In case this is the first time you’re seeing this, my 100 day project is a 1950’s/Mid-Century theme and I’m using alcohol markers for my illustrations. Very little of what you see below is original.
This week is primarily from Everyday Fashions of the Sixties and Christopher Hart books, so credit needs to go to him, not me. Once I start making something original, you’ll be able to find it in the studio shop. 😊
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Day 50
This is the cover character from Christopher Hart’s Cartoon Cool: How to Draw New Retro-Style Characters book. She reminds me a little of Francine from American Dad…maybe it’s the angry face. I generally like how she came out. I feel like I need to work more on hands and feet.

Day 51
I’ve been enjoying the drawings in Fashion Design Studio, but they don’t seem like they’re in the right decade. So when I got my Everyday Fashions of the Sixties book, I was excited because I figured I could try blending the two together. One of the biggest problems I’m having is getting the full body to fit on the page (I’m using quarter sheets of letter-sized paper). I think that’s causing some of the proportions to be extra off. This girl came out younger looking than I expected, but I think she came out cute.

Day 52
Again, I used the two books I used the day before for this one. I think she’s supposed to be a teen in the catalog, but I somehow made her look older. I keep seeing Mrs. Cunningham from Happy Days! I’m starting to think I like the heavy outline on these types of drawings too!

Day 53
This girl seemed like a lot of fun! I saw a set of tiny drawings in the background of one of the catalog pages and I wanted to draw this one. I have no idea what the stance is, but I think I got the form right. It kind of killed me to not outline this one!

Day 54
Here’s another from the Everyday Fashions book. My lady doesn’t really have much resemblance to the photograph, but I feel like I got the face and body forms down. She does look a little like Zsa Zsa Gabor!

Day 55
I wasn’t quite sure how I felt doing a Sixties week when I was supposed to be doing the Fifties, so I dug out my Everyday Fashions of the Forties book for a reference. To be fair to me, I am waiting for my Fifties book to come in the mail! I really did not like this one when I was done. She looked nothing like the photo at. all. It wasn’t until the next day that I started to have an appreciation for her. She doesn’t look like the reference, but she does look like a person, so that should be enough, right?!

Day 56
For this one, I just wanted to pop out a quick drawing. So I did one from memory from all the books. She’s quite wonky and out of proportion, but I kinda like her. She looked way too young when I was done, so I tired to make her look older. She was never happy looking in the first place so there’s that too.

Day 57
I was really, really curious what would happen if I took one of the more “realistic” fashion drawings and turned her into a cartoon? Here’s my result! Other than the figure (body) form, I kinda like her. I think there’s some merit to the various styles. A big part of me wants to take the same referene and do it different ways. So don’t be surpirsed if you see a batch of that next week!