Travel Write Draw's Top 10 of 2014!!

#LivingGrand for the Holidays with @GrandHyatt

InStyle Magazine Feature @TravelWriteDraw

Happy Holidays My Loves, 

I have made my way back to Canada to be with my family for the break. I was so pleasantly surprised last night to discover this InStyle Magazine article which features my Instagram @TravelWriteDraw as one of the Top 15 Fashion Meets Art accounts to follow!! I'm so honored to be included alongside some of my favorite accounts out there like @PariDust, @HomeontheRunway, and @Kalen_Hollomon.

So much has happened this year since starting my own company. I feel incredibly blessed but also very nervous about maintaing the momentum with the holidays approaching. It seems that opportunities keep getting bigger and better. How does one keep it all going?! I'm looking forward to writing some more retrospective and helpful content on the blog this break. My hope is to help anyone out there who is also contemplating starting on their own.

Much love,
Meag xx

Postcard from Bermuda

Hello My Loves,

I'm finally back from beautiful Bermuda and slowly adjusting to the New York chill. My trip was an absolute whirlwind. We stayed at the gorgeous Fairmont Southampton for the incredible Fairmont Gold experience. We started shooting bright and early Thursday December 4th and wrapped up 48 hours later on Friday December 5th. It definitely took some getting used to being the camera's subject for an entire photoshoot, especially 13 hour days. Usually I'm on the opposite side, documenting my subject through illustration.

Bermuda Bound with Conde Nast Traveler!!

Hello Again Darlings, 

I'm so thrilled to share that in two days I will be flying off to Bermuda with my favorite magazine Conde Nast Traveler and Bermuda Tourism to curate and illustrate my cultural experience on the island. Though a lot of my adventure will be shared in realtime on my Instagram @travelwritedraw, my photos and illustrations will also be printed in the March issue of Conde Nast Traveler!! I can't wait to share my inspirations and interpretations of Bermudian art, architecture, and unique experiences with all of you. Travel Write Draw is truly a pipe dream willed into reality and I'm overjoyed to be sharing the realization with all of you near and far.

See you on the flipside sugarplums!!

Much love,
Meag xx

HANRO of Switzerland x Saks Event Illustrating

Good Evening My Loves,

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!! I'm just returning from a long weekend in Toronto and gearing up for another very exciting travel adventure this Wednesday (more on that shortly)!! Last month I helped HANRO of Switzerland, a super luxe undergarments company, celebrate their 130th Anniversary at Saks illustrating live customer portraits. This was such an intimate (no pun intended) affair. I really felt like I had the opportunity to chat with each one of my recipients that night.

Kim Caldwell, pictured above, just started her very own bra fitting and personal consulting company www.hurraykimmay.com. She had such incredibly positive energy, I really wanted to share a bit more from her here on Travel Write Draw. It's amazing how much living in my own passion attracts people who do the same. It is so inspiring to meet and surround myself with other likeminded entrepreneurs. You can do whatever you put your mind to you just have to believe!!

Can't wait to share the next, and very imminent, Travel Write Draw adventure!! New post coming right up.

Much love,
Meag xx
 

Represented by The Illustration Room

Hi Chickadees, Happy Tuesday!!

I'm currently working on commissions and simultaneously preparing to travel for the next two weeks, from snow to beach weather. But I wanted to pop-up quickly for air to announce that as of October 2014 I'm being represented by The Illustration Room agency. After over three years of working entirely on my own as an illustrator, I have finally signed with my first agent to represent me in Asia and Australia. This is such an exciting moment in my journey of working full-time as a fashion illustrator and I appreciate it that much more having worked so independently these past few years.

Cheers to believing in yourself no matter what and always following your heart. Still so much more to share here!!

Much love,
Meag xx

Illustrations for VOGUE Russia

Hello, Hello My Loves!!

How has your week been thus far?! I'm finally back again, much later than I wanted to be, but grateful to find some time to connect with you all here. This post is devoted to all the illustrations I created backstage, from the runway, and at my hotel room during MBFWRussia for VOGUE Russia daily.

