My take on Chloe Love Story #SaksPOV

I hope you have enjoyed my floral illustrations for Dior and Burberry so far! It's the third week of Saks Glam Gardens and I will be sharing two fashion and beauty looks inspired by Chloé. 

At the Cafe – My Favorite Painting Spot

Chloé's Love Story is undeniably the epitome of a pure, yet sensual floral scent. The first looks was inspired by Chloe's campaign video for Love Story.

The fragrance opens with a radiant orange blossom scent, inspiring me to use some vibrantly coloured flower petals for this look. During my visit to the florist, the brightly coloured yellow and pure white Freesias were first to catch my eye. It is always a joy to work with cheery, bold colours and these flowers happened to be perfect for the look I had in mind.

Playing around with the poses and lines of the fashion figure helps to bring out the desired mood for the look. For this look, the silhouette was drawn to capture the essence of sensuality, gracefulness and the 'expression of a free woman' that embodies Love Story. I especially like the use of a padlock design for the fragrance bottle. It reminds me of Pont Des Arts Bridge in Paris, a true symbol of love and affection.

The second look I created for Chloé was inspired by the Guipure Lace-Trim Silk Chiffon Blouse from Chloe's spring 2015 collection. Mokara Orchids and Purple Eye Asiatic Lilies were used to resemble the bohemian-like patterns of the blouse. Unlike the vibrant and vivid colours I usually work with for my illustrations, these petals have a more muted and somber tone.

To create the illusion of soft ruffles as seen on the blouse, the petals were folded and layered on top of one another. The process of repeatedly folding and layering the petals was quite challenging for me, since the petals were of different sizes. I hope you like the finished look!

Create your own Love Story with Chloé!

#SaksPOV | BURBERRY GOES FLORAL

The My Burberry fragrance is another springtime floral scent I've grown to love this season. The British, post-rain, garden-like scent certainly brings back some of my travel memories from my time in London. The bottle is also unquestionably sophisticated, with a clean and crisp bow on its neck, like those of a signature Burberry Prorsum trench coat. This scent is undeniably fresh, timeless, and one that embodies the Burberry brand perfectly.

My Burberry Fragrance in Watercolors

Following my previous post showcasing my Dior-inspired illustrations, I am thrilled to share with you the second look I've created for the Saks Glam Gardens campaign. A gorgeous abstract print trench from Burberry Prorsum's spring 2015 ready-to-wear collection was illustrated to go with the My Burberry fragrance for this look. I love the use of bold prints as well as the interesting insect and floral motifs on the trenches this season.

Putting My Skills to the Test. Photo by happyphotopeople

This time, I headed out to a quiet cafe in the morning to grab a cup of coffee. As usual, I had my painting materials and a bunch of flowers with me. For this piece, I've decided to use smaller flower petals to re-create the looks of the trench. By using smaller petals, I was able to incorporate the beauty of both the red and yellow carnations, as well as stunning deep deep red Gerbera daisies into the piece.

An English Garden Come to Life

Initially, I was feeling faintly apprehensive about starting on this challenging piece, but the good coffee and a change in environment definitely helped! Unlike my usual floral illustrations, both flower petals and watercolours were used to complete this piece. Watercolours were used to accentuate the bold prints and lines of the trench.

After some trial and error, I must say I’m extremely happy with how it turned out! Being tasked to recreate this specific trench look helped me to gain new experiences despite it being slightly challenging. I really enjoyed the whole process while trying out new techniques. I hope you like this piece as much as I do! So I’ll end here by saying, always be bold, courageous, and dare to try something new!

Be transported to your favorite London garden with every spritz of My Burberry.

Saks Glam Gardens - Dior

The season for flowers is finally here! This spring calls for us to bust on more floral scents and fragrances. Since Christian Dior launched its newest interpretations of ‘Miss Dior’ early last year, I must admit, it has been one of my favorite everyday springtime floral scents. The delicate and light scent of ‘Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet’ exemplifies both youthfulness and modernity, while embodying Dior’s couture spirit. I’ve also fallen in love with the packaging of the bottle. The dainty yet sleek bow around the bottle’s neck truly brings out the girly, yet sophisticated side of Miss Dior. 

This spring I am excited to be partnering with Saks in their Glam Gardens initiative. I’ve always loved working with flowers and this experience has been so surreal. Inspired by the charming ‘Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet’ and Christian Dior’s 2015 Spring/Summer collection, I have created two unique floral looks for #SaksGlamGardens. During my visit to the florist, with my phone and notebook in my hands, I carefully searched and examined the flowers I’ve dedicatedly listed for both the looks.

The first look was created using a full bouquet of Pink Peonies. My inspiration for this piece came from the essence of the ‘Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet’, and the heart of the fragrance, Pink Peonies. I thought they perfectly personify the elegance, charm of an irresistibly beautiful woman donned in the gorgeous fragrance.

