I made shirts.

For a Sally Beauty Supply commercial I handmade a bunch of shirts for the stylists. My cat Kipling was there to observe and criticize my work.

Although I was given a PDF of the logo but the image was too small so I recreated it via Photoshop. I then reversed the image and used Avery Light Fabric Transfer paper to print and iron the logo on 15 shirts.

You should definitely try some do-it-yourself iron-ons in the near future because it's super easy, costs $24 for an 18 sheet pack and they look pretty damn good. But there are a few things to keep in mind:

1) Cut the paper carefully. Whatever part that does not have your logo, it will be the white paper instead. I chose to do a rectangle box because I was transferring lettering and it gave it a clean look. You can barely the transfer paper on the white shirt though so no need to stress too much!

2) Be careful not to leave the iron on the fabric for too long (ie. don't do a mini-photoshoot while the iron is on the fabric) because it can singe the transfer paper and leave it looking yellow. 

3) Be prepared to spend a ton of money on this paper because you will be addicted and start an Etsy store with your own artwork transferred on t-shirts and tote bags.

 

{Kipling is not very pleased with my ironing skills}

AT&T: They Grow Up Fast

There sure has been a rush of new projects. A double Sally Beauty commercial day on Sunday and then yesterday it was AT&T. The premise of this one is a boy and his dad are at the zoo and see a bug. The dad pulls out his phone to find more info about the bug and because his service takes to long, his son grows up.

It's tough when you have absolutely no budget and have to pull together costumes from the actors' wardrobes. This happens when actors aren't cast until a few days beforehand. It gets even worse when there is a sight gag that relies on different actors in matching costumes. For this shoot the boy grows up before our eyes. To indicate that we put the both actors in the same costume. The only thing to get through it is insist on a budget (which goes over so well with producers) or make those actors bring in as many clothes as they possibly can and pretend you're on Project Runway.

Father and son(s):

The background cast:

Sally Beauty Supply

I've been having a fantastic week. Right now I'm designing costumes for a couple of spec commercials with director Yuyo Villamar. How spec commercials work (or at least how I think it does) is an advertising agency orders these commercials using production companies, then after seeing the final cut they decide if they want to use them.

Sunday we shot 2 versions of a commercial for Sally Beauty Supply: one in English and one habla Español. The lead actress was bilingual but there were two actors that played the male lead. The premise is a woman invites her date, ahem, "up for a nightcap," ahem, while her team of Sally stylists observe at the edge of the bed, making sure she looks flawless. Whether or not these ads get picked up, they were a lot of fun to work on. 11 actors + 7 crew members in one very small bedroom for 8 hours = good times for all!

Our Leading Lady and her Stylists:

The English and Spanish versions of our Leading Man:

Stylists proud of their handiwork:

Vertigo: Modern Day

These sketches have been sitting untouched in my "artwork" closet for weeks now. They were part of a final project that got a less than stellar review.if you know what can kill your confidence quicker than a big-time costume designer not liking your work I'd like to hear it.

Well I've had some time to lick my wounds. After not looking at these for 2 1/2 weeks I am just starting to like them again (well, the ones I'm posting here at least!).  There are a couple other Vertigo renderings will probably never again see the light of day. While I agree there could be more jackets, after another look I still stand by my choices! ;)

Here's my Vertigo research that I posted a while back.

Sparkle Motion

The best thing about LA has got to be awards week! Lots of fabulous industry events going on and yesterday was a particularly wonderful one for costumes designers called the Swarovski Sparkles Designer Workshop. Luckily, I was able to work the event along with the other UCLA MFA students and escort costume designers around and talk with all of them at the reception! The panel included Mark Bridges, Ellen Mirojnick, Arianne Phillips, Danny Glicker and Academy Award Nominees Jenny Beavan, Antonella Cannarozzi and Sandy Powell. It was all I could do not to geek out on designers I admire so much! They were all so lovely and I couldn't ask for a more glittery Friday afternoon.

Of course we all just had to have our picture with Sandy Powell, who is nominated this year for The Tempest. Personally I'm rooting for True Grit, designed by Mary Zophres but Sandy's Tempest designs are incredible. I just love her Elizabethan fantasy costumes made out of leather and zippers. And Helen Mirren's cloak will take your breath away.

{ All images via filmofilia.com  }

Faux Dirt

This past week has been one big distressing party! My show Someone Who'll Watch Over Me goes up next week so I'm busy layering dirt, sweat and grime into the costume pieces. The best part about using sprays is the garments can be washed every night without loosing any of the dirt, which makes my life a lot easier.

Befores and Afters

Unlike my evil nemesis Watercolor, Photoshop and I get along just fine. ;)

Typically I will sketch my characters out on paper and then scan them and finish them up digitally. These are my most recent completed renderings so you can see what I work with when Photoshopping. If you have a drawing tablet you can draw your body and outlines pretty easily, but I prefer sketching them out by hand and then layering that scanned outline over what I've photoshopped to keep it from looking too clean and perfect.

Project 4 8 15 16 23 42

{Hanging with Hurley}

This weekend there was a huuuge Lost auction featuring sets, costume props and basically every kind of memorabilia you could possibly imagine. Well dudes, sometimes geek dreams come true 'cause I was on wardrobe crew and got to dress mannequins and set up the costume display! Believe me, there were some intense discussions about what characters should go together and where Ben's costumes should be displayed.

On top of costumes, I jumped at the chance to help out with props and got to man-handle so much amazing stuff. Working this event got me all excited to watch the final season in a major one day marathon. I was in my first year of grad school when it was on TV, and let me tell ya, UCLA did not allot any time to watch Lost. Crazy right!?!

I got a swanky Dharma crew badge and everything!

Costumes for Sayid, Kate and Locke. All aged beautifully. Not sure if the sweat stains are manufactured or real.....I'm really hoping they were the manufactured kind.......

Costumes for Sawyer, Richard Alpert, Daniel Faraday and Frank

Costumes for Ben, Jack & Juliet. Jumpsuits for Jack and Sawyer. Jack's doctor's coat. Dr. Pierre Chang's lab gear.

On a side note, I ran into Michael Emerson who plays Ben Linus on the street a couple of years ago. Just seeing him scared the crap out of me! He is one scary dude.

 Note that they gave Charlie the "sassy" mannequin.

 Charlie had the best stuff!!

We also had to dress the corpse from season one, Roger, and lay him next to the Dharma van in the exact position as it appeared in the episode.

I plan on adding "Skeleton Dresser" to my resume...

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Some Dharma supplies

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