dreXeL's Blog
Thoughts, Musings, Ramblings, Etc...in the presence of GREATNESS
today was extremely special for me because i got to hang out with eddie codel, producer extraordinaire of geekentertainment.tv and just an extremely awesome and fun dude, and eric rice, self-made rockstar and co-founder of Hipcast. that is seriously the abridged version of what those two do, but if you want more go study their blogs, eddie’s and eric’s, and become a fan. you should already be anyway.
we went to barney’s beanery where eddie discovered that marinara sauce tastes just fine with a splash of coffee in it. then off to the rockstar hotel where they’re staying where i did my first-ever video podcast interview for GETV!! (note: i hate bold text but it had to be done.) i was awful and everyone knew it, but they were so cool about it and if they had 1/10th the fun i did then it was a great day all around.
soon this——>
will be my friend. for now i shall practice interviewing all my friends, roommates and coworkers with pens, hairbrushes and chopsticks.
thanks again to eddie, who made this awesome day possible and to eric for humoring me and participating.
love, the stylegoddess. xo
Update!!!!
The art show went great. A woman wants one of my paintings, and wants emails when I do something new so she can have advance notice and buy them before anyone else does!!!
A really SWELL result of all this is when I went to pick up two of the pieces from the framer she was telling me that she’s the person who organizes/arranges all the art shows that they have at Borders in South Coast Plaza. She said if I can get together about 19 more similar in style to “Almost Nude” she will give me a show. So there it is…my very first show all MINE. I’ll keep you posted of the date. Will probably be in about 3 months. I’d love to see all of you there. XO
my upcoming show
so some of you already know i have my first art show this thursday!!! it’s not exactly MY show. but 2 or 3 of my pieces will be in it, and i’ve never really done that before. so i’m excited. and here’s a preview for those of you who won’t be there. but if you WANT to be there, it’s THIS thursday night, april 20, 2006, 2949 south coast hwy in laguna beach, ca. i’d LOVE to see you there.
Tokyo Girl Red (redone for print)
TheDaniel (illustration in Corel)
Almost Nude (illustration in Corel)
Spring
This post has zero to do with geek OR with fashion. I just happen to have become recently addicted to THIS awesome site. I call it the Iron Chef of Illustration. They come up with the theme and you do an illustration based on the theme. So minus the 1 hour time limit and crazy factions rooting for the other guy and critical judges, it’s just like Iron Chef.
So this week’s theme was Spring and here’s my contribution.
one man’s monster…
makeovers of models who look perfect first thing in the morning with no makeup? where’s the challenge in that? monster makeovers is where it’s at. reach new levels of awesome…
Nude with Socks
Always in style…
Hipster with Scarf
I did this using about as many different Corel Painter IX effects as I could. Good times…
Microsoft people and Linux people
Marketing is my obsession.
I haven’t slept more than a few hours in days and days. All I can do when I’m not at work is study web-related marketing tools, plugins, strategies and read my favorite marketing-related blogs. The plan is to somehow absorb years of others’ study and research in…oh…a week or so. It’s insane, my eyes are sore, and it’s truly an impossible task. But I continue to get smarter, so I’m sure I’m on the right track. I will catch up to my heroes…eventually.
Meanwhile…here’s my most recent bleary-eyed self-portrait from about 20 minutes ago.
XHTML invalid
This is an illustration I did last night with Corel Painter IX. Pretty much just how I looked trying to get the XHTML 1.0 validator to show zero errors on my site. Yup. Still working on it. Soon perfection shall be achieved…
working out my brand
I got an email today from the amazing Tim Westergren, founder and CEO of Pandora. He mentioned something to me about the brand of my site. He’s right. It’s been the thorn in my side for 2 years. It’s funny, I think of my brand as something that will evolve like a painter’s style, and I’m sure there’s a degree of truth to that. But in reality you have to do it backward. Come up with the logo and slogan and brand the world with it, before anything else. So even if someone doesn’t have a clear understanding of what you do, even YOU, they’ll still recognize your logo.
(Here’s a goofy one I did a couple days ago with one of my employee’s logo creator software applications.)
