Rongrong DeVoe
I am so excited to share my live sketching experience working with Teen Vogue and Simon Malls for their Back to School Saturday events in Austin!
When I first received their email I could not believe this was happening … Teen Vogue!! I could never imagine in my first year of being a fashion illustrator I would be able to work with clients like this.
I was beyond excited and also really, really nervous. The clients required me to work with them on two events for six hours which took place at Barton Creek Square and The Domain Austin. These are two properties under Simon malls. The pace was about 3-5 minutes each sketch and I would need to complete no less than 60 sketches. I was not confident in the beginning I would be able to do it ...(self-doubt creeps in sometimes). But I know everything always improves with practice and practice I did!!!
For the three weeks preceding the event, I gave myself one hour to practice every morning. When I woke up I immediately started doing some quick sketches. Looking through myPinterest board for inspirations I learned how to work with Copic markers better (since I am such a watercolor person) and figured out how to draw the outline without smudging the paper. After a lot of trial and error my sketches started to get better and better and soon enough I was able to finish each sketch under 5 minutes by the last week of practicing.
With a lot of preparation, my sweet husband Wes drove us to Austin on Friday from Houston. It was about a three hour ride and we were able to explore the city a little bit. We had an awesome Tex Mex dinner at Trudy's (We both are big foodies) and really enjoyed their two dollar margaritas during Happy Hour.
This was the day! My first really big gig ever. The first event was from 12:00pm -3:00pm. I woke up to start my day with Coffee of course. Actually a lot of coffee. Sweet Wes bought me breakfast tacos, I had a big breakfast since I would not have any time for lunch.
We arrived at Barton Creek Square around 11:30 and immediately set up my supplies. People immediately started to surround me, asking what I was doing and within a half hour, there was a long line of girls who wanted a personal sketch.
My outfit of the day in front of the hotel mirror:-)
Me and this cute teen girl!
I noticed a lot of the girls came to this event because they are big fans of two super popular social influencers. Kate, from A lonestar state of southern, & Amanda, from Make up by Mandy. When they were on the stage doing the presentation, the whole mall seemed to stop!
Time flies when you are busy concentrating on your work. I barely felt like I had time to breathe and it was almost 3:00pm! Time to leave for the other location (The Domain Austin). The line was so long the organizer had to stand at the end to prevent people from waiting as I was going to have to rush out for the next event and did not want to have anyone waiting who I would not be able to get to!
My second location was a half hour away; we hit a little bit of traffic (not surprised) but was able to get to the place a little earlier than 4:00pm. This one took place at a small outdoor green area. Many girls were already waiting under the tent when I arrived. When they saw what I will be doing, they were so excited and, just like the first event, there was a long line again within 10 minutes! I am so happy live sketching is in such high demand. No time to rest, time to go straight back to work!
I ended up drawing for 7 hours and sketched more than 75 people! The result was far beyond my expectations in a great way! I cannot believe I did this!! Of course, I couldn't do this without the huge support from my husband Wes!! We had a big dinner at Copper Lounge to celebrate this awesome experience. My favorite part of live sketching is meeting new people, talking to them, learning more about them and seeing the big smile on their faces the moment they look at their personal sketch!! I am so grateful to have had the chance to work with Teen Vogue and Simon malls! I will be working hard on my next adventure! Stay tuned, my friends!
Austin Cake balls! Dessert is a must wherever I go:-)
Keep up with my daily sketches over my Instagram:-)
Until next time,
Rongrong