Pandora Jewelry Illustrations

Two weeks ago I was flown out to Los Angeles to live sketch fashion illustrations for a garden party at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills in honor of Pandora's newest jewelry collection. This party was unique because the majority of the guests were stylists, costume designers, and studio executives whom were being shown the collection with the goal of getting product placement in photo-shoots, television shows and movies. For years I wanted to be a costume designer and throughout college (FIT) most of my internships and projects focused on wardrobe styling and costume design so needless to say I was in seventh heaven chatting with all the guests as I sketched.

In addition to live sketching the soirée, the week leading up to the event I also illustrated some of the Pandora's newest jewelry pieces which were then blown up into large prints and displayed throughout the party space. Shown here are two of the necklaces, my personal favorite is the pave feather necklace (attached to the header of this post) and the charms shown "hanging" from the photo above.

For more information about my live-sketching or rates to sketch your corporate event or private party, you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com.

(Photos and Illustrations: ©BrookeHagel)

Creativity & the Importance of Changing It Up

(Olivia Palermo inspired Fashion Illustration by Brooke Hagel) 

I'm so excited about these new sketches, especially this first one shown above. Lately I've felt stuck in a creative rut. I've been digging out some old tools and trying new things but nothing was doing the trick or "clicking." I revisited illustrating in charcoal and conte crayon, and playing around with fine point pens but that just didn't do it. A few weeks ago I dug out my watercolors in hopes that some paint would invigorate me and freshen up my illustrations, and although I had some fun and came up with a few [Golden Globe inspired] fashion illustrations, it just isn't for me at this time. After accidentally shattering the glass I used to clean brushes all over my glass desk, which then splintered into a million little shards and cut me up to the point where for two weeks it looked like I had been attacked by a cat, I decided to put the paints away. The accident also destroyed a client project I had to then redo, but luckily it just missed my new Macbook! So major crisis averted there.

A week or two ago I finally had a wave of creativity by delving into a new medium, black craft papers with white. I'm not sure if it was brought on by a stack of colored card stock paper that happened to be sitting beside me (waiting to be organized in the revolving mess that is my home office) or that I happened to be on Anthologys website that morning looking at the art of chalkboard artist Dana Tanamachi, but I decided to grab a sheet of black paper, pull up my "She's a Sketch" Pinterest board and try out a sketch in all white. Well one sketch quickly turned into three (shown above taped to my wall) and was hooked! They'd be too costly in printer ink with the full black background to make and sell prints of for my Etsy bridal shop but I'm just thrilled to be excited by drawing again and these high contrast brides were the first step in a developing my new illustrations and new style that I'm so loving now.

After black I decided to try out some of the silver, gray and tan papers as well. I also added more tools to the illustrations to try out different effects. I started with only white pencil and white charcoal but have now added black sharpies, Copics, opaque white markers and colored Prismacolor pencils. I'm so excited and invigorated by these new sketches. I happen to be traveling but I'm eager to try printing these once I'm back in my studio and seeing if I can easily reproduce them and make prints for Brooklit. I especially like the illustrations on the tan craft paper, both in the final resulting look of them and the process of creating them. It feels great to be excited about sketching again.

Honestly its a challenge to stay creative and passionate when your passion becomes a business, and clients want a specific style or look and it can feel really stale and uninspiring. Even though I'm a person who tends to resist change I'm learning that its important to change it up from time to time and try new things, especially in my artwork. In this case it was finding a new medium that's exciting me and livened up my work but it could be any change. A change of scenery, or maybe enrolling in a class and trying new techniques or sketching from models instead of images on paper, a screen or your imagination.

Thank you for all the encouragement. Working solo without a team around you is sometimes tough but every time I tweeted, Instagramed (@Brooklit) or texted something I was working on, I received such wonderful feedback and encouragement. I can't wait to continue playing with these new tools and techiniques and see where it takes me.

Holiday in Paris

(Top: In my Parisian stripes and beret enjoying our view, the Arc de Triomphe early morning, Place de la Concorde. Middle: Louve ceiling, Eiffel Tower, my Paris visual packing list.* Bottom: The Seine, Versailles, Musee d'Orsay.) 

Bonjour! I'm back from a much needed vacation, a holiday trip to Paris, France with two of my best girlfriends. The trip was so wonderful and Paris is so beautiful and picturesque that I had to post some of my photos here on Fabulous Doodles. Within five minutes of arriving from the airport I could see why this city has inspired so many artists, designers and writers. At every turn, around every corner, is another incredibly charming street, building, shop and lamppost.

