Saturday, August 31, 2013

Secondhand / Vintage / Thrift Stores in Cologne-an Assessment

Hi guys :D I hope you're enjoying your weekend. I just returned home from a day of intense exploring and researching. And that only for you! ;)
So if you know me, you'll know that I'm a lover of thrift, vintage and secondhand shopping. Everytime I visit a city, I first have to to extended research to find out, where the best cool & original shops are because nothing is more boring than beeing in a cool foreign city and shopping in the exact same shops you can find in your hometown. Because I'm so nice-I will pass on this info to you, so if you ever go thrift shopping in Cologne-you'll know exactly where to go :D We gave each shop a score out of 5 stars so that it is easy for you to see what we thought!
Well then-let's get started!

Our first stop led us to Miss Meany. Just as it says on the website-the ideal place to find  amazing 50s, 60s or Rockabilly dresses in all shapes and sizes. A side from there are a few shoes, a few cardigans, some children's clothes but otherwise mainly dresses. The prices are quite high for a thrift store, but the dresses are in great shape and a good quality. Spacy changing rooms, good music and adorable shop assistants provide a very good atmosphere. If you don't want a mainstream prom dress-this is the place to go! :D
Conclusion - ****

Then we went to Entlarvt (You can click the link if you want the address, but otherwise their homepage is very unhelpful!). The atmosphere here was quite good, it had a really thrift/vintage store kind of feel with lots of stuff everywhere but you could still breathe which was nice. There were many fancy and a little eccentric pieces but not much that one, even with an "original" style, would wear. The shop assissant was also a little odd but knew his store very well. The prices were more on the higher side but you could find tons of cool leather bags, shoes, jewelery and other kinds of knick knack...
In conclusion- ***


Next stop was the Flohmarkthalle Köln which was a little different from the other stores. There were no clothes here but lots of old books you could browse, DVDs, CDs, Records, bone china, furniture mixed with new things. A treasure trove for anyone who likes rummaging through secondhand goods. There was a good atmosphere in store which was surprisingly clean and tidy, the shop assisants were very helpful, nice and seemed to have a good idea what they are doing. Very cool store! :D
In conclusion-*****


Then we have Subcouture. This store was definetely a disappointment-on the internet it was announced as the best second hand store in the whole of Cologne but this was definetely not true. Granted, it was pretty big and you could find a lot of things but the atmosphere in the shop was very unpleasant. A very strange shop assisstant, the shop looked more like a warehouse than a store, the changing rooms were dirty, dark and there was not a real curtain and on top of that the prices were unproportionally high!
In conclusion-**


Vintage & Rags was our last stop and we award it the title of best Secondhand/Vintage Store in Cologne-if you are looking for clothes. There was an enormous variety of clothing displayed, lots of cool pieces at reasonable prives. The atmosphere was good too-it is a very nicely decorated store, good music was playing.The only negative things were that the shop assissants were there to take your money only, they stood behind the counter and didn't help at all. Additionally the changing rooms were very cute in their design but sadly highly impractical because they were very open!
In conclusion-*****


A big thanks to both my fellow thrift shoppers! :D It was an awesome day with you guys!
If you know of any  more cool thrift stores in Cologne or in other city's that I must visit and add to this list-then tell me in the comments! :D
xoxo Alex
 

Friday, August 30, 2013

Girl with glasses, le finished piece

C'est fini! Es ist vollbracht! I'm dooooone! :D
The proportions with the cars in the back are kind of messed up and the colors aren't balanced properly but at the moment-I'm just glad it is done ;)
xoxo Alex

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Girl with Glasses

Progressing slowly...Backgournds take a freaking long time and you really have to becareful with the perspective and proportions. Everytime you draw the top and bottom of something you always have to cross check with everything else whether it is in the right place...
Should be done tomorrow :D
am not sure what I'l do with all the empty space left of the girl's chin though. There is just street and shadows but I'm afraid that it will look weird if there are just random spots everywhere...if you have any suggestions-PLEase tell me! :D
xoxo Alex

