Oscars

Livedolling the 2014 Oscars

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Dresses for Penelope Cruz and Ellen DeGeneres. Peneleope's dress is pink and sleeveless with an empire waist. A length of pink fabric starts at the black ribbon under the bust and goes over the shoulder, falling behind her and draping over her arm like a shawl. Ellen is wearing a black velvet jacket, a vest and pants with a thin white scarf tied in a droopy bow.9:20 PM: And here’s Penelope Cruz and our host, Ellen DeGeneres. Let’s see, we have Best Costumes for The Great Gatsby, Cate Blanchett for Best Actress, Matthew McConaughey for Best Actor and 12 Years A Slave for Best Picture. That means no one got all four, but muddgirl and dannyscotland each got three. So you both win a recolored dress from the new series! Since I’ve just started out and there’s really only three choices (well, five if you count the dresses Mia and Leyla are wearing, but I wouldn’t) you’re free to wait for a better selection, or let me know if you’d like one right away – either way works for me! As for which of these drawings will become an actual dress, let’s put up a poll. It’s at the end of this post.

I’ve had lots of fun with this round of Oscars dresses! I hope to do it again next year, but next time I’ll make the post earlier so more people can enter.


Liza Minelli and Jennifer Garner's outfits. Liza is a satin top and pants set in royal blue, with one shoulder exposed. Jennifer's is a silver gown with spaghetti straps and a tiered skirt. 8:04: Here’s Liza Minelli and Jennifer Garner! I’ll probably be able to finish one or two more of these before I’m out for the night…


5:58: Taking the next hour off to put together dinner and get the boy in bed. I’ll pick out new outfits and start sketching again at 7.
5:45: Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence's gowns. Emma's is sleeveless with a scoop neck and is sparkly on the bodice, with a black belt, then sparkly at the top of the mermaid skirt, turning black towards the hem. Jennifer's is strapless and bright orange, with a peplum around the hips.Here’s Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence. I think the coloring on Jennifer’s is great, particularly! I’m up for taking suggestions, so if you see a dress you really like post in the comments. Caveats – the dress has to work on more than one skin color. For example, I may do Julia Roberts’ dress and just change the little lace panel in the middle, but Lady Gaga’s, with the net base, is probably out. The actual Oscars is going by now, right?


4:57: Mia and Leyla in Bette Midler and Lupita Nyong'o's Oscar gowns. Bette's is a cream mermaid dress with thick red lace, and Lupita's is a light blue gown with a low V neck and a full skirt, classically draped.Here’s sketches of Bette Midler and Lupita Nyong’o’s gowns to start with, straight from Procreate. It’s the first time I’ve posted an image that’s not a finished dress, but it looks like it’ll work right! Lupita’s gorgeous gown suffers from the dolls having underwear too wide to really permit a dramatic V-neck like that one…

4:00 (all times PST): Hello! I think the last times I did this I had more readers, so I don’t know if I’ll be all alone or not. If I have company, please say hi in the comments and enter my contest!

First things first: Let’s have a special Oscars contest! In the comments section, post your guesses for which movies will win Best Picture and Best Costume Design, and which actors will win Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress. (Click for the list of nominated movies.) The contest is closed when Best Costume Design is announced, one guess per person please, and it’s open to anyone. The prize for anyone who gets the right combination is an outfit from the Mia and Leyla series of dresses, recolored by me as you like. (You can put off your prize until there’s more dresses to choose from, if you like.)

I’ll be watching the Getty Images feed of red carpet images and posting sketches of red carpet gowns here…

poll by twiigs.com

Livedolling the Oscars: Anne Hathaway’s Red Gown, Natalie Portman’s Purple Gown, Gwyneth Paltrow’s White Gown and Amy Adams’ Blue Gown

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Click for larger version (PNG):red gown, purple gown, white gown, blue gown,; click for PDF version: red gown, purple gown, white gown, blue gown, Click here for the list of dolls.

Oscars Contest: The contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered!

8:43 PST: And there’s my last dress – Amy Adam’s gown. Yes, I know that those four thumbnails look awful, maybe I’ll fix it tomorrow… Anyways, thanks to those of you who entered the contest and followed along! This was a lot of fun, I hope to do it again next year.

8:36 PST: Congratulations to Brian and Angie – they both guessed Alice in Wonderland for Costume Design, Colin Firth for Best Actor, Natalie Portman for Best Actress and The King’s Speech for Best Picture!

