is so intricate.

Like to see that he can do some traditional sketching as well as the cool illustrations.

I want this tattooed on my back.

Great colour work too.

Then I found this t-shirt with his illustrations on. Dropping hints to the boyfriend as of tomorrow!!!

The 'Scouse Brow'

Okay I officially do not understand this current trend taking over many a woman's face...

The so called 'Scouse brow' is something I hadn't heard much about until the beginning of the year - probably due to TV shows such as 'Desperate Scouse Wives' and 'The Only Way is Essex' where glamour is the most important thing in their lives.

Now I know that this heavy painted eye brow was a favourite of glamour models especially here in Blighty, but for it to hit the mainstream beauty trends is a whole other story - one that should, in my opinion, never have been allowed to manifest itself at all!

I understand the fashions and trends that come along with being a beauty junkie; the full on bushy brow of Madonna in the 80's had women growing out those stray hairs while the 90's had them all over plucking a la Pamela Anderson!  The trends for those funny bits of hair on out faces have always been extreme.  This trend however is one of monstrous proportions.  Literally!!

I do not understand why any woman would draw or tattoo their eyebrows on in this manner.  Eyebrows are surely meant to frame your eyes, complimenting their shape and even changing the look of your face if done correctly.  These things are just plain WRONG!  Remember the mono brow?  Well these may as well join in the middle due to the shape and length of some!

So along with the extreme length and thickness is the colour and the shape of the things... what's with the square shape?  You look like you have fuzzy felt cut-outs stuck to your forehead.  I'm all for crazy hair colours, but brows should not look too fake.  Black or very dark brown brows do not work with blond hair.  Do not do it!!

All in all, the trend for fake just seems to be growing.  Much like these girls eyebrows....!  So what next?  We have the false eye lashes, nails, tan, hair extensions, breast implants or bra inserts, plumped up collagen filled lips and of course the new and not improved eyebrow.  What's next and how false are we going to end up?

And don't forget - it takes a lot of money to look that cheap!!!

'Grunge' as fashion...?

So while the fashion world is having yet another love-in with the 'grunge' look, I am giggling over the articles in glossy magazines aimed at twentysomethings telling you the 'how tos' of getting that glam grunge look. 

Sorry New Look, I love ya but pleeeease don't push this crap!

Magazine 'fashion' shoot for Grunge styling.
I like it but is it a fashion fad??

Um... yeah.  Not something I thought the high fash mags would be pushing as the style du jour  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now I'm not going to harp on that I've always been a 'Grunger' and these luvvies don't know what they're doing. But, I am going to say that these kids who are doing it for the foreseeable fashion season future are pissing me off. Already.  

Google the term 'Grunge' and image upon image pop up of photo's from fashion blogs telling you how to style your Dr. Martens and which high street shop is best for band t-shirts.  

Which reminds me:

UNLESS YOU KNOW THE BAND - DON'T WEAR THE SHIRT YOU IDIOTS!!!!! (Pet hate)

Yes you Miley - I'm real sure you know who Iron Maiden are....

Many of us born in the 80's kids, who grew up listening to Nirvana and Guns n Roses, who wore dungarees as pre-teens, turned our tie-dye caps back to front and had a collection of printed oversize cartoon tee's and leggings, still continue to have a slight penchant for the style we know well.  Many of my mates were skater boys, us girls did disco classes in sequins and spandex and we all hung out in ghastly clothes any cool kid in Brick Lane would now get wet over.

Clarissa was 'explaining it all' in the sort of outfits I wore as a kid and she is still a bit of a fashion icon for me!!

I always laughed when my mum would say things like "Oh I remember that look the first time round!"... Now I know how she feels.  There's nothing worse than watching a young 'it' girl walking around in a pair of Dr. Martens knowing full well that she ain't gonna love them come the next fashion fad.  And you know how much I love my Doc's... it causes me real pain to know those best of British stompers are a teenagers new favourite toy.  Grrr grrr grr grrrrrr!!!

Anyway, rant over.


To round up - grunge is not cool.  It's just a look, like any other.  Give it 3 more months and those fashion girls will be back in their stiletto's wondering what the hell they were thinking!