Floral Couture in Progress. Photo Credits: HappyPhotoPeople

Each petal was placed overlapping one another to add volume to the gown and represent elegance, sophistication and grace. At the same time, the lightweight petals characterize the delicate, breezy scent of the fragrance.

How do you find the finished look?

The second look I created was inspired by Look #7 of Christian Dior’s Spring 2015 Ready-to-Wear Collection. The Christian Dior collection this season has redefined modernity in fashion by borrowing historical references and making it look ‘new’. Since I was illustrating an all-white gown, I’ve decided to work with a variety of flower breeds. White Peonies, Hydrangeas, Damascus and Matthiola petals were used. Using different shades and shapes of white petals helped to bring out the structure of the outfit.

Photo Credits: Olivia Palermo

I thought the white, luscious peony blooms helped signify the soft and sensual scent of ‘Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet’, while providing additional texture to the skirt. 

Layering on the bouquet of Peonies, Hydrangeas, Damascus, and Matthiolas. 

The green buds of the Matthiola flowers helped to accentuate the beautiful detailing of the skirt, while its sophisticated, pure-white blooms brought the rest of the piece to life.

Giving whites some necessary dimension. 

J'adore Dior

Dior’s 2015 Spring/Summer runway looks and ‘Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet’ have given me so much inspiration over the week. I am exceedingly thrilled to share my floral creations with all of you!

Don't forget to stop by Saks New York's Glam Gardens Windows, Photo Credit: Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks New York's Dior window, a gorgeous contrast of metal and flora play perfectly against the vast array of miniature iconic Miss Blooming Bouquet bottles.

I hope you like my floral illustrations! Now, its time to enjoy spring with all these light, heavenly floral scents!

CAREhER @ Taipei

Interview session with Careher

Earlier this month,  I travelled to Taipei for a 'Meet & Greet'  session and an illustration workshop, hosted by CAREhER, an online community that shares original content with career women of this generation. 

Souvenirs for the CAREhER members

The session was held at Fika Fika Cafe, a cozy place with excellent coffee and food.

During the event, I had the privilege of sharing my experience as a Fashion Illustrator with strong and beautiful CAREhER members. Among them were several working professionals, photographers and editors, some of them enjoy illustrating during their free time. 

During the session, I talked about my journey as an Illustrator and gave some tips on how to regularly generate creative content for my social media platforms. Most of you know that Instagram has been a huge part of my career and I was happy to share how I started and grew my fashion illustration career through it.

Tiffany (founder of CAREhER) hosting the interview session

Thereafter, a round of Q&A was opened to the CAREhER audience. It was so much fun engaging the group, whose questions and sharing have also inspired me so much!

Q&A time with the members of CAREhER

Thank you all who attended, I had the most wonderful time!

Fashion Illustration Workshop

During my time in Taipei, I also held an exclusive Fashion Illustration workshop. The session was held in both Mandarin and English.

It began with an introduction to watercolours. Everyone then applied the techniques they learnt on pre-illustrated perfume bottles, such as the Chanel No. 5 and Miss Dior.

During the workshop, we also learnt to illustrate Elie Saab and Carolina Herrera gowns.

Elie Saab dresses have always been known to exude elegance, with a slight tinge of romance. The use of subtle petal-like embroidery and ombre tones perfectly epitomise grace and style. The watercolour techniques learnt were applied here to create the perfect ombre effect with subtle floral motifs.

A stunning Elie Saab Illustration by one of the workshop attendees

Modern ripple-like silk organzas characterised Carolina Herrera's Fall 2015 Fall Collection. The focus of illustration this piece was to perfectly highlight the almost transparent light folds across the dress. Everyone did so well!

Beautifully illustrated Carolina Herrera Gown by Miranda

Thank you Le Bébés and Taiwanese Tea House for the lovely treats during the workshop

This is the 6th workshop I've conducted since I began illustrating and it has truly been a joy sharing my life's passion with everyone. I hoped you've learnt loads and I can't wait to visit Taipei again! 

Love,

Grace

Lily Dress Illustration Tutorial

It has almost been a year since I’ve begun illustrating with flower petals, and I can’t thank everyone enough for your tremendous support. Over time, I’ve received many requests for me to share how I go about creating my art pieces. Today, I’m excited to show you the inspiration and process behind one of my personal favorite petal illustrations! Enjoy!

Lilies have been my all-time favourite flowers to illustrate with.  This time I've chosen to work with oriental lilies.The soft, fabric-like texture of the lily petals make them perfect for my signature flower dresses. I love how each speckled bloom is uniquely different and this allows me to create variations for my pieces. Also, the white shades on the edges of the petals that darken to form a perfect plum colour creates the ideal gradient effect for the dress I'm illustrating.

