Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Year's Inspired by Piet Mondrian


         Happy New Year! I hope that 2012 will bring everyone a new start and many good things. To kick off the new year on Cute and Mundane, I decided to write an 'Inspired by' art post. This post will be featuring a painting by Piet Mondrian, a dutch painter. Mondrian's abstract compositions are characterized by vertical and horizonatal lines and the use of primary colors. I love the modern, airy, and harmonious quality of this painting. It's a perfect representation of how I picture a new year to be.


         To reflect the simplicity of the painting, I thought it would be fitting to use only minimal products. I've chosen Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in black ink. It's the blackest black. I used a MAC 211 eyeliner brush for precise application. NARS Red Lizard lipstick is a full powered red lipstick. It's a great red for one striking red accent, as you see in the painting above.

        When drawing on my red lip, I did my best to make a precise application that followed the shape of my natural lip. I did not want a geisha-like lip since this look has modern inspiration. I have full lips, so I colored in a size a hair smaller than my natural lip line for a sleeker look.

         Below are swatches of NARS Red Lizard and Bobbi Brown Black Ink. You can see that they are both very primary and basic colors. The Mondrian painting has a beautiful grey in it. I decided not to incorporate it as an eyeshadow since the blended effect of an eyeshadow lacks the stark geometric and linear quality found in the composition. Instead, I would pair this look with a clean-lined pale heather grey sweater (and black skinnies).


        Thanks for reading! I hope you are enjoying a wonderful start to your new year. Where do you find your inspiration? What is your favorite red?

Love, Dovey.

9 comments:

  1. Happy New Year Dovey! What a great post -- you are so wonderfully creative :) The look you described sounds lovely and perfect along with your heather grey sweater and skinnies :)

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  2. Thank you :) Happy New year to you too!

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  3. Love this post - you ARE super creative! :D The entire outfit + makeup look sounds very classic but modern at the same time.

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  4. happy new year! The Art History nerd in me LOVES these types of posts!

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  5. Great inspiration! My favorite red is Chanel Cambon.

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  6. I love your post! Great play on lines! :*

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  7. Larie- thanks! I like the sound of that :)

    Kelly- awesome! I'm not terribly knowledgeable about art, but I like learning about it

    Martha - thanks for sharing your favorite red; I'm googling it now!

    LauraJean - thank you! I'm glad you liked them

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  8. I need to pay more attention to art! I'm thinking of taking up a painting class or something when my literature courses end. I love your replication of Mondrian's piece.

    I don't have specific points of inspiration for makeup but always anticipate a certain kind of shade/palette for upcoming seasons. :)

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  9. I love Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Rebelle. This is a great post!

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