The designers featured in order are Alena Akhmadullina (Image 1), Viva Vox (Image 2-4), Laroom (Image 5-6), Galetsky (Image 7), Bella Potemkina (Image 8), and OFERA by Oksana Fedorova (Image 9-11). I absolutely loved these six collections and really felt my perception of Russian fashion expanding after having viewed them in real life. What do you think?

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Russia

Hello My Darlings, 

I'm back, I'm back, I'm back from Moscow, Russia!! And what an extraordinary adventure it was...I feel so incredibly blessed to have been one of the three selected illustrators to fly to MBFWRussia and cover the shows through live sketching. It was such a dream opportunity and one of the most surreal experiences of my life to date. From the time I landed at SVO airport I felt like Cinderella. The best part is, the spell didn't break for an entire week.

I was picked up in the official Mercedes Benz Fashion Week vehicle and driven to the stunning Hotel Metropol in the centre of Moscow. The hotel was a 3 minute walking distance from Red Square where I finally got to see St. Basil's Cathedral. The moment my eyes landed on the cathedral, tears welled in my eyes. I felt like everything I had ever imagined for my career, for Travel Write Draw, was coming true!! I was quite literally TWD'ing across the globe...

JFK - SVO : Moscow Bound!!

Two posts in one day!! Well only because I'm so thrilled to share that in 24 hrs I will be flying directly from New York to Moscow for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Russia!! I will be joining street style photographer extraordinaire Craig Arend of ALTAMIRA and several other New York fashion editors to illustrate from the collections at MBFWRussia!! I'm over-the-moon excited for my first fashion week abroad, especially as an official guest of Mercedes Benz. They are hosting me at the Hotel Metropol Moscow in Red Square...in other words, a stone's throw from St. Basil's Cathedral.

Most of you may not remember, but one of the very first illustrations I posted on Travel Write Draw was an image of a Russian girl in a Moscow fur hat, standing in front of St. Basil's. I can't help but feel like I willed my dream into reality. As I've said from the beginning, "we manifest our own destinies. We have the power to live the lives we've always dreamed of. We put our intentions out into the universe by what we say, do, how we act, who we surround ourselves with, and through the law of attraction, we bring it back to us tenfold." Maybe it's a coincidence but either way it is a dream come true.

Can't wait to share all the live illustrations and trip adventures with you!!

Much love,
Meag xx

Tanya Taylor X Saks Event Illustrating

Happy Sunday Lovelies,

I have just one last post to share with you from the end of September (aka the biggest, baddest, fashion month of the year) before revealing a really exciting announcement!! On September 26th, I was brought back to Saks during contemporary week, to illustrate for the incredible Canadian designer, and my former McGill commerce classmate, Tanya Taylor. It was such an honor to work with this powerhouse talent and her amazing team. This was the first time I illustrated customers in full figure, whilst rendering them in their favorite Tanya Taylor pieces, and I loved it. It was definitely more challenging to do a little visual cutting and pasting, but the results were well worth it. So much so, Tanya's team wanted their very own group sketch after the event. Check out all the fun pics and the final TT portrait below!!

Much love,
Meag xx

Postcard from Miami

Illustrations inspired by DSquared2 SS15

Happy Tuesday Chickadees, 

I'm on a roll here catching up on my September posts (there is so much to share this month as well)!! I mentioned not long ago that I took a weekend escape to Miami to celebrate my 29th birthday with my boyfriend. I wanted to share with you a few of the visual treats we captured while we were away. I can't stress just HOW much I L.O.V.E Miami!! This was my first visit there but I can assure you it won't be my last. Miami houses some of the most impressive art in North America. Every hotel in South Beach transports you to old Hollywood with cascading curtained hallways and cathedral ceilings (ok maybe I'm describing the Delano Hotel only but still). I could not have asked for a more incredible way to kick start the last year of my 20's!! Below are pics from Wynwood, Miami Beach, and beyond. Hope you enjoy!! 