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Girl with glasses

Okay-it is settled-she's a girl ;)
BUt the new idea is taking place...I'm adding background to the portraits :D I'm not sure whether it will look too cluttered, whether then ones needs to add color to settle the whole thing, but it is worth a try don't ya think? ;)
xoxo Alex

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Guy (?) with glasses

Okay this guy looks increasingly like a girl to me... I think it is the lips!
xoxo Alex

Monday, August 26, 2013

Work in Progress Guy with Glasses

Okay sometimes you get the feeling that the preliminary sketch is the most work when you're drawing.
and why is it that glasses don't seem to abide the laws of physics? grrrrrr it took me ages just to get them to look like this!
xoxo Alex

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Giveaway Results!!

Yaaay-I'm so excited! :D
My water pot for when I paint served a different purpose today. It held all the names of the awesome people who entered in the Birthday Giveaway! :D
Isn't it beautiful? :D As you can see it was a corn can. There's a story behind this one :D I have to tell you sometime but right now you're probably more interested in other things ;)
So our lucky fairy (kindly represented by brother :P) picked a winner from the can aaaaaaaaaand it is.....Selin E! Congrats! ;)
For all of you others-sorry, next time you'll have more luck! :D I'm sure we'll have another giveaway sometime ;) Maybe when we're at 500 posts or something!
xoxo Alex

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Newspaper dude finished piece

Hey guys :)
I'm early today! Yay :D so here's the finished piece from the dude from yesterday. Don't you think he looks a little like Ben Whishaw? (Skyfall! *.*) 
xoxo Alex

Friday, August 23, 2013

Newspaper dude

So after a girl yesterday we have a dude today :D I really enjoying drawing on newspaper-the problem is only, I found out while doing the beard, is that you really do have to be minimalistic-otherwise the whole thing is too much. Horrible. That's why I'm thinking I might need paint (We haven't had any paint here for a long time! :D) which covers the pattern of the newspaper and can therefore make the whole pciture calmer again. This dude is staying in pen though :D
xoxo Alex

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Newspaper experiment :D

Okay today I had an idea. Well technically it is not mine because a lot of people have done it before me but when is that not the case. So anyway ballpoint pen on white paper can be a little....minimalistic. But minimalistic on a wild background is awesome. That means-newpaper. This is my first try :D What is kind of difficult is that it is kind of complicating erasing on newspaper so you can't to a preliminary pencil sketch. Raaaaah-makes everything so much more complicated but I'm quite satisfied with the result! :)
xoxo Alex

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Dreadlocks

Hey everyone :D I hope you're enjoying the giveaway! (and if you haven't entered, make sure you do so quickly right here!)
While you're doing that, I just picked a random guy to draw. He doesn't look very much like the model, sadly, and the dreadlocks look horribly much like a woman's hairstyle. I'm not sure if I like it or I don't ;)
xoxo Alex

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Birthday Giveaway!

Hey guys! :D I promised a surprise for you yesterday and because I keep my promises-here it is! <3
So I thought because this blog just turned a year old and we didn't exactly celebrate I thought we could have like a belated party! :D and what better way to celebrate than with a giveaway :D
 So here's how it works:
The photos below are of 4 originals you can win. You pick one and comment below which one you want. Automatically now you will have one entry in the giveaway. To get more entries, and therefore a better chance to win there are several things you can do-
-you get one more for liking my facebook page
-another one for liking the post about this giveaway which you can find on the page
-and yet another for sharing that post. (or alternatively just click on the little facebook logo under the title of this post!)
It would be awesome if you could make sure that I can match your name you use to comment here with the name of your facebook account because otherwise this whole thing won't work. If they are not similar at all, just include your facebook name in the comment so I know who you are :)
And by the way-the end of this give a way is on Saturday at 23:59 (Central European Time :D) so makesure you enter before! :D Winners will be announced on Sunday!