Photo Credits: Pinterest

I begin with sketching out the silhouette of the figure. During this process, it is important to first envision her pose and consider the type of gestures you want your figurine to have. Having a well-proportioned figure is key in fashion illustration.

After drawing the silhouette out, it's now time to dress her up! This is the fun part, so don't be afraid to get creative during this step! It's ok to play around and exaggerate certain elements to capture the key essence of your dress. Look for inspiration around you, it could be from a magazine, something you like or even something in your wardrobe! Today, I've decided to create a flowy, cocktail tube dress.

Start by arranging the petals to create your desired look. During this step, it is important to be mindful of the proportions of the dress.

After some trial and error, you will achieve your desired look! Now it's time to pick up your glue and start putting those petals in place. It is important to be gentle with the petals, to prevent bruising them. Voila! And there you have your flower illustration.

Throughout the year, I’ve received many enquiries for me to create customised works for your personal events. However, I sincerely apologize for not being able to fulfill everyone’s wishes. But today, I share with you some exciting news! I've recently launched a limited edition phone case featuring the oriental lily illustration I just shared. I really hope you like it.

If you fancy a new handphone cover, here are some details on how you may order them!

• Available for purchase at www.custombee.com/graceciao
• Available for iPhone, Samsung, as well as certain HTC and LG phone models (list available on the website)
• Worldwide shipping is available from the U.S. or Hong Kong depending on your location
• All cases will be shipped out from 1st May 2015 onwards

Do take photos of your new handphone cases and please tag me @grace_ciao or #graceciao on Instagram so I may see it! This is my first time making my prints available to all of you, and I really hope you like it! If you would like to see more designs, please feel free to let me know!

I hope this simple tutorial was useful and that you have gained some insights into my daily flower illustrating routine. 

Club Monaco

Time flies when you're having fun. Today, I am excited to share with you my collaboration with Club Monaco. To celebrate Valentines this year, I had the pleasure of guest illustrating for a Media Invite session featuring Club Monaco's Spring/ Summer 2015 Collection.

Neutral, earthy tones characterised Club Monaco's collection this spring. Tailored, clean cuts perfectly encapsulate the timeless classics, which was made trendy with a simple twist. I also loved the versatility of the designs that make it perfect for transitioning from day-to-night, spring-to-summer.

Club Monaco Spring/ Summer 2015.

2015 SS Club Monaco Media Invitees. 

2015 SS Club Monaco Media Invitees. 

The day was spent meeting and illustrating invited guests, which include several fashion personalities, bloggers and editors. It was an utmost pleasure to meet all who attended. Guests were invited to select a Club Monaco outfit from 4 different designs for me to illustrate them in. Embellishments were also added to give a personalised touch to each illustration souvenir.

Here are some of my works from the event,

Grace Ciao Illustrations, inspired by Club Monaco. 

Personalising each illustration for the Invited Guests. 

Group shot with Club Monaco's invited guests, who just received the illustration souvenirs. 

On a separate occasion, I was also invited as a guest illustrator to their flagship store at Ngee Ann City. The experience was truly an amazing one for me.

Not only has Club Monaco blown me away with their trendy, yet understated designs, but they have also recently launched their own Digital Lookbook. The perfect photography and clean designs never fail to inspire me.

To end off this post, I present you a quote from Club Monaco, "Get Inspired, by what Inspires Us". Always stay inspired and never give up!

Photo Credits: Uniform

Style by Petals

Transitioning into fall, it is with great excitement that i share with you my collaboration with 313@somerset.

This season brings with it new opportunities for me to share my work with all of you in my very own exhibition! This time, my flower illustrations feature stunning pieces inspired by the fall collections of  Zara, Forever 21, and Mango, amongst others.

Last Monday, I had the privilege of unveiling my illustrations and sharing the inspirations behind my pieces during the launch of the Fall Campaign.

For my illustrations, the florals used were hand picked to emulate a more muted colour palette that represented fall. In contrast to my usual illustrations, the earth-toned blooms brought upon a mellower, warmer harmony to the dresses. It was such an experience for me recreating these fall pieces!

Aside showcasing my illustrations, guests were invited to a special petal-art workshop I held during the campaign. I've always enjoyed sharing my greatest passion and it was truly rewarding to see everyone attentively learning and exploring fashion illustration during the workshop!

Some visuals of the session...

And so, the workshop commences! 

It was so enjoyable adding to your ideas and creativity! Stay inspired!

I had so much fun inspiring others and getting inspired myself!

If you'd like to watch me illustrate using flowers, you're welcomed to drop by at 2 p.m. on the 5th and 12th of October! It'll be great to meet all of you!

Here's a sneak preview into a live demonstration of my flower illustrations:

It was a joy being part of the Fall Campaign by 313@somerset, thanks for having me!

I hope you like my work from Style by Petals, talk to you soon!