8:25 PST: Four people so far have gotten three of the four categories right…

7:22 PST: Well, I’ve done three – I can kill my fingers on Amy Adam’s dress now, I think.

7:20 PST: Hm, now what? I’d do Helena Bonham-Carter’s dress if I had Cool Grey 90% or 70%, but both are too small to sharpen… Bored now

7:00 PST: Only one commenter guessed a movie besides Alice in Wonderland for Best Costume Design… so the field is still wide open. :)

6:59 PST: And Alice in Wonderland has it!

6:57 PST: I thought I’d take a stab at Gwyneth Paltrow’s shiny dress – unlike most of the things I draw, I think it turned out better scanned than the original! I took a little artistic license with the placement of the gold ornament. The costume design Oscar is coming up… I wonder if anyone’s going to win my contest?

6:16 PST: Finished Natalie Portman’s dress! And now… hmmm.

5:38 PST: I like Anne Hathaway’s new dress better than the red one! Great patterns… sparkly too

5:33 PST: Trying to figure out how to watch online – maybe it’s just a ploy to get people to pay the $5 for the extra content, but the Oscars official site seems a lot more fussy than necessary. This site seems to work – hat tip to ask mefi. Lys did a fantastic drawing of Mila Kunis’ gown!

4:53 PST: In contrast, I could probably finish Reese Witherspoon’s in about twenty minutes – not necessarily a compliment. Next will probably be Natalie Portman or Helena Bonham-Carter, but I haven’t decided yet.

4:48 PST: I do like the color on Amy Adams’ gown and the green jewelry she’s wearing, and I would probably draw it if I didn’t mind killing my hands for the evening…

4:45 PST: Anne Hathaway’s red Valentino gown! I’ve been listening to the red carpet patter, but I’ve only taken a few glances away from the drawing, so now it’s time to pick another one…

3:40 PST: I guess I’ll start with Anne Hathaway, seeing as how she’s hosting. Incidentally, I’m looking at Getty Images’ Academy Awards Arrivals page for close-ups. Again, if there’s a better source, pass it on!

3:00 PM PST: The Oscars site says that the red carpet starts in an hour, but the AP live stream is already going. I guess the dresses won’t really be here for a bit, so time to get my colored pencils together…

10:15 AM PST: Welcome, everyone! Before this gets started, two things:

1) Let’s have a special Oscars contest! In the comments section, post your guesses for which movies will win Best Picture and Best Costume Design, and which actors will win Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress. (Click for the list of nominated movies.) The contest is closed when Best Costume Design is announced, one guess per person please, and it’s open to anyone. The prize for anyone who gets the right combination is a black and white outfit of your choice colored by me as you like, plus something new for the first person to guess correctly… :)

2) And how about an Oscars poll?

poll by twiigs.com

See you all in a few hours!

Livedolling the 81st Academy Awards! Penelope Cruz’s Vintage White Lace Gown, Kate Winslet’s Blue and Black Lace Gown, Angelina Jolie’s Strapless Black Gown

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Click for larger version (Penelope Cruz); Click for larger version (Kate Winslet); Click for larger version (Angelina Jolie); click for the list of dolls.

11:56: And that’s it for this year’s Oscars: thanks to everyone who kept me company! I enjoyed this a lot, I think I’ll do it again next year too.

11:38: I think I’m going to do something really easy tomorrow. Like a mermaid wearing a paper bag.

11:33: Yay for Kate! Wow, I had no idea how the back of that dress worked. Glad my drawing doesn’t contradict it.

11:19: Ohhh, Reese. Talk about a seatbelt strap dress. I really like the shade of blue though

11:17 OK — now I’m exhausted. That’s it for my drawing tonight!

11:07: Just finished Angelina’s black gown, scanning and processing. I think that will be it for the night, I’m tired now. Glad I don’t work tomorrow!

10:57: Oh, excellent, a Bollywood number. Wonder how Wall-E will fit in?

10:27: Yawn. How much longer do we have to go? Ten more categories. I wonder if I can do Angelina Jolie’s dress in that time? Black is easy enough…

10:25: Scanner made a hash out of this one, but oh well. I might have it in me for one more, but it has to be super simple.

10:12: Finished with Kate Winslet’s dress — not perfect but not awful. Scanning and processing.

9:37: I’m not so sure I can pull off Kate, but I’m going to give it a shot…

9:26: Is the sparkly vampire contractually obliged to keep his head down and glower at all times?

9:23: Funny that Tilda Swinton is the one bucking the nude lip trend. I think she looks fantastic!

9:21: Score another one for lavish period pieces!