Soooo-I wish you the best of luck and I can't wait to see who wins! :D
xoxo Alex


Monday, August 19, 2013

Asian Kid

Teheee :D the series is finished. Here's a über cute asian kid I found laughing in a magazine ;)
aaaand I have a surprise comin for you tomorrow! ;)
xoxo Alex

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Sceptical Lady

Just a quick sketch of a lady I found in this add for a danish brand I think.
xoxo Alex

Friday, August 16, 2013

Photos from Lübeck

Lovely city :D I love how so many houses are so crooked, it makes the whole thing very charming :D



Enjoy your Friday evening! :)
xoxo Alex

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Halo Braid

Okay I realise the title may be a little misleading-you cannot actually see the braid because I still wanted the focus on the face but I still love that hairstyle and would love to be able to do it myself but apparently you have to be skilled to do that XD
She has an enormous chin but I can't really pinpoint why I still like the looks it gives her...:)
xoxo Alex

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Old Sailor (dude)

Okay I just had to add the dude part....makes it so much more elaborate :D 
What do you think of him? He is kind of skeptical on the one hand, but seems to smile like a shy kind of smile on the other hand...:D
xoxo Alex

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Travel Sketchbook: Major's House in Lübeck

Heey! Yes. I know I'm late...but when am I not? XD
Anyways so here's another Travel Diary entry. This is not Prague though but a part of the majors house in Lübeck. Actually there are like 4 of these parts next to each other but I didn't have time to do all of them ;)
I've got something planned for you guys...Something big! XD no seriously, I can't wait to show you BUT I still need a little time to work it all out so I guess you'll just have to be patient for a little :D
xoxo Alex

Monday, August 12, 2013

Travel Sketchbook-airport drawing part 3

Aaaand we're back to airport drawing :D
Sadly there weren't many interesting looking poeple around me. I only found this cute couple who had probably been enjoying their sightseeing trip though the lovely capital of the Czech Republic. I love how both of their thin mouthes embody every German stereotype there is ;)

 xoxo Alex

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Travel Sketchbook-Bracelets

Hey guys.
Lets talk about bracelets. Most of you know, they've becom somewhat of an obsession for me. I had a little time that evening so I drwa this lovely still life :P It is the "bracelet tree" from the awesome friend, who also has a slight obsession, I was staying with!
I think you can see the difference between this drawing and the others, mostly because I took a lot more time with this one.
xoxo Alex

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Travel Sketchbook-Flowers

Just sitting on the grass, talking laughing and sketching in the evening sun is something I definetely have to do more often.


xoxo Alex

Friday, August 9, 2013

Travel Sketchbook-Window

Hello! :D
I have been loving windows lately. How some of them are so old and run down and then the cracked baroque (I think?) decorations...awesome. A building with beautiful windows is so much nicer than a beautiful building with ugly windows...if that makes sense. I love imagining what is behind them too, who lives there, what they do...It is like a window isn't only a window to a house but also to the pople and the world inside it. Sounds very romantic...ah welll ;)
xoxo Alex

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Travel Sketchbook-Alfons Mucha: The quill

Okay this guy is seriously awesome. We visited  the exhibition in the municipal house in Prague and which is the first exhibition in which all his posters, calendar illustrations, ads and decorative panels were put together and walking along the walls covered with his works is pretty amazing. His style kind of childlike and cartoony, yet is designs are deep and he definetely inspired me greatly. 
This is my version of one of his decorative panels (or much rather just a small part of one of his panels)
My absolute favorite drawing of his is this one. I absolutely how stubborn the princess looks :D
xoxo Alex

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Travel Sketchbook-Scene from a cafe in Prague

This secne is from a very cute cafe we sat in in Prague. It was a side street so it wasn't very crowded and the atmospehere with all the flowers and benches was great. The waitress was also very very nice and kindly smiled at my attemps to order in czech; I have no clue what I said but what I got was very good ;)
xoxo Alex

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Travel sketchbook-Airport drawing part 2

Hi!
So the most difficult thing, I would say about drawing poeple without them knowing it or while pretneding not to draw them (!) is that they move all the time. This lady was reading a freakin' book and you would think she would sit still while doing that but noo-she just kept sitting up, brushing her hair out of face anything you could think of.
I blame her for the messed up hand :P
xoxo Alex