(Top: Van Gogh's apartment building door, beautiful Montmartre street, "tourist pic" at the Eiffel Tower. Middle: Versailles, Arc de Triomphe with my girls, pyramids of the Louve.  Bottom: entranced by Renior at the Musee d'Orsay, chocolate eclair, the Artist's Bridge.) 

Being there just a week we saw most of the sights, strolled along the beautiful Seine and enjoy our fair share of Parisian delicacies but I can't wait to return, perhaps in the spring next time to relax and take in more of the lovely city. Merci for a wonderful week Paris, I'll be revisting these pictures often. Au revoir!

*Visual Packing List- Every trip I pack for thats more than a few days I sketch up a what call my "visual packing list," a quick visual reference in the form of little thumbnail sketches of all the outfits I've packed. This way I can easily see what I've worn, what I have left, and what I can mix and match. Here's another I posted from a trip to Israel and Egypt years ago.

Line Drawings for Remington at Target

While on a vacation in Maine a few weeks ago I spotted more of my drawings on hair products in Target. Remington Products commissioned me to create line drawings for their hair accessory collection at Target. A little while back I shared my drawings for the hair scarfs and now these cuties depicting the many ways to wear the flower clip.

Above is a instagramed photo I took in Target of the actual product packaging with my sketches. It's always exciting to see my work on a finished product but even more so in a huge national chain store!

Sister Sketches

A while back I was commissioned by three stylish sisters to create custom fashion illustrations for their online boutique. The girls each had their own unique fashion sense and clear vision of how their sketches were to be styled, dressed and drawn. The sisters were lovely to work with, and I thought it was about time I shared the sketches and their shop, 3 Sisters Style. Above I've featured two of the sisters (the two that mirror my current surroundings as I write this post on vacation in Maine!) Greer to the left with her nautical stripe top, woven leather bag and skinny jeans and Laurel in her ocean hued ombre sundress with sun glasses atop her blond highlighted hair, would fit right in here. For a look at the third lovely sister and to browse their San Francisco based e-shop click on over to 3 Sisters Style.

(Illustration by Brooke Hagel)

Head Scarf Sketches for Remington at Target

A little while back I was commissioned by Remington Products for this fun little project sketching hair styles that showed the five different ways to style their newest hair accessory, a sequined head scarf. They requested the sketches be simple line drawings with only the product drawn in color, so it would stand out. I was also asked to keep the face consistent on each illustration, so the focus was only on the different hair styles.

Once the tags were in production they said I'd get samples for my portfolio but nothing ever came and I almost forgot about it. Then a few weeks ago while on a trip down in Florida I decided to swing down the hair accessory aisle of a Target just to check out the Remington line and see what was there. To my pleasant surprise I found my sketches right there, in store, on hang tags in Target! Needless to say I bought one and am excited to share the illustrations here with you.

(Illustrations by Brooke Hagel for Remington Products)

Ugg Love {and Discount}

A great new website has launched that is all about my favorite boots, Uggs. As my friends can attest to, I love my Uggs! They are without a doubt the warmest and coziest option in a my closet. I have the "classic" in both chestnut and black so I can wear them with any outfit. They're also super light weight which makes them great to travel with. (I couldn't have lived without them during my vacation in Iceland last year.)

I not only outfit myself in Uggs, but "my girls" as well. Here you can see some of my notebook doodles sporting them. (Back in my school days every page of class notes was framed in little doodles like these girls.) I even drew Uggs in my recent holiday card designs here.

(Clockwise from top left: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kate Moss, Rachel Bilson, Jennifer Aniston, Hayden Pantettier, Avril Lavigne, and Gisele Bundchen.)

Magazines keep claiming "they're out" and they may not be the sexiest shoe choice, but when a chill hits the air girls grab their Uggs. Most of my favorite Hollywood stars regularly sport Australia's best export.

For the next month my readers can receive $30 off Uggs by entering the coupon code "221FAB" on BuyItRightHere. Through the site you can also learn about everything Ugg; care and maintenance, history of the brand, styling suggestions, and buy them of corse! Have I sparked your interest in getting yourself a pair? Happy shopping!

Cherry Picked

A new website and daily newsletter has just launched called Cherry Picked. A few months ago Felicity, the sites creator, contacted me about her concept and a possible collaboration. Felicity was moving from San Francisco back home to Australia. She felt there was a void in the online arena for daily fabulousness in and about her hometown Sydney, Australia and thought my illustrations fit in perfectly with her vision.

