Fern Choonet x Aimez le Style

It's been a super long time since my last post!

I didn't realize I have neglected blogging, mostly have been updating on Instagram!

Here's an update of a fun project I did with a great company in Tokyo, Aimez le Style.

A couple months back, I was invited to Aimez le Style's studio in Tokyo and I was comissioned some fun projects on making washi tape!! In case you don't know what they are, they are decorated masking tapes with fun designs printed on them!

So far I have seen 1 finished product, dog breeds! It's so wonderful to see my illustration on a washi tape! I had a wonderful time illustrating 14 kinds of dogs! (And I love dogs to begin with!)

Can't wait to see my 2nd design printed on a tape!

To see more washi tapes from Aimez le Style, including mine that should be up there for a bit, please visit the link HERE!

quirky love songs

Happy belated Valentine's Day! I hope your day was filled with love and warm fuzzy feelings. For many parts of the world, (including where I live) it was a day visited by a crazy snow storm! Although it was cold, it looked kind of romantic!

In Japan, the custom for V-Day was for women to give chocolates to the guys they like or guy friends as "manner" chocolate. Strangely, I got lots of chocolate from the ladies...although I am a lady myself!

Anyway, for V-Day I decided to illustrate some simple pieces inspired by lines from songs I like. They are quirky and short love song lyrics that I think would be fun for quick drawings!

Thanks Arctic Monkeys, Singto Numchok and Weezer for the cute songs, let me borrow some lines for my illustrations!

Oh...l'amour

With a little help from some of my French friends, this illustration is completed.

Merci!

Love-Frenzy

I'm not particularly big on celebrating Valentine's Day but I do love making illustrations about love. Since Feb 14th is around the corner, there are many ideas to illustrate for the love fest!

My first pre-V Day illustration is Interlude. There are many things I adore in this piece. Cool shoes, funky socks, coffee, a pair of faded jeans and cheesy love. For me, this is my idea of a fun date. What about yours?

I will post more love theme illustrations until Valentine's Day. Please stay tuned for more!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy 2014!

A new year has started. That means new adventures and another chance to start over. 2013 has been quite a different experience for me. I moved to a new country, bid farewell to my life and good friends in Toronto. Although Japan has treated me kindly, it still doesn't feel like home to me just yet.

Therefore in 2014, I vow to get more settled and comfortable here. Having lived in 3 different countries meant I met so many people and made lots of temporary friends. Among the people I have encountered, a few have turned into permanent friends that have influenced my life in so many ways. I wish to make more permanent friends and make many wishes and goals become concrete in this very new year. 

So here's to 2014. I managed to already make one resolution true, "Watch the sunrise". Here it is, the first sunrise of 2014 from Japan! May your next 365 days (and much more) be wonderful!

Blogged

I am very honored to  be mentioned on Stella's blog!

Stella is a biannual magazine from Denmark, featuring interesting women and their creative lives. I love the contents in the magazine plus the beautiful visuals.

The Stella team kindly blogged about my work and wrote a few things that made me feel happy I make art. I am really motivated to create more illustrations for 2014!

Please check out the post here or visit Stella's website! 

Thank you!

A Season for Flowers

Winter is approaching but somehow I am not ready.

Although winter in Japan is considered a toddler compared to the winter in Toronto, I still want Fall to last a bit longer.

My feelings lead me to make this new piece A Season for Flowers. Even though the weather gets incredibly cold, I never forget to have flowers around me. They instantly make me feel warmer.  In this piece, I kind of experimented with mixed media and used wood grain as my background. I really like the wood against the white and the vivid colors of the flowers.

Stay warm!

Levitation

Here is my new illustration, Levitation. I took a trip back to using wood + acrylic for the day and absolutely loved painting this piece.

Back in college, I only resorted to acrylic and often used sand paper to scratch up the surface. I have since moved on to watercolor but was tempted to make some geometric shape inspired illus every once in a while.

For this piece, I also chose mix media, incorporating both computer works + my usual pencil drawing on illustration board. 

Some process pics as well!

 

admiration

Happy mid-October!

While I was thinking happy thoughts, I came up with this new piece admiration. Since I have left my acrylic days behind, I have yet to have a chance to paint florals. Painting flowers with watercolor is quite challenging but has a totally different effect from acrylic. I do love what watercolor can do for pieces, especially color bleed. I will try to explore more on color diffusion in the next pieces! 

Let's go together...

I'm a huge fan of cute and quirky postcards. Whenever I see one, I am tempted to take it home! I decided to come up with my very own quirky postcards with cute invites. Let's go for brunch and Let's get some coffee.  Which other places would you like to be invited to? :)

Bésame

Exploring some brighter colors and playful patterns today on my new work, Bésame.