9:20: Here’s our favorite category, costume design…

9:16: AAGH. Now I finish and post the thing, I find a better picture. I was close but it’s not quite right.

9:13: Here it is, Penelope Cruz’s white lace gown. I can’t promise this is precisely how the skirt works, but I think it’s pretty close. I’m thinking Kate Winslet next, but I need to take a second and look at the new pictures. Oh yeah, yay Wall-E!

9:00: Done with the dress — scanning and processing, up soon. Feel free to suggest my next subject in the comments. I want something with color now!

8:47: EXCELLENT. If I’m drawing the Oscar winner’s gown, I’ll get more traffic. *grin*

8:31: Ohhh, such love for the jazzy Lawrence of Arabia theme. Had to restart Penelope Cruz’s dress but it’s fun. Expect it to be done by 9, 9:15.

8:07 Angelina Jolie went too subtle, I think, but I guess that’s better than ending up on Go Fug Yourself tomorrow…

7:52: OK, I’ve got my first paperdoll subject of the night.

7:47: Well, Kate Winslet is doing the one shoulder strap thing too, but I think it works for her dress…

7:43: Now that is quite a mermaid skirt on Melissa George. I think the fetish-style corset lace-up is jarring, but I like it from the front well enough.

7:41: Sarah Jessica Parker’s dress is growing on me — I think the belt makes it not so much a prom dress, even with that poofy skirt.

7:29: justin.tv is failing me. It’s superfluous considering I have the Getty Images pictures, but it just doesn’t seem the same without the inane chatter in the background…

7:20: Wow, Marisa Tomei also has the seatbelt strap that Eleanor and I don’t like. Just saw a bit of it — looks like there’s something interesting going on with her skirt. Hurry up, Getty Images…

7:09: Great picture of Viola Davis and Taraji Henson — I think both of their dresses are really nicely done. Still haven’t decided who to draw first though.

7:06: Yeah, I’m not a fan of her neckline or one sleeve, but love the rest of her dress.

6:50: Hate the E! football-esque highlight pen — love that color blue on Frieda Pinto.

6:19: Ah — this is how her dress works. It’s a little more than most of them are going to be, I bet, and it reminds me a little of a pinecone, but I like it — I’d just take off the bauble on the belt. And wow, what a train.

6:09: I’m watching at justin.tv now. Did I see a Cinderella-style overskirt gather on Miley? I just got a glimpse…

6:00 PM EST: Welcome to Livedolling the Oscars with Liana. I’ll be your host, once I stop frantically looking for a live feed of the red carpet coverage. I’ll also be using images from Getty Images’ Oscar coverage as reference. I’m not the only one liveblogging the Oscars, but I bet I’m the only one armed with colored pencils and not snark. There are some cute dresses showing up on the red carpet already, but so far they’re all “TV personalities.”

poll by twiigs.com

1780s White Chemise à la Reine with Blue Silk Sash and Flower Ornament

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Click for larger version; click for the list of dolls.

Well, now, it looks like the readers of this blog have what you could call a slight preference for The Duchess’ costumes (a lovely gallery of which can be found at the Costumer’s Guide to Movie Costumes); as I write this it’s garnered 66% of the vote, with the other four neatly splitting the remainder. Not much of a surprise, we do like our fancy gowns around this joint after all. The possible list of leaked Oscar winners would be against us, preferring Benjamin Button instead, but that has all the authenticity of, well, a random list on the Internet.

I didn’t see The Duchess, or, sadly, any of the other Best Costume nominees, but I wanted to draw something inspired by its main character, Georgiana Cavendish, not the least because I recently discovered the The Duchess of Devonshire’s Gossip Guide to the 18th Century (and its counterpart concerned with Marie Antoinette) and since I’ve never been much into 1700s fashion before (I love the 1800s, everything before that I’m real vague on) I’ve been enjoying it. Well, lo and behold there is a style of dress that Marie Antoinette started and Georgiana introduced to England, so that seemed to be the right thing to draw tonight. It’s called the chemise à la reine, and it was quite scandalous when it was introduced in the mid-1780s because it was essentially like wearing one’s underwear out in public, not what one expects from one’s queen. A very simple garment, it was really the precursor of the Regency gowns as the waistline inched upwards.

Don’t forget — livedolling the Oscars here, tomorrow! Stick around the comments section and help me decide what to draw. I’ll be looking frantically for streaming video of the red carpet show (more interesting than reloading Getty Images all the time), let me know if you know where to find it.

poll by twiigs.com