Twas a pleasure to spend an afternoon with other lovely bloggers for the video. A photo shoot and another interview accompanies the video.

Changing from boots (what I arrived in) to heels for the shoot.

Pin-up girl necklace by Fashion Whore.

This image was featured on The Genteel!

Headdress by Headmistress, ring by Tarina Tarantino.

Vest by Forever 21, dress by Material Girl.

Layered stockings by Jacob and Topshop, shoes by Aldo.

Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20
Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 | Day 25 | Day 26 | Day 27 | Day 28 | Day 29 | Day 30

The book is available at your local bookstore and online. Here are my pages in the book:

Martin also did an unpublished Q&A with me for the book in February 2010:

Do you prefer the term ILLUSTRATOR or ARTIST?
I don’t prefer one over the other although illustrator is more specific and accurate in describing what I do. To me, this is what each term means: an illustrator is a person who is hired to visually communicate someone else’s idea. An artist is a person who expresses pure emotions and messages of their own regard in a medium of their choice. Professionally, I would be an illustrator because that’s what I do for a living. Outside of work, I’m an artist when I’m sketching my ideas just for fun or as roughs for personal pieces.

Did you attend any kind of school for drawing?
Yes, I studied the Bachelor of Applied Arts: Illustration program at Sheridan Institute in Oakville, Canada (Just west of Toronto).

How did your education benefit your career?
It taught me the principles of drawing, the emotional connection of an image, and the power it has to convey an idea. It also taught us business skills essential to surviving as a freelance illustrator. The program was full of helpful teachers and a warm student community – felt like a second home.

Were you already interested in Fashion?
Oh yes. I always wanted a career related to fashion but also knew I wasn’t cut out for constructing clothing. Sewing, measuring, fitting, it just wasn’t for me. What I do love is drawing clothes and my own designs.

When it comes to your own work, what inspires you?
Mostly fashion, music, pin-up girls, food and nature.

Do you have any favourite fashion designers – any which specifically inspire your own illustrations?
I love love love Tarina Tarantino, Betsey Johnson, Anna Sui, Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen.

Can you describe your typical ‘start to finish’ workflow?  Talk a little bit about the process of creating an illustration.
Before I start, I usually already have an idea of what I want to create. Then I do some sketches to see which compositions work, flesh out a finalized, detailed sketch and scan it into the computer. Next I hop on the internet to gather reference images and for inspiration. For the actual creation of the image I tend to use Illustrator for vectorizing and getting the flat colours, and Photoshop to add textures and painted details.

Do you ever have creative slumps? What do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?
Of course I do. What I find gets me out of them is to dance, go for a walk, meet up with a friend, exercise – anything that gets me moving because it improves my mood and gets me into a creative mode.

What would be your perfect job or assignment?
Oh where to begin. I would love to have my illustrations appear on a billboard in a high-traffic world city (like Times Square in New York City), collaborate with a major fashion label in apparel / textile design, advertising campaign, and to be a regular illustrator for a major fashion magazine.

How do you market and promote your work?
Through a promotional hailstorm of emailing prospective clients, direct mail promos, meetings, participating in shows and conventions, networking with friends and co-workers.

Do you feel running websites and blogs helps your career?
It helps tremendously. It’s become the norm and is a great way to keep fans and clients updated with news, shows, and work progress. With social media like Facebook and Twitter, it can really help to establish a devoted following and that is so valuable to an artist.

What contributions do you feel an illustrator offers to society?
We make the world a more beautiful and fun place to live in. We can’t help but remind everyone through our work that hey, it’s ok to kick off your shoes and do a wild dance from time to time!

What advice would you offer someone who is just entering the world of illustration?
Know your strengths and perfect them, don’t be afraid of failure, setbacks and rejection (because typically there will be plenty), work hard but keep a balanced lifestyle, exercise, eat right, read and most importantly, don’t give up!

Very cool news about Fashion Journal: Day 7! As you may know, the model on the right is based on Canadian supermodel Coco Rocha. I’m very happy to say she’s seen the illustration and included it in her fan art album on Facebook. Thanks so much, Coco! Go team Canada!

Fashion Journal Day 1 – 10 is done! Can’t wait to continue through to day 30 although at this rate I have enough material for 50, possibly more! Only time will tell…

I’m very happy that Toronto fashion blog à la mode has featured each day on their fabulous blog! There are new tidbits and neat anecdotes provided so make sure you check them out:

Day 1 |  Day 2 |  Day 3 |  Day 4 |  Day 5 |  Day 6 |  Day 7 |  Day 8 |  Day 9 |  Day 10

It’s my lucky day! The lovely Marcus of à la mode did a Q&A with me and featured some of my work. I had fun telling my story, love for fashion and what compels me to draw girls. Check out the complete post and interview here.

I made it into Semi Permanent Book 4 last year, here’s a look at my page. This is the first book in the series that’s a hard cover and the second 2010 edition released along with the Auckland, Melbourne and Perth events.

Thanks to Jim McKinley for sending this through!

Thanks to Now magazine for mentioning my Candy Apple Girl print today! She’s in a special section promoting the Erotic Arts and Crafts Fair this coming Saturday, Feb 12 at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. Speaking of which, back to preparations…see you all very shortly!