Artist // Ben Lopez

All illustrations/artwork by Ben Lopez // Tattoo images via Alchemy Tattoo Studio

When I first came across Ben Lopez's work, I got stuck for at least an hour trawling through the archives of his dark, enchanted, ornate world.
I suggest you go do the same.
Also, not only are his illustrations totally on-point, but his life drawing skills are apt to knock you out too. And, like Minka and Miso, Ben's a tattoo artist whose background in illustration and art gives him impeccable style. Seriously, with everyone sporting tattoos now, you rarely see work that is hallmark just-something-else good -- but this is.

Check out more on Ben's Flickr and Facebook.

Love things: Pens △ pencils △ puppies △ blooms

So, this is what I've been up to for the last month: it mostly involves drawing, the dog and flowers -- in that order.
1. Fresh flowers all throughout the house... they change everything // Fun messy sketches.
2. Sleeping daughterpup -- she's a total hellion when she's awake, and a little baby when she's tired -- and the best-ever Morrissey shirt Scotty got from a Hollywood gig in 07 // Even once they're dead, the flowers are still pretty... drying in the window. 
3. Proofing poster prints available here // Beautiful late-summer afternoons with spiced rum, DFW, sketchbooks and favourite accessories.
4. Playing dress ups with Humble // Working hard and staying on task (a rare occurance).
5. The weather has been perfect -- we've been down at Altona dog beach teaching Humble about the ocean // ...and collecting urchins - my favourite things to find!
6. Snippets from this one great sketchbook I have -- I must have had a huge creative growth spurt while I had it, because it's filled with my favourite drawings // Cool mornings with toast, hot Milo, and again, sketchbooks and DFW.
7. More sketchbook progress.
8. Led Zepp shirt and the eye of Horus // Sketches and flowers.
9. Some great purchases from Outre gallery // Sneaky peeking at some current commission work.

▲ Year of the Snake ▲

▲ Year of the Snake ▲

Ax + Apple Spring 2013 lookbook 

Photographer: Alexandra Valenti

Model: Lauryn Holmquist

Stylist: Chloe Chippendale

Via iloveborntobewild

So, so incredible.
☪

The New Church

New Church Moto, Spring 2013 lookbook

Photography: Amanda Leigh Smith 

Models:Amanda Woodruff, Lassen Davis, Sharon Coplon and Skye Sengelmann 

Bags by New Church Moto

jewelry from cobra cult

via The Cult of Style

When I first saw a few Instagram sneak-peeks of this shoot on Amanda's instagram, I was (a) super keen to see what they were going to come up with and (b) kinda spooked by the almost-familiarity of the location. See, one of our friends has a small, flowing creek running around the bottom of his property, and whenever Scottty and I are home, we like to head out and camp there. Weirdly enough, beside our friend's creek is a cabin, or a cabin verandah and front wall -- there's no inside, no rooms, no back to the house, just the verandah and a fake door and windows in the front wall. But it's positioned almost exactly like the front verandah these ladies were shooting on. Of course, there is a little less fairy moss and snow -- it is, after all, northern NSW on the Australian east coast -- but nonetheless, it's kind of eerie, and I dig it. 

That aside, how cool are the new bags/pouches from New Church Moto? And also, how good is Skye's combination of white maxi and military jacket? Perfect. 

Sketchy Fridays: Other than drawing...

Well, this is the one drawing I've managed to pull together this week... So, in hopes of making it seem more substantial, I've surrounded it with a bunch of other stuff indicative of my mind set -- relaxing, purchasing, appreciating and buying a raft of new pens in the hope it will make me finish projects. 

But really, outside of the day-job, I've mostly just been walking the dog and cooking killer zucchinni and spinach lasagnes. 

The good life.

It's all good