I do actually have my purpose and intention worked out. My purpose is to merge the two universes of fashion and geek. How exactly this will manifest itself I couldn’t say. I have MANY ideas and plans. And I’m sure I’ll continue to come up with new ways to merge these two industries. In the meantime, suffice it to say that I intend to bring the skills that I have to the best group of people I know…the smartest people on Earth. The people who are responsible for creating an interactive world full of ungodly levels of awesome; the creators of hardware, software, peripherals, tools, programs and apps and tricks and the faithful users of these amazing creations; the creators of web standards and the adherents of them. I love drawing and painting, and I love image consulting and turning people into rockstars, but I love web technologies more. And if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it for and with my favorite people. With any luck, there will be a couple people who also think it’s a good combination.
In truth, I AM a bit weak on the logo. The slogan is STAYING, because I love it. But when I sit down to sketch out logos, they’re all so random. Here are a couple illustrations I’ve done with “Stylegoddess.com” in mind. Others are on bits of paper at work…my mind wanders.
the oscars…fashion event of the year…or fashion debacle?
There are few events in the entertainment industry where you go as formal as formal gets. Although surely the least comfortable of all genres of clothing, it’s a fun time to see what kind of outfits people put together. It’s the whole deal…hair, rented jewelry, designer shoes, bags, gowns, tuxes, cravats, etc. It’s a festival of pomposity. Since the whole system of the Oscars itself is a sham, I prefer to put my and your attention on the fashion aspect of it all. So here we go…
I’ll start with the “What on EARTH is that?” category.
Contestant #1:
Naomi Watts in a flesh-toned Givency gown made of…fiberglass insulation?
Contestant #2:
Sandra Bullock in Angel Sanchez.
Ok, i’m sorry, but what in god’s name is under that dress, a body condom? See that? Across her chest? It goes around the sides and back, too. Looks like loose grannyhose. Yes, yes, i KNOW it’s supposed to be like that. I just happen to think it’s awful, that’s all.
Enough of that, now for The Stylegoddess Winners Circle”
WINNER #1:
Charlize Theron in Christian Dior . Gorgeous dress, amazing shoes, perfectly accessorized, perfect color for her skin and hair.
WINNER #2:
Ludacris in Giorgio Armani. That was a bold move, and I’m impressed. In fact, he’s the only male contestant who I felt was worthy to be a contestant. So that means he’s the winner for the men. Although many men had nice suits/tuxes, none that i saw stood out as especially interesting or stylish. Except for this here Ludacris feller.
Runner-up #1:
Selma Hayek in Versace. Nice change from the creme and off-white gowns 1/2 the women were wearing, and the black all the men were wearing. Perfect color for her skin, hair and eyes.
Runner-up #2:
Uma Thurman in Versace.
I think Uma could wear a lasagna to the Oscars and look perfect. But that’s just me.
Runner-up #3:Amy Adams in Carolina Herrera.
This is clearly one of the most interesting and unique of the gowns to look at. the warm, rich chocolate brown is a lovely contrast against her skin. And the bustier is quite sexy.
Runner-up #4:
Jessica Alba in gold Versace halter gown. Gorgeous dress, stunningly yet modestly accessorized.
Now, as far as the dresses themselves…it was a toss-up between Jessica Alba, Charlize Theron and Amy Adams. But when you figure in the rest: accessories, hair, color choice for skin tone, etc. it’s easy.
Charlize Theron…best-dressed of all women at the 2006 Oscars. Hands down.
and Ludacris, best-dressed of all men at the 2006 Oscars.
Well done, you two. Now that THAT’s over, everyone can get back into their sweats. Night, night. x
how the oscars is like communism
it’s quite apparent that the decisions of what films make it to the oscars, what awards are given out and to whom, and even the available categories omit from the equation many great, great films, and yes, entire genres of films. i’ll check it out, as i always do, but with my heart so set on Memoirs of a Geisha, i’m over this event well before it’s begun.
it’s rare that a film does a great book justice. you have to edit many dozens of hours of reading to make a film that’s not a week long, but that still captures the feeling without cutting so much out that you have to fill it in with totally different scenes and elements that weren’t even part of the original story. only the people who’ve read the book usually mind that, but it is annoying. “memoirs of a geisha” however, managed to remain true to the story. the imagery, while sometimes different than what was in my head, was just as colorful and fascinating. kudos to rob marshall. it might not be the best movie ever created, but i’ll sure watch it again.
my first blog entry.
well here i am, trying to figure out EVERYTHING all at once. why can’t i have been BORN a standardista??? i have much to learn, many links to add, many plugins to install. how can i feel justified in sleeping when there’s so much to learn? well, i’m going to keep working this out until i can blog in my sleep. effortlessly. meanwhile, stay tuned for something actually interesting. it won’t be long, i promise. x