Much love, 

Meag xx

M Missoni X Saks Event Illustrating

Happy Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving Everybody,

I hope you all had an amazing weekend! I wrapped up a couple commissions and found a little more time to update Travel Write Draw with the events of September. At the end of New York Fashion Week I was scheduled to illustrate for M Missoni at Saks for their FW14 collection preview. I got to sketch two of their incredible tartan looks for their in-store signage (above) and e-vite (below) plus illustrate custom fashion portraits for M Missoni customers throughout the 4 hour event. I had such an amazing time working with the M Missoni team over at Valentino Group and I can't begin to describe how awesome it was to pull a dress to wear for the event from their fashion closet (hello dream moment!!). Check out more photos from the event below:

New York Fashion Week - Live Illustrations for The Style Line

Hello My Loves,

I hope you are all having a fantastic week so far!! Finally I found a quiet moment to myself to post my illustrations for The Style Line from this September's New York Fashion Week!! I could not have asked for a better way to kickstart my first month working independently as a full-time fashion illustrator. My last day of work was August 29th and by September 3rd I was cracking open my sketchbook to quickly live-render all the delicious looks at the WHIT SS15 presentation shown above and below this passage.

In the end, I illustrated from roughly 14 different runway shows and presentations, from backstage and beyond. I got to meet both Zanita and the Beckerman Sisters after Trina Turk and Jill Stuart. I illustrated Canadian supermodel Coco Rocha backstage at Noon by Noor. But most importantly I gained the confidence in myself to know that there was no turning back for me. I've found my place and I'm on this journey for the long haul. Catch all the NYFW action shots and final rendered pieces below:

WHIT SS15

Gigi Burris SS15

Gigi Burris SS15

@NYTIMESFASHION Press Feature and @INSTAGRAM Suggested User!!

Helloooooooooo Friends!!!!

It has been forever and a day since I've been on my blog and I'm so happy to be back!! My first month as a self-employed fashion illustrator has been the most productive, rewarding, fulfilling, and compelling of my entire career. Hopefully many of you have been following my fashion month journey over on @travelwritedraw. If not, I will be catching you up here shortly. Just last Friday I received an email from the Instagram team informing me that I had been selected as a suggested user!! I was told to be mindful of my content while I prepared for thousands of new followers (gulp). They weren't kidding. I have gone from 7,000 to nearly 70,000 followers in a little over a week!!

To add more sweetness to the sundae, just yesterday I was given the opportunity to contribute an illustration to the New York Times Fashion account!! I painted a stunning photo by @altamiranyc of the beautiful @sofievalkiers outside the Dior show in Paris. Holy molly what a month!! Oh and I haven't even posted the highlights from New York Fashion Week yet, illustrating for The Style Line from over a dozen shows on and off the runway. Nor have I discussed illustrating for two store events at Saks Fifth Avenue this month, first for M Missoni and second for Canadian darling Tanya Taylor. Oh and somewhere between all of this I managed to celebrate my 29th birthday in Miami with my boyfriend!!

I'm absolutely overjoyed and truly speechless when I reflect on how much has happened in the month of September 2014 alone. It is equally terrifying as it is exciting to think of what the next month will bring. But my feet are firmly planted and my heart is centred. As long as I live my truth everyday it can only go up from here. New post coming soon!!

Much love,
Meag xx

The Style Line: Sketching My Future & NYFW Guest Illustrator!!

Happy Tuesday & Almost NYFW Lovelies!!

Today is my FIRST official day working from Meagan Morrison HQ (aka my bedroom/studio/apt) and it feels fantastic. I'm even more thrilled to share this follow-up feature I did this past weekend with The Style Line where I illustrated my plans for this next chapter I am embarking on. Catch all the colourfully sketched details of our Saturday hangout here.

Allsoooo, I officially announced via my Instagram and Facebook page this past Saturday, that I will be joining The Style Line team as their Guest Live Fashion Illustrator for New York Fashion Week starting tomorrow!! Wahoo!! Are you ready for all the fast and furious backstage and runway brushwork?! I'm not...I mean, yes I am (seriously need to get my supplies together like now)!!

Stay tuned all through the week to catch the results of NYFW illustrated live.

Much love,
Meag xx

January Jones

TGIF My Lovelies!!

