Black + Grey print = Grrrr-oo-vy

This one's a late post but it's here finally none the least. This shoe customization was done for a guy ( well obviously as you'll see below..lol). Anyway, my client didn't have a specific design request & so, left the concept in my trust (MUAHAHA :P). The grey & black was my client's choice..I added the brown to it. I wanted the print on the shoe to be "simple" enough so that it offers my client more freedom to mix & match his shoe with his wardrobe. I first came up with a sketch ( see above). I sent it to the client for approval & he approved the design but wanted it on a lace up canvas shoe instead....& the final touch? His name XD.

Check it out.

It's not the GSS, it's the JSS ( jessica's shoe sale) lol...

If you've read the previous post, you'd know I was away for a couple of months. I brought with me a blank pair of shoes to design while on vacation, hoping I'd be inspired by something. 2 months passed & still not a single stroke of paint on the shoe. Not till a couple of days before I was scheduled to return home -_-

For those who've been following my blog, remember the entry I did that was on a sketch of I did of the phrase " L'Arte Non e Mai finita solo Abbandonata" meaning "art is never finished, only abandoned". Based on that sketch, I transferred the phrase to wrap around the entire shoe. I figured if people would pay to have a tattoo of a name, phrase or whole paragraph of words on their limbs...why not on a shoe? LOL (if that makes any sense) So anyway, here's pics of the shoe at its various stages & 1 of a willing model XD Enjoy!

** NOTE: This shoe is up for sale. It's a euro size 39. Interested parties could mail me **

Admire me, then wear me?

I'm back after a good break away from all the concrete colored buildings with more designs. The "first" item I designed in awhile was this pair of pink flip flops for my bf's cousin " Stiene". I did it while I was on vacation ( yes yes, I brought a sketchbook & a case full of markers, pencils & what have yous). Concept wise, it was easy. "Something sweet, with vines & her name attached" would be good. I took care to keep it simple & & viola! The client was happy ( or so i hope) haha :P


Then a couple of weeks later ( I think. See, my memory sucks) while I was still in Belgium, I had an email asking if I still did flip flop designing. I actually faced out the flip flops because in my opinion, shoes offered much more freedom & design space to work with but still... I couldn't say no. Even more so because the request was to design 2 pairs of flip flops for 2 best friends & the girl wanted the 2 pairs to be linked to each other. <--The more challenge the more fun..LOL anyway, I started work on the pair asap & stuck to working with fluid lines.. here it goes: Pencil + paper--> fluid lines--> adding in their names--> lines & the shapes of the alphabets = something completely personal for the client & a dance of joy ( on my part) lol

Here are pics of the sketches I came up with which I then transferred to the flip flops after I got back to SG last month:








**A QUICK note to all reading: CMYS is stopping all flip flop productions as of this post but will be focusing on shoe, graphic designing & illustrations for print & web. For more info, do send me an email. Thanks for reading XD **

it's all bone...

I know it's been a while since my last post but here's the newest edition to the LONG LIST of designs *COUGH* lol. Well, continued from a previous post... this guy actually asked for a skull head & bat wings. It was a little bit of a challenge with this one because of the higher details involved & getting the proportion of the skull right. The design was prepped in pencil & marked out on the shoe itself before i filled in the background colors & lastly the details.
Above is the completed shoe viewed from the top. A gray background would've worked as well.
The shoe viewed from the side. As requested, I kept the shoe filled up for the most part. I covered the back with the guy's name colored a black fading into a red.

safari

I had a request to think up a design with a safari print..for a girl & she likes red. The minute i heard the words " safari print" , fortunately, a design hit me almost instantly. The concept I had in mind was pretty interesting. I wanted the shoe to have a print where it looked "graphic" yet like the canvas was ripped/torn off like paper & exposed an under side with the safari prints.