She was planning a trip to New York and asked me if I'd like to get together. It was a thrill, as I rarely ever get to meet my clients. We met on the upper west side, at Magnolia, dined on tea and cupcakes, and hit it off right from the start. (I'm thinking if all meetings took place in cupcake shops the world would be a better place!)

After meeting in person we had many late night emails and g-chats resulting in me illustrating the logo, website and newsletter headers, and a bunch of icons and "head shots" of the team.

If you are a native Aussie or simply planning to vacation there soon, you have to check out Cherry Picked. (And all of my illustrations!)

New to my shop: Magnets

I love trying my girls out on new products. In an effort to make my fridge a little more fashionable I've taken some of my favorite illustrations and had them printed on magnets with the same pretty pink ombre background as my shop and blog header. I added them to the shop, and you can check out the listing here. I think the ladies really compliment the photo of my grandparents vacationing in Miami back in 1946. =)

Tell me about it, stud.

I'm not normally a trendoid, but I'm so loving that the biker look is in now. I've always loved strong juxtaposition in fashion, especially when mixing ultra feminine soft pieces with hard edgy ones. A few years ago I found a distressed white leather collar covered in silver pyramid studs in a thrift store in Notting Hill, London. I had to have it, although when buying it I didn't know what I would do with it. I don't have a dog, and I'm not exactly the downtown punk type! When I got home I found the perfect place for it; around the neck of my favorite big brown teddy bear. So redic, I know, but I love that he's this big soft and cuddly bear wearing a hard leather studded collar. (I would take a picture to share with you but my camera broke 2 days ago, so I had to send it out.) Anyway, that being said, tonight I decided to draw this girl wearing a chunky knit scarf paired with a stud detail top.

I've recently been thinking about adding some backgrounds to my work, so I tried it out here. I drew a studded pattern and photoshopped it on in there. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, if I'll add it my etsy shop or not, but I thought I'd share it here and maybe get some feedback from you. Background, yay or or nay? If you do decide to leave feedback, how about taking a stab at where this post title comes from too! ;)

Walk like (or Dress like) an Egyptian

Whenever I sit at my desk and my iphoto screen saver comes on I never know what photo's will pop up. Today it was my Egypt album. This past July I traveled with 5 friends to Egypt. I took tons and tons of pictures (1006 to be exact) because really, who knows if I'll ever be in Egypt again. I decided to do this illustration inspired by the art work and craftsmanship that I saw there. As a long time student of art history it was amazing to be there, in Egypt. I stood in the middle of a nobleman's tomb, in the desert, with room after room of the real hieroglyphics I studied throughout the years. To see it, and touch it (shhh don't tell!), while standing in Egypt and not in a museum...wow. I had "a moment." Paired with the pyramids, King Tut, the mummies, and 5 great friends it's a trip I won't soon forget.

How fab would it be to be invited to the Met Costume Institute for a Halloween Ball looking like this? Ahh one day perhaps.

YSL

Just one month after legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent passed away last summer I visited the Montreal Museum on Fine Arts where I got to see the first retrospective of his work spanning over 40 years. The exhibition that opened 2 days prior to his death included 135 of his creations on mannequins, original drawings, sketchbooks and videos. It was stunning.

Here are two postcards of his sketches that I bought as souvenirs. I love collecting designer's illustrations.

My Visual Packing List

What you may ask is a visual packing list? Well, I'm going away for 3 weeks and need to travel with a wardrobe suitable for the wide variety of activities I'll be participating in and places I'll be visiting. Our itinerary consists of everything from hiking and biking -in 100 degree heat- to visiting sites where we need to follow "modesty laws," (your legs, shoulders and chest should be covered.) We need to have cute going out outfits for fun summer nights on the town and comfy casual cloths for sight seeing. So where to start?

Being such a visual person, having a image to reference is invaluable when trying to get ready in an instant. When stylists pick outfits for their clients, or style fashion shows, every look is captured in a Polaroid. Well Polaroid film is super expensive, and now super hard to find as they've stopped making it (boohoo), so I've come up with an alternative.  Instead of riffling through my suitcase trying to figure out what I brought and what matches what, I can just look at my "visual packing list" of quick doodles of all that I've packed and pick something. In the past it's been really helpful (although friends think I'm nuts!!!), so I've done it again. The photo above is page one of two...yes I'm an over-packer. 

So I am off for a few weeks, "packing list" in tow. (Actually it's stored on my camera, much easier than pulling out a big piece of paper. I can just zoom in to see each look close up) Promise to post as soon as I get back!