Alice + Olivia Spring 2010 Fashion Show

It's Fashion Week here in New York! For most people not much changes this week until you find yourself standing next to a 6'2," 110 lbs, blonde girl on the corner near Bryant Park or in the Meat Packing District.

Last night I got to step a little deeper into Fashion Week by attending designer Stacy Bendet’s Alice + Olivia Fashion Show/Party. I got an invitation after being hired to create illustrations for the show. The show consisted of a Parisian theme for their Spring 2010 collection and I was asked to create pen and ink drawings of things quintessentially French: the Eiffel Tower, Pont Neuf, street signs, windows and then some fun accessories for the models to hold: balloons, ice cream cones, and flowers.






The show was a ton of fun to attend with a live performance by the french band the Plasticines, and I was super excited by the way the illustrations turned out. I was worried they might not hold up being blown up in size a couple hundred times, but they held together on the wall just as well as they did on paper.

I'm not very good at the whole celebrity sighting game, but I nearly brushed shoulders with Heather Graham as she strolled through the show. There was one girl everyone was taking pictures of that I had no idea was. Turns out it was Ashley Greene one of the vampire stars of that hit (that I haven't seen) Twilight. Also in attendance were Lindsay Lohan, Mena Suvari, Nikki Hilton, Jared Leto, Kelly Rutherford from Gossip Girl and some stars from the new series of 90210 and Melrose Place. I guess I need to catch up on my pop culture before heading to my next show...

You can check out some pictures of the celebrities (some posing next to my drawings!!) and the rest of the pretty clothes at the following links.
http://shop.lucidnewyork.com
http://www.zimbio.com

There's even a YouTube video!

This project was a ton of fun and I really wouldn't mind doing more like it (hint, hint, nudge to anyone reading).

Tweet Tweet

I'm on Twitter! (Actually, I have been for a few months now...) If you can't get enough John MacConnell (and who can?), you can follow me on a day by day basis! Come check out my Twitter page and subscribe to find out updates on my art, running, and random thoughts. More John MacConnell than you ever thought possible!!!!

If you've haven't heard of twitter or have thought tweets are for twits and have been ignoring it, it's a really cool site. Although I to post a thing or two a day, I mostly use it to follow my favorite artists, news organizations, and friends. Everyone keeps me up to date on the latest in arting and running trends.

You can see on my page who I am following, but some of my favorites are Runners World, Running Guru Mike Young, PhD, illustrator Luc Latulippe, and designer Ben Kutil.

Check it out!

Sketches

I've been so busy lately I haven't had the opportunity to post (or even make...) anything lately. The beginning of the summer was much more relaxed, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to post some of the random sketches done.

The first sketch is of my good friend Chef Terry in the kitchen whipping something up. It was really fun to draw Mike in the kitchen, but he sure did move fast. There's a bit of a time lapse going on here. Obviously he's shown more than once, but the ingredients also began to pile up in the drawing. My favorite part was when Chef put a box of pasta front and center, obstructing my entire view. jerk

The next two drawing were done in my neighborhood. There's a really great park in the area named McCarren Park, with a full track open to the public at all hours. I've found myself running on this track more than a few times thinking, "It'd be great to sit on the bench and just draw here." Well, seems I only thought of that whilst running, so the drawings never got made.

Well, I'm currently in recovery mode (Seems you hear more of my injuries than any successes in this here blog...) and am limiting myself to only two or three short runs a week. Well, I need to get out of my apartment for some fresh air more than that so I decided it was time to make it to that park for some good ol' drawing. In the park I positioned myself near the workout station/jungle gym thing and tired to be less than obvious while drawing. I got a few confused/annoyed looks but it was fun capturing everyone stretching, push-upping, pull-upping and dipping. It was really hard for me not to jump up and start working out myself. Luckily, I was smart enough to leave my running shoes and shorts at home, having anticipated this very urge.

I was really enjoying the scene, but the mosquitoes were out that night and I value my precious blood, so I was only able to get these two page done. It was a lot of fun, though. So, once work settles down I'll have to go out for one more try. And that time, MOSQUITOS BEWARE!

That's all I've got for now. I'm currently working on a new portrait and hope to be posting it pretty soon. Stay tuned true believers!

Live Stronger: Lance Armstrong

Of course I'm going to do a portrait of Lance Armstrong. He's probably the best known endurance athlete of all time. I don't even follow biking but I can't help but look for news on this guy. "I think I'm going to win the Tour de France seven times, take a few years off, come back, and contend for the title again." I know, I know he got third this year, but his dedication to the sport is simply unreal. I know I hear he's got kind of an attitude, but he's become a celebrity. Give the guy a break, he raises millions and millions of dollars for cancer research a year. Here's to you Lance Armstrong!

PS. My marathon time is better than yours... granted I couldn't even make it 26.2 miles on a bike...

San Francisco is where Young People go to Retire

My summer of fun just keeps on continuing. This time it brought me to (sometimes) sunny San Francisco, California! What a trip. I was in the city for about week and I think I saw everything worth seeing in that seven by seven mile city. I, literally, think I could lead city tours now.

We jaunted from the Cliff House on the beach of the Pacific, through Golden Gate Park, Richmond, Haight-Ashbury, the Castro, and the Mission District. We then went back up through Union Square, North Beach, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf and to the Golden Gate Bridge. We even took a day to leave the city and tour the Sonoma and Napa Valleys.

Also on the constant lookout for art, we made sure to stop into the de Young Museum, San Francisco MOMA, and a few galleries we happened upon along the way. Some highlights for me were the Picassos' and John Singer Sargents' and it was great to see some Wayne Thiebaud's in their native habitat.

I took a couple hundred photos while in the city, but unfortunately didn't get much time to draw. There was just so much to see and do! These are the few drawings that I was able to do on-site, though. They include a drawing from our day in the Mission District, our hostel room, and of the planes from the airport. Not the most exciting things I saw whilst traveling, with all the sea lions, landscapes and hoola-hoopers around, but it was these were the only times I wasn't on my feet running around or passed out from all the running around.

There were so many things I missed drawing, I'll just have to go back there soon and make up for it.