Monday, August 5, 2013

Travel Sketchbook Airport Drawing Part 1

Heeeeey everyone! I'm back! :D well kind of anyway-I was home for a day and then I went again but because I was actually productive (!) during my stay in Prague I have these Travel Sketchbook entries for you <3 
So anyway, we'll start of with airport drawings :) Now if you ever tried it, you'll know that sketching people in public areas is kind of creepy. You always have everyone glaring at your paper expecting you to be some kind of pro, when actually your just a kid drawing weird portraits of the people aournd you. Or at least that's how I feel when doing it it. Is that a good thing do you think? I mean it does certainly help you if you have issues showing you work to people because you just take out the sketchbook and BOOM everyone is watching. Or do I just imagine that?
The sunglasses are pretty messed up, I know I know, but the guy was moving all the time so it was impossible to get them right!! XD
xoxo Alex

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Takeover Day 14 - Goodbye! :(

Hey guys! :)
This is the last day of the takeover; tomorrow you'll have Alex back *Yayy*
It was a lot of fun running this blog for the past two weeks, but I have to admit: that having to post something presentable every day is harder than I expected. 
Respect to Alex for doing this for one complete year!
I hope you liked my art and if you are interested in seeing some more of it in the future, you can check out my deviantART-accout (Sorry for the self-advertisement, Alex :P).

Okay, for the last day I wanted to have something really, really cool for you and I really wanted to finish yesterday's alien, but my lovely gimp-programm decided today that it would be a good idea to refuse to connect with my graphic tablet -.-'
So sorry guys: No alien.

The only thing I can offer you is a linocut of Hayley Williams I made in art class some time ago and a Synyster Gates WIP. Sooooorry.



The face is kinda messed up, I know -.-'


Soooo...thanks for taking the time to look at my work!
By the way: I already had the chance to look at some of the drawings Alex is going to post over the next days and I can tell you: The look really cool ;)

Have a nice evening,
Christina

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Takeover Day 13 - Coloured Alien WIP

So, I've got another alien for you today :)
As you can see I started colouring it, but I'm still not finished and it takes me waaaay longer than I had expected.
I'm not even done with the head, yet. The body will take me foreeever -.-'
I really hope I can finish it tomorrow, but I can't promise anything.

The thing it is holing on the leash is its alien-pet, isn't that cute? ^_^        



I'm thinking about changing its eye-colour because the red doesn't seem to work so well with the green. What do you think?

Have a nice evening,
Christina

Friday, August 2, 2013

Takeover Day 12 - Alien Lineart


Hey guys (:
Nothing really special, but atleast I drew something today.
Currently they're just lineart as you can see, but I'm thinking about colouring them :)
Drawing aliens is really fun by the way because you can basically do whatever comes to your mind and nobody can say it's wrong :P





Hope you like them!
Good night,
Christina

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Takeover Day 11 - Random lineart, sketches and other suff

No, I didn't forget you guys, how could I?
I just procrestinated for like forever and now that I didn't draw anything presentable today I had to look through my old stuff to find some drawings I could post. 
Most of it is just lineart or unfinished things and I don't really like them, but whatever.
I just loooove robins. They're my favourite birds I think. Aren't they just super cute? ^_^
Okay, I don't even know what this is. It's just weird. Like a guitar-flower or something xD
Something  I drew in art class some months ago....
Haha, Alex is gonna hate this xD She always complains about me making too many lines while sketching :P

WIP of  Sebastian Bach. I had no idea how I could make the hair look naturalistic, so I just left it unfinished.
I should give her a face actually.

I'm not really good at using a ballpoint for drawing. In my defence I have to say that I made this like 1 1/2 year ago, so I probably would do better now.
This one sucks. And that's logical because I drew it in like 3 minutes.



Sorry for all the crappy stuff. I really really hope that I manage to draw something better tomorrow or atleast finish some of those.

Um...live long and prosper,
Christina :P

Edit: Wow, that was close. One minute later and it would have been too late xD

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