So i made a rough sketch as a proposal for the customer-->
The customer gave the thumbs up & i went on to working on the shoe itself. THEN *car screeeeech!* i realized the work area on the shoe was smaller than expected & the name couldn't "sit" like in the sketch..instead it'll cover quite a portion of the shoe. I edited the colors as I went along & got a feel for the design on the shoe. I also altered the position of the prints as i worked on the shoe, so here's the result:

"how's it hanging? whatcha doing?"

what's new pussy cat? LOL sketches! Some work i did while I was at work. En joy!

mediums: pencil, ink

thoughts while sketching all that: bliss...pure bliss..

feelings: i ROCK. LOL

** peace** xoxo

" Art is never finished, only abandoned"

I've recently taken an interest to typography more than i used to..& with more recent requests for me to design the customer's names on their shoes...I started sketching type designs & layouts. ALL hail "Miami Ink", those guys are crazy & thanks to that show, tattoo art have caught my interest as well. Here's one of the many sketches I just did in my trusty lil moleskin.

Stay tuned! I'll be coming up with a limited edition series of shoe designs & tee designs " tattoo inspired" ;) Better yet, let me update you...so sign up with me over on the left. (Preview)

XOXO

skull head & wings

It's been a while since I last put up something & just for the record...I'm still alive & kicking. LOL... What have I been up to? Well people, check the image on the left. I've started placing online advertisements about my shoe customizations & I've been busy with work as well as working on the shoe orders. Here's one order that I'm currently working on for a guy that caught my ad off www.mocca.com. He requested for a skull head & bat wings + a black cat. Inspired by the band "avenged7fold".


Here's the preliminary sketch.

fluidity 2: water & lines

Again, the design was left up to me. I based this design on the previous shoe ( in the previous post) but made lil changes to this one so it's unique. I hope you like it! As always, email me to if your interested to get yourself a pair done. ( P/s : do leave a way for me to get back to you about any details I'll need. =) )

fluidity

So the guy wanted something designed in black n white..cool i said, that'll be easy & i did it all the patterns in black first..something was missing. It looked dull not to mention flat. So i dyed the back portion of the shoe gray so the white in the design really popped..The gray really gave it a lil more depth. The tinges of blue & yellow were to accentuate the fluid lines. Think of it as waves on a stormy night kinda.

color me PINK!

FROM THE LEFT : -the complete pair - the close up - the preliminary sketch out


This request was simple..use pink. The concept was tricky. The execution was a "thumb-sore". So enjoy! This one was made upon special request ;)

**peace out**

yes or no?

Does MONEY make the world go round?

It's an arguable question a lot will say. Honestly...& really quite sadly, I think the answer is a yes.

*DEBATE it please if you dare*

a cup of tea & a ramble ( no, it's not a tea time pastry)

"Imagination's playing round for free
In my world I take him out for tea
Oh my God, can't say no

Skipping school, go walk for air
I just had to get out of bed
I'm on overload in my head

Train comes I don't know its destination
It's a one-way ticket to a madman's situation"

So during tea with my imagination, we get into a deep topic of conversation...

LIFE is what you make of it...( so I've been reminded by someone wiser than I :)) What comes to mind when you think of the local Singaporean kid? OK, here's how my train of thought looks like in my mind--->>----->

SG kid--> government school--> studying + spectacles--> exams + tests--> SQUARE--> "Ma & Pa says " study hard...all the way until cannot study anymore. Be a doctor, get the 5 Cs (very important)" --> *SCREEECH* >

Tell me I'm wrong about this but I've come to observe that a lot of kids don't know really, what exactly it is that they are interested in & will want to do FOR LIFE so they end up spending their parents cash on all the diplomas, degrees in the world just so they have a long list of alphabets before/after their name. So they've got this safety net because they can't think of what they want ( WHY? because they've never been allowed that chance to try & venture out...wonder about all the "What ifs". I'm really lucky I've been brought up to question "why this, why that, what if I...", but as much as my parents encourage all that... They made sure I knew I had to bear the consequences ( if at all there were any).