Today is my last day as a full-time employee and I'm so excited to spread my wings and soar into this new adventure with all of you. My schedule has been a little nutty lately, finishing full-time projects and lining up things for my new business, BUT I did manage a little me-time last night to paint my #WCW January Jones. I absolutely love January's look. She is my go to reference for hair and makeup always, and when I saw her this week at the Emmy's, I could not resist illustrating her. So here she is, in all her Prabal Gurung and Christian Louboutin glory, with a killer red lip to boot.

What were some of your favorite looks of the evening?! More posts to come!!

Much love,
Meag xx

The Next Step...

Good Evening My Loves, 

I have some BIG news to share with you all and I couldn't be happier. On Monday I officially resigned from my full-time job. I have finally, after half a decade, opened my own illustration and creative service company in New York to pursue my fashion illustration career here full on!!!! I am passport stamped, visa approved, signed, sealed, delivered in NYC and for the first time ON MY OWN TERMS!!!! I finally feel like the sky has opened up and is ushering me into a life I could only dream of for years. I am finally, finally, free.

It saddens me to let go of a company that I truly adored, and I am eternally grateful for everything they have provided me. But any great employer can recognize when their employee needs to go and follow their heart, their passion, their truest calling. Fortunately for me, my employer does.

Life right now is going at the speed of lightening. I have major collaborations planned for New York Fashion Week in a few weeks plus loads of fun commissions that I can't wait to share with you all. AND the best part is, I'm going to have all my time to give to you and my illustrations. I'm going to sign off for now but I assure you that the best is yet to come, for me, for you, for us together.

Sending so much light and love into the world tonight and leaving you with this final thought - "stop asking for permission to do what you love and just f$$cking DO IT."

Much love,
Meag xx

LIVE Fashion Illustrating with Lexicon of Style

Hello My Darlings,

I hope you've had a wonderful week thus far. SO much is changing in my world at the moment and I can't WAIT to reveal the big news with all of you. In the meantime, I'm thrilled to finally share the collaboration I did with my dear friend, the uber talented scarf designer and blogger Alexandra Dieck of Lexicon of Style!! Alex and I met this past Spring while taking that incredibly inspiring Blogging for Fashion Business class at FIT. We had an instant connection, as we are both super passionate entrepreneurs. Shortly thereafter we discovered that not only did we both live in the West Village, but we were also featured in the same Glamour Magazine New York Fashion Week Video from this past February 2014!! Clearly we were destined to become friends...continue reading after the jump!!

Take Me to Hong Kong : MOSCHINO Resort 2015

Hi My Little Love Bugs, 

Happy Sunday evening to you all! I hope you had a refreshing two days off in the sun. I spent the weekend working on commissions and soul cycling my body back into shape. Seriously, I kick started my Saturday with a 45 min session in SOHO at 8:30 AM (in the dark, candles lit, music blaring, instructor headbanging) and biked the remainder of the day through Central Park. I cannot contain my smile when I hop on a bike in New York City. Equal parts terrifying and liberating, it feels so good to be enjoying exercise in the sun. By the time I returned home, I was starting to paint this piece by 10 PM Saturday evening. I'm seriously getting old, no late night NYC dance session for me as of late.

24 Hrs in Toronto - A TWD Guide

Top 5 Things I've Learned While Living in New York

Hello My Loves,

How have you been?! I hope you're all feeling refreshed from your weekend. I for one am over the moon while writing this post because this weekend marks my 5 year anniversary of living in the Empire State, New York City!!!! This is truly a joyous occasion. I feel like I'm honestly celebrating my birthday. For those of you who have followed my journey on this blog the past four years, you know that I'm a Canadian citizen, and that life as a legal alien living in NYC has been anything but a cakewalk. That said, my heart could honestly burst when I think of all the wonderful experiences I have had while fighting for my dream here in the Big Apple. I feel so incredibly fortunate everyday that I have had the opportunity to pursue my greatest passion, fashion illustration, in the city that never sleeps.

Moving to New York undoubtedly changed the course of my life forever. It marked my decision to leave behind comfort and convention for the potential of a life filled with passion, purpose, and creativity. It was proof to myself that I believed in something greater, that I had a burning fire deep down within me that believed I could live the life I so badly dreamed of. This post, however, is really for all of you lovely and loyal Travel Write Draw readers. So many of you write me beautiful emails asking questions about my career as an illustrