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Here's a lil' comic I created for something else and now I'm posting it here! It's essentially about me surviving the hol...
Here's a lil' comic I created for something else and now I'm posting it here! It's essentially about me surviving the holiday social climb. You know how the number of parties and gatherings and meetups goes waaaaay up during December? I love it, but also it's EXHAUSTING. So This Comic is about That Feeling. Hope you enjoy!
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Hey, Holidays! What's Up?
It's Christmas Eve! I'm just popping in to share some snaps from a recent small gathering with friends. Back in our hometown for...
It's Christmas Eve! I'm just popping in to share some snaps from a recent small gathering with friends. Back in our hometown for the holidays, each day is (mostly) filled with laughing + eating + talking with family and friends. Hope you are well and enjoying life during these last few days of 2016. 👍 (The color editing I did on these pics is inconsistent but let's just ignore that, yes?)
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Currently Loving / Cool Girls On Youtube
I know it's supposed to be a musical interpretation of the 'cool girl' passage from Gone Girl— which is super clear re: t...
I know it's supposed to be a musical interpretation of the
'cool girl' passage
from
Gone Girl—
which is super clear re: the false advertising of the so-called ✨cool girl—but let's just pretend I mean only good things when I say: you should totally read this post all about cool girls while you listen to Tove Lo's "Cool Girl."
Here, I'll make it easy for you:
Anyway, on to the meat of this post.
YouTube. Lately, I've been using it to find new music + to be inspired by other creative women. So I'm sharing this list of some of the fashion + style channels I'm currently subscribed to, in order to catalog my taste and inspirations. I find value + inspiration from the creative output of these women and I hope you do too.
I've always low key enjoyed watching thrift haul + styling vids, but there are a bunch of women who take theirs to the next level, visually speaking. Obviously, great style is a factor, but these channels also have 1) fun editing, 2) inspiring visual design ideas, and 3) good music.
To The 9s
To The 9s is Cassie & Ricci and I their vids are simple yet well produced, plus their style feels modern but down to earth. Like they're not trying to be too fancy or trendy. V chill and I'm good with it. (Also I drew them
here
&
here
, for their #drawtothe9s hashtag on insta)
Julia Lee
I don't know, maybe I'm a sucker for artsy visuals and the simplicity of her channel design, but I'm way into it! She also makes these tight little conceptual/aesthetic
films
that are super pleasant to watch.
Rian Phin
Okay you
know
I like Rian Phin. Her vids are low key low key but also high key??? Like I'm into her overall aesthetic, but her channel is bomb because she
talks a lot
in all of her videos, but it's
not annoying at all
it's very interesting hearing her talk about random shit she did that day AND she has other talk-y vids that are about things I think about but don't realize I think about? i.e. her "ig baddie vs badu"
video
. Get into it!
Tara Chandra
Seems like a v cool human in general. Her style vids are awesome, but also she does these "
Tara Talks
" and "
T-Weekly
" series of videos that are just as interesting. I don't know what else to say. Just watch, okay? Byyyyee!
Taraola.
Tara's 👏 Short 👏 Films 👏 Are 👏 Amazing 👏 Pure Gold Art A++ Fire Bomb Perfect 10 Thank You and Good Night. (And yes she also makes dope
fashion vids
)
The Fashion Citizen
Stephanie + Mel = The Fashion Citizen. They are my forever faves, I think. I got into them around the same time I got into ClothesEncounters back when it was both Jenn and Sarah. I like seeing their style (both in clothes and in visuals) totally evolve over the years. Also, their
weekly vlogs
are strangely soothing to me. I also like that their vids + social media aren't cluttered with a bunch of sponsored stuff. I don't always hate when people's entire wardrobe is co-opted, but generally, since so many bloggers + vloggers do that now, it can get pretty boring + lame. Anyway! The Fashion Citizen is the opposite of boring and lame and that's why I like their channel. This caption too long, bruh.
Honestly, when I was scrolling through my subs to find vids for this post, I realized this list could go on and on and on and on. This is really just a handful of the people who release content I find interesting on YouTube. There are so many people who inspire
my
creative output because they do dope things. Shouts out to people inspiring me visually!
/
Who would you add to this list? What are some of your favorite YouTube channels?
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Wearing / Takeout Tee
THRIFTED pin / MANGO skirt / FOREVER 21 jacket / TARGET tennies Ya'll may know that I LOVE to eat , so naturall...
THRIFTED pin / MANGO skirt / FOREVER 21 jacket / TARGET tennies
Ya'll may know that I LOVE
to eat
, so naturally I designed a t-shirt in homage to Chinese takeout.* During particularly weak moments, Charlie and I crave Chinese takeout. We both love Chinese food in general, but it always feels extra lazy and unhealthy when we Grubhub the stuff to our apartment.
A few weeks ago, our
favorite
delivery place was booked out the wazoo. One and a half hour wait? No thanks, we'll find another place! Another place ended up being a tiny lil' spot called King Wong. They didn't deliver, but it was close by so we dropped in to pick it up. Lo and behold, this place was veerryyy chill. The owner(?) seemed super jolly and it was one of those hole-in-the-wall restaurants with decor + vibes that are perfectly suited to my taste. (I posted a couple snaps on my instagram
here
and
here
.)
ANYWAY, the King Wong menu was lying around our house for a few days after that when suddenly, I saw it in a new light. This would make a perfect bookmark! I stuck it in my Angela Davis biography and took it with me to one of our daily latte + chill sessions at a coffee shop.
And it was
then,
at the coffee shop that I saw the menu in a new
new
light. All these wicked serif fonts would look great in charcoal pencil! Voila. I
drew it
up, scanned it in, fumbled with it in Photoshop, and had my cute
Takeout Tee
from
Printful
in a week!
I'm in the process of designing more things that will eventually be up for sale in an online shop. Stay tuned for that in early 2017!
/
What's your favorite food to order for delivery?
*Ironically, 2017 may be the year that I drastically diminish (or totally destroy) my meat intake. It's something Charlie and I have been talking about recently, and it may begin with us becoming pescetarian (vegetarian who eats fish)...then eventually cutting out meat altogether. Who knows! If anyone has any
literature
on the subject (recipes, tips, a punch in the stomach in the form of a book, etc.) let me know in the comments!
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VIBIN' / Princess Nokia ❤
So I've been really inspired lately by women (esp. of color) in, on, and around the internet. I first came across Destiny Frasqueri, ...
So I've been really inspired lately by women (esp. of color) in, on, and around the internet. I first came across Destiny Frasqueri, aka
Princess Nokia
on tumblr (where else?) and was drawn in by her strong visual presence. I'll admit there was also some skepticism on my part because she seemed to be playing into that whole ✨ tumblr art hoe/internet princess ✨ thing that sometimes makes me roll my eyes.
It also took me a minute to get into her music (specifically her most recent release,
1992
), but honestly, the more time I spend with her creative output, the less I can resist her charms. Maybe a month or so ago I started following her on
instagram
and clocking her videos on YouTube: music vids as well as little interviews, clips, and mini docs.
What I see from her is a genuine desire to produce quality visual + audio content, an interest in putting positive energy out into the world, and a heart for marginalized people. Obviously, I don't know her and can only see pieces of what she chooses to put out into the world. All I'm saying is those pieces—her music, her videos, her words—have had a small impact on me. I can see her drive, the sweat and love she puts into the things she does and that's inspiring to me.
In homage, I made some Nokia-related art. Please enjoy. Happy Friday!
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Burger Pickin' / Lenny's Burger
Another burger review, Maria? Yes! I am the burger queen! Even though, truly, after I eat a nice juicy piece of medium cooked meat pl...
Another burger review, Maria? Yes! I am the burger queen! Even though, truly, after I eat a nice juicy piece of medium cooked meat plus french fries my body feels as though it is not long for this world... Like all that fat, grease, and salt is slowly congealing somewhere in my system, just waiting to take me out while I innocently climb a flight of stairs.
Anyway.
Lenny's Burger
. What a place!
I think there are a few of these in and around the Phoenix area. We visit one in a strip mall, tucked in between Smoothie King and a Chinese restaurant. I've been longing to visit this joint for a while, mostly because from the outside it looks like classic rock is blasting out of some boombox in the kitchen, the walls are all shiny, and I imagine groups of kinda bad school children hang out there for hours, plotting. (Honestly, I'm sort of imagining
this
, but with more high schoolers and less murder).
We show up an hour before they close, hungry and kind of excited. Our plan is to eat dinner here and then go home and watch a Christmas movie, to get in the spirit of December. Lenny's seems to be on board with this plan; tiny speakers in the ceiling play Rat Pack classics all night long. No classic rock today! There was, however, a group of people (of varying ages, but
a few
of them could have been in high school!) posted up in a corner of the restaurant.
At this point, I'm metaphorically rubbing my hands together, pumped that everything is going well. This place is also super photogenic; it's all shiny walls and neon signs, checkerboard floor and bright red cushions.
We order our food, and before I can say
wow, the floor in that corner over there is naaaasty
, our food arrives and we're diggin' in. Lenny's Burger does not disappoint! I don't remember if I ordered my Garlic Mushroom Burger (hold the cheese and the mayo) medium, but it sure is. (This is a good thing). Charlie ordered The Single Burger,
for people who hate their wives and wish they were single
, which he deemed "Okay."
Final verdict? Charlie would choose
Whataburger
over Lenny's Burger, but so far, Lenny's is my favorite greasy, fast food-style burger. Keep in mind, we haven't yet reviewed more popular fast food spots like In-N-Out, or Shake Shack, so lets consider this a
low bar
. Regardless, I'd stop in Lenny's for a rave party
any
day! (No one cares about my club kid references, I know, but I need to include them in order to feel special).
/
Other misc. notes
Lenny's is divided into halves, and we sat on the less populated half because we are misanthropes, obviously. Halfway through our meal, a Lenny's employee separates our half of the shop from the other half by way of a white chain stretching across the room. In the end, we had to slip under the chain in order to leave. Cute!
A man entered shortly after we did and had the great courtesy to have a very loud, almost unintelligible Bluetooth headset conversation with a buddy of his (and
you know
he's the type of dude who calls his friends BUDDY) while he ate his burger. Nice aesthetics!
We went home and watched
Scrooged
, a 1988 Christmas movie starring William Murray. One of the worst movies I have ever seen. That is all.
/
Score Card
Restaurant Aesthetics: B
Customer Service: B
Logo Design: FUCKING
F
. ARE YOU KIDDING ME????!!!! (Although it does look a bit better as a neon sign).
Music Selection: Rat Pack Oldies is always an A.
Cleanliness: B-
Bathrooms: Did not go
Taste: C+
Overall: C+
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My Art Making Process
I generally find it interesting/helpful to see how certain artists make work, so today I'm going to share a bit about my art + creati...
I generally find it interesting/helpful to see how certain artists make work, so today I'm going to share a bit about my art + creative process. I studied graphic design at university, and I've been drawing since I was a child, and ideally, my work reflects both of those mediums. I like to scribble on paper and I like to push pixels around on a screen.
The tools of my analog art-making trade. Not pictured: charcoal pencils because they are currently in one of those clear, plastic art bags making a giant, dusty, black mess. Since I spend a lot of time in front of a screen making designs (&blogging &looking at cool interiors &reading articles), this non-digital world of mark making with rudimentary tools any kid uses—colored pencils, paper and glue, crayons, etc.—is a haven to me.
I need the tactility of pen against paper to really feel alive, or something. This is also why I like to make a lot of lists on scraps of paper and in various notebooks I have lying around. It doesn't feel real if I can't also touch it.
Generally I draw, collage, cut & paste—whatever—and then scan the images onto my laptop so I can edit them in Photoshop. I'm asking for a Wacom tablet for Christmas, so this process may change, or at least be enhanced/easier in a couple of months. For now, this is how I work.
As you can see in the main picture at the top, I like to use card stock in lieu of a sketchbook. Right now this works for me because I work very small, and the cards feel quick and easy. I don't know why, but I have never been a fan of filling up sketchbooks. Because the cards are
obviously
loose (and end up living in small piles all around our apartment because I'm A MESS) I've started keeping them in brightly colored plastic envelopes.
As for
where
I work, it depends. When I'm at home, I often work at this desk. Obviously supplied with plenty of mildly caffeinated tea, notebooks of ideas, and some e n t e r t a i n m e n t. Usually, this means podcasts, but lately I've had dubbed episodes of
Case Closed
on in the background because I'm a forever fan. If I'm not at home, I'm at a coffee shop, sipping that soy latte and chilling in a (hopefully) aesthetically pleasing environment. The atmosphere at coffee shops is perfect for my brain; I focus really well for some reason when there is a bit of activity going on around me. Headphones are key.
If you'd like, you can check out a bunch of my work—digital and analog—on this v unofficial tumblr where I dump it. I'm working on organizing my work in a cohesive, understandable portfolio, but for now, I have this. It works.
✨✨✨
mariamariamariamariamaria.tumblr.com
✨✨✨
I also sell
printable wall art
on Etsy. If you love a good gallery wall, and unique and minimal design, you should definitely check it out!
/
Other creative people: what does your working process look like? Also, please share links of your art! Let's get connected!
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