What I want to do & where I should go has been pretty clear the minute I discovered the lines I drew looked really good compared to the boy/girl sitting next to me in primary school *AHEM* & right here today as I'm writing this post, I've in hand 3 years of fine tuning my art + design skills in graphic/advertising design & it's not that I'm bored with what I'm doing..if anything else, my love & beliefs in graphic/advertising design have grown by leaps n bounds (picture me singing " THE HILLS ARE ALIVE~ with the sound of...my mouse clicking). HOW & WHY am I thinking about all this now u might ask? It's because I'm at this point in my life where I'm questioning who I am (again) & I just need the time right now to find myself ( WAIT wait..hold up..how did this start?) I'm nursing 2 bad injuries & it's not been easy keeping at the pace I've been working at, keeping up all my work to meet the deadlines. Frankly, my work's piling up & I have no choice still but to rest in between all the chaos then I started thinking...( taking into consideration A LOT of other issues):

1) Who's Jessica?
2) Do I still want what I wanted 3 years ago?
3) What am I capable of?
4) Am I where I want to be?
5) Is there something missing in my life right now? & what is/are they?
6) u know...& more questions like that :P ( I'm not gonna tell u all of em =x)---> GET UR OWN GOSSIP! :P

I'm no big daredevil or one for taking blind risks ( & i think most people aren't) but I calculate the risks involved & am always weighing the pros + cons for everything (I'm a darn weighing scale/balance for god's sake!). If there is one thing though, is that I DARE...take off my shoes & walk barefooted down orchard road...LOL im jk ;) So I've decided I NEED TO DO THIS..to find myself & get those questions answered. Look, stepping on the brakes while on the road to gaining a step to securing financial stability for myself can wait..I'm young, I've got my whole life ahead of me to finish where i left off..I'm not gonna be one of the spoon fed kids that have no minds/opinions or legs of their own to stand on ( never was, never will be & I'm NEVER gonna let my kids turn out that way *amen*)

**we pause to interrupt you with this fairly entertaining question** TRUE OR FALSE?---> " I don't think creative minds were ever spoon fed kids." *pause..take a moment to wonder about it* :P (GOOD..see you're starting to think like me..*COUGH!*)



"more tea sir?"

"no thank you. I had fun."

"Pleasure was all mine. Let's do this again. ;)"

The Waves at Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai..redone by me

Talk about a wearable piece of art. This here people is a pair i did recently for someone. A head turner? For sure. Get one if you know you're worth it.


The photo on your left is with 1 side completed & the other side after i dyed the shoe.

That on your right is the shoe up close. Happy viewing! ;)


** & like usual..email me to get your very own. **

Head over heels...

On my "day-off", I was limping around the mall near my place & you know...the funny thing is you can never turn your mind off. I don't know if that's ever even possible, seriously. ( ummm, Whoever reads this...if you do know the secret to switching off completely. Drop me a note.)

Alright so, I entered this store...lo & behold! I find another model of shoe ( the plain canvas kind). PURRRFECT. Just as a tee is a plain canvas, these shoes are too... Anything could be a canvas to explore ideas right? I HAD to have one to "test run". The larger blank space available on this new style was the best. I was suddenly "inspired" 8-) Riighht.. CHECK this out:

<------------Over on the left was completely "freestyled". Meaning to say I didn't really "plan" out what I wanted to draw..I just "felt" the design & let it come naturally. I knew I wanted something more "geometric" & something just alil "retro" looking. Like all the other shoes, they're waterproof, fade proof :) Colors used : black, purple , silver & shimmery blue.

**Email me for size range, prices & if you've got a particular design request ;) I'll see what I can do. Just mention slip-ons if you're interested in this model of shoe. **

more than just lines on a blank canvas

If it's on shoes, why not flip flops?
Water proof designs.
Email me for prices & size requests.

