AMBi Designs

I recently got to attend New York ComicCon for one day during my holiday in the US with two very good friends of mine. It was an overwhelming experience, but well worth it. Here's some pics of the Wheel of Time costume I made to dress up as Moiraine Sedai from the show The Wheel of Time.

I quickly realised on our way to and at the con that the show wasn't that well known over there. I was mistaken for and greeted as a Disney princess, a Star Wars senator, a grisha from Shadow and Bone, and a Witcher mage. All of which are just fine by me!

There's only a couple of minutes left in 2021 here in Ireland. Have the last 2 years been good for me? In the grand scale of things, no.

What you see here is the longest commission I've ever done. I got it back in May 2020; unfortunately this was also right around the time the creative part of my brain started to careen off a cliff. For around 8 months I didn't draw anything. I felt so guilty. I explained where I was at to my commissioner, Clint, and he was incredibly understanding. He loved the posts I had up on my social media accounts and believed in me. I figured I'd be sorted after Xmas 2020 and would scramble back up off the cliff I'd gone off. No. More time passes. Clint, was once again so cool about it. So when things started to settle down for me, to make it up to him for the length of time this was all taking, I offered to do ALL of the initial sketches of Katie I'd sent on at the start. (An over-correction? Possibly) I threw in a portrait of him, and one of him and Katie too as a bonus.

So that's what you see here. I managed to get them all finished and sent on to him on Christmas Eve. He was delighted with the results. I can't thank him enough for having so much patience with me.

I've had a rough year. Many creative industry people have. Thoughts and prayers for creative people struggling throughout this pandemic don't go very far for those who's finances revolve around events, grifting, getting commissions, attending markets etc. I'm fortunate enough to have a day job as a graphic designer so having people commission me on the side is a bonus. For those same people to be really understanding of my mental predicament was & is very much appreciated. Of all the commissions I've had on over the last 2 years, Clint gets the gold 🌟

Things have started to pick up. I started learning about Stoicism. I started to draw again, did a pattern drafting course, went back to the gym, became a soup making genius!

So that's it. Goodnight 2021, good morning 2022. My only resolution is to consistently stay on the grind creatively and mentally going forward. Wishing you a safe and prosperous 2022!

Went a bit mad making flower crowns this time last year at the start of this drawing series. Made the wee waist corset too.

It's been a year.... I wonder if it would be interesting to try redrawing some of the earlier drawings to see if I've improved since then.

***EDIT***
My post in the group was removed because of the reference images I included of Inuit people. All other reference images were approved. I was asked to reload my image without the Inuit images. I have no issue with this and will comply.
***EDIT END***

I'm part of a facebook group for historybounding. I love it, and have been using my spare time during lockdown to sew lots of little things for myself. Today I posted my latest creation in the group. A mod disabled the comments until some of the First Nations mods could review the post. Here's what I said in the post:

"On the left is my almost complete oodie. It still needs the braid (bottom right corner).

Being an Irish woman, I have super bad circulation, so staying warm during the Autumn and Winter months has been an issue for me over the last few years. My sister is the proud owner of an oodie, so instead of buying one online, I figured I'd give making one a go.

However, I didn't want a generic looking oodie that I could only wear around my house. I like to be practical when it comes to splurging on fabric. I wanted my oodie to be both functional in keeping me toasty warm and look lovely.

I took inspiration from haute couture fashion, Inuit coats, Viking tunics, Overwatch, Avatar: The Last Airbender.

My oodie is lined entirely with cream coloured sherpa fabric. The collar is double lined and drapes down my back into a little point. My oodie doesn't have a hood because I wear backbacks a lot and didn't want material bunching around my head. The outside material is a navy hoodie fabric. The sleeves are elbow length with a little bit of gathering at the shoulder. I tend to overheat in long sleeved things. The bottom has a chevron cut that ends around the thigh so I can easily access my trouser pockets since this oodie doesn't have any. I tie it around the middle with an interlocking belt to define the waist.

I basically live in this thing now. I have leftover sherpa material that I intend to make into little sleeping booties since I struggle to keep my feet warm at night.

I'm aware that cultural appropriation can be an issue when it comes to white people wearing clothing from other cultures. I don't think I've messed up here with what I've made, my friends think my coat looks like a watered down cosplay of something Katara (Avatar) would wear, but if this is an issue, I'll take this post down."

Possible cultural appropriation is the reason why the comments have been disabled. I followed up this morning with a friend to get their thoughts. We're both white Irish people though, so anything we say on the subject doesn't really count. I'll have to see what the mods will say in the group about it.

Do I have any BIPOC followers who think my oodie is a case of cultural appropriation?