I will be continuing the love I have for denim, Doc's and shaving my head regardless >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Girl crush!

I have a total girl crush on Alice Dellal - model, hipster, grunge lover and all round cool girl! She breaks the mold of the stereotypical catwalk model with her shaved head and tattoos.  She looks like the kind of gal who will pick you up after knocking you down in a mosh pit and bum a smoke off you in the queue for a club.  So here are just a few images of the Brazilian babe in all her crazy kohl-smudged glory...

The progress of a painting.

Last week I felt like painting.  I usually paint self portraits as I know the model will always be available...  This time was no different, although I did rack my brains trying to come up with some inspiration for the painting that would not involve my face as it gets very boring.

Unfortunately I am not good at abstract, landscapes bore me and no one else was around for an impromptu photo shoot.  So I did what I usually do when I'm bored and set up a mirror to practise from.

So follows a few photographs I took as the painting progressed.  At first the image was just going to be outlined then 'coloured in' with the usual flesh tones, but it ended up being the sepia painting you see below.  A bit different for me but I like it and didn't want to ruin it by trying to hard.

The first step after roughly colouring the canvas was to study the reflection in the mirror - not easy.

After I sketched out with my brush in a light colour I added some darker tones on top using a wet on wet technique.

This is when I realised I liked the painting as it was just using the tonal browns. 

A few darker sploges of paint and some definition later - the finished piece.  Not much like my usual stuff but I like it.

The set up of how I painted from the mirror (in my hideous hoodie that I wear for painting...)

Pass the clippers....

I decided last Friday night to shave off my hair.  Again.

After the incident with the blond hair dye that left me with a sort of 'Peach Melba' colour then dying it a dark brown for something more work appropriate, I'd just had enough.  So I found the clippers, picked a setting and shaved away.

It's not the first time I have shorn off my locks and I'm sure it won't be the last either as I find the whole experience of not having much on top quite liberating.  There's no need to style it, blow dry it, worry about the wind blowing it out of shape or it sticking to your lip gloss as soon as you've applied it...

The first time was summer 2011 and I was attempting to go from dark to blond when the dye job went terrible wrong and left me with what can only be described as 'tie-dye' hair.  So I asked my boyfriend at the time to bring round his clippers and get rid of the mess that I'd created.  It was soooooo short and blond from the dye that some friends took to calling me Eminem.  Thanks guys.

This time round, I didn't have as much to get rid of.  It was already shaved around the back and sides in a kind of Mohawk style, so I just took the top bit off!  Now I can see my natural colour too which is intriguing as I'm not entirely sure if I'll like it as my hair grows out!

Here's me and my new shaven head in a NATURAL (eeeeeek) colour!

So here are some photo's of some gorgeous women who have gone for the chop - or clip if you'd prefer.

Model Agyness Deyn

Amber Rose

Angelina Jolie in the 90's for a film role

Demi Moore for her part as GI Jane

Model Eve Savail

Actress Jaime Winstone

Natalie Portman for her role in V For Vandetta

Singer Sinead O'Connor

Long live Ange!

Not talking about myself with that title.

No, I mean Angela Lansbury.  You know - that little old lady who sang under water on an old bed and solved murder upon murder accross America...?  

YES that one...

Well I have always thought of Ange Lans as being 'old'.  Maybe because as a young child I percieved anyone who dressed like my Nan to actually BE old!  The neck scarves and mid-length skirts along with the semi perm suggested to my young mind that she was and would always be a kind faced old lady who looked and sounded a bit like my Nanny Ruth.  

Voicing Mrs Potts in 'Beauty and The Beast' and as writer/investigator Jessica Fletcher in 'Murder She Wrote'.

 But after a rather excited chat about the Disney film 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' a few weeks back with my boyfriend, we decided to Google search her.  Along with the expected film stills of the lady in the film bewitching a pair od shoes or conversing with a cartoon fish, we came accross these beauties showing that good old Ange wasn't always old!!

A very young Angela Lansbury shows her film star credentials in a photoshoot.

Well I think she's bloody brilliant!  She is one of our greatest stars and with such a long running career she deserves lots and lots of admiration.  So much have I researched the old photographs and movies, that I have become a bit obcessed with her!!