Art school confidential Part II

Right...so 6 months ago, this point in time seemed really distant almost like a dream I had last night ---> whacked out art school students lining the walkways with a burning cig. hanging off the corner of their lips, some with their headphones on, some talking in groups, some on their prized hand phones yakking, dance students walking around in leotards, the design students roaming the premises with their digital SLR's, fine art students sitting along the corridors sketching, kids with paint splattered jeans, then there's those who come to school as if they're participating in an on-going fashion parade. I see it in the distance, that black building that looks like a piece of Lego. As I pull up, the crowd of "arty farty" kids appear behind every wall along every corridor...

WHAM! Then it hit me, this ain't no dream man..."hello, Jessica. Welcome back to Lasalle-SIA. Today you actually DO have an orientation. CHECK B1-08/09 & you are in fact REALLY standing on the newly renovated floor of your new school premise. GOOD morning :) " 8-) ! BUT okay, walked in..looked left : there was "trying to look cool n all" dude looking at me..I turn & walk some more...to my right : TRUCKLOAD OF new students on a tour of the grounds. Right up in front----> live band!! ( i thought for a moment! OH AWESOME..live music..i LOIKE EHLOT). Stood near listening to em for abit then realized " oh shit. I've got a few minutes to search this gi-normous campus for basement 1.

Searching searching..."GOD i don't know where it is. Obviously it's 1 level down, no?" But i ask the locker rental lady anyways." excuse me. Do you know where basement 1 is?"

" NO> check the map lah... 8-)"
( What can I say--> Singaporeans are so! helpful. good help lady. I wonder if you know where your lockers will be at? geez.)

So I checked the map & stood there for 10 minutes. Lemme tell ya, it DID not help much at all. I strapped on my bag again & went down, walked around peeped through all the glass doors. BINGO..i recognized the bunch that are going to "$%&! my world up. Awesome ( see I'm brimming with joy & anticipation) Weird thing is though... they're the bunch that are going to $%&! my world up but they'll be the most honest, helpful bunch I know. See, it's kind of a love hate relationship. 8-) Where as on the other hand, I could wind up with the most horrid back-stabbing class of designers just waiting for you to fall & spill your guts. Then they'll bend down look at you, ask "you ok?" Without waiting for an answer from you, they'll rummage through your spilled guts, pick out what's of use to them & be on their way. I mean who knows...they might be able to communicate an idea while making some $$ with my guts? No shit.


Right then..I got shot back in time 3 years ago when I first joined the school at the old campus. Completely alone & everything seemed new, weird, foreign even albeit interesting. ;) If there's just one thing about being back at Lasalle, it's interesting what you'll see. That absolute first time I was being interviewed for my place in school, I looked around & seriously...my heart stopped cuz I was thinking NOO WAY! These people for real? I've not met people quite like this..tattooed & pierced where you can only imagine, hair dyed, braided in dreadlocks, some with styles completely of their own. God I felt out of place & I thought "mmm...maybe I don't belong here. This isn't quite my thing." ( WRONG answer. I'm back here 3 years later & I can say " I like it. yet I don't still. I don't know. It's almost hard to explain.)


I don't know how this year's gonna turn out. Probably better than the last one. I admit...I PLAN ON KICKING BUTT *ahem* ( excuse me). Then again, I can't lie...there's days like today I sit back thinking "god I hope i don't end up wasting my time here." Cuz seriously, since when has Art or design ever needed a certificate of qualification to prove an artist can paint, a designer can create? 8-) Food for thought?

XOXO gotta run lash in my eye

Feast your eyes on this...

"MAAD fresh", they said. Come one come all.
Here's the third customization job.
COMPLETELY hand customized.
Email me for price quotes
or for any questions.

MAAAD fresh.

Hey all :) This is the new "produce" fresh outta my hands. Canvas lace ups. All hand done. Dyed & drawn. **WARNING! colors do not rub off or wash off . They stay as is--->awesome :P **

To get your very own , email me.