Juxtapose

After exploring old tunes in my music library, I accidentally found Juxtaposed with U by Super Furry Animals. I remembered not being able to stop singing this song when it first came out. It suddenly gave me a wonderful idea to create this new illus, Juxtapose.

I've been aspiring to create work outside fashion / outfit inspired realm. I am so glad I came up with this piece. The theme for this illustration is a connection between two people. Both with arms decorated by art, one with bridal henna and one with tattoos. Despite being different...they stand side by side, hand in hand. 

I am excited for the new inspiration that has been running through my mind recently! It's funny how I am getting so many great ideas for new works (and most of them came deep in the night!) Please check back for newer works soon! Thanks!

Friend Essentials, part 1

I've asked around a few artist and designer friends to allow me to illustrate their essentials. It's loads of fun for me, plus I am curious as to what people wear and use on a daily basis.

Here are a few I have come to illustrate so far (and counting!):

 Featuring my sister Fai, jewelry artist at Cosette

 Featuring illustrator Jaid Mathews

 And featuring graphic designer Stephanie Yiu.

More to come!
I am also interested in collaborating with all of you! Feel free to send me your essentials , I would love to illustrate them!

Cofee L♥ve

I might have mentioned this a thousand times before but I love coffee!
Not just any coffee, but great coffee from small independent cafes. (with latte art on it!)
I know it's very "coffee-snob"-ish of me but I like supporting small businesses. Plus I enjoy sipping nice coffee from makers who truly love their work and could craft the best tasting beverages!

Here's my little contribution to the great cafes I have visited and loved in the past years from 4 different cities: Toronto, Bangkok, Montreal and Tokyo! This is just part 1 of my collection, and the rest is yet to come!

 I had quite a blast collecting information and drawing these coffee cups. I might start doing more line work from pen/ink because of this project!

Here's the links from the cafes featured in my illustration:

TORONTO:
-Sam James Coffee Bar
-Dark Horse Espresso Bar
-Te Aro
-Bulldog Coffee

TOKYO (and YOKOHAMA)
-No. 8 Bear Pond Espresso
-Little Nap Coffee Stand
-Bonjour Records Cafe
-Pour Over

MONTREAL:
-La Distributrice

BANGKOK:
-Cafe Little Spoon
-Gallery กาแฟดริป

envisioned

One of my weaknesses is drawing hands. I remember at age 9, I was told that my drawings of hands looked like bananas. Although it is really funny now...I still find drawing hands a challenge!

I've sort of found inner peace by finding solutions to render them in a less realistic way. Now I love drawing hands and I usually challenge myself drawing difficult gestures!

This is envisioned. A little project I love that has a sort of cute little message: love  + freedom + vision.

Stripey Sunday

Stripes has always been my obsession. I honestly cannot count how many striped/patterned item I have in my closet!

Stripey Sunday features many of my favorites. Stripe shirt, Jeans coffee and bracelets! Sundays couldn't be much better than this!

DAILY ESSENTIALS

I'm starting an illustration series for "DAILY ESSENTIALS" to record some outfits and essentials I have been collaborating each day. This is quite entertaining for me, I am having a blast coming up with these illustrations!

This is the contribution for June.13.2013

These are some things I personally own + some items I look forward to getting in the future! [Well, in this illus, the only things I don't have are the sandals and that cup of yummy cappucino!]

I am also interested in illustrating other ladies' (or gents') outfits! So if you like, feel free to make any requests of the illus for your daily essentials. I'd be more than happy to illustrate them!

Vintage Ladies

I've been interested in vintage fashion lately. Not wearing, but illustrating them!

There is something about ladies' retro style that is mysteriously feminine to me.

What do you think about these ladies sporting the 20's and 50's style?

Perhaps this year for Halloween, I should wear something vintage? Any suggestions? :)

The Pedestrian

It's been two months since I have moved to Japan.
And one thing I can tell you that scares me is.....Japanese pedestrians!

Why?
Well, the reason being that Japan is overly crowded and a newbie like me really has no grasp of how to move about...especially in the train stations! I can't count how many times I have bumped into people or walk confusingly in the opposite direction from everybody else!

So here is my new illustration. Inspired by my fear of pedestrians and the fashionable men this country has to offer!

greetings after my hibernation

It had been a while since I last updated! I think I took about a two month hibernation.

Life had taken new turns after my big move!

In the two months since I have been here, I took time to do the mandatory stuff...you know, getting used to this new city!

But so far so good! And I am ready to get back to my illustration work!

Here are so snapshots from my instagram of my life in Japan so far.

Please stay tuned for newer illustrations! Meanwhile, feel free to check out some pics of my Japan adventures on my instagram account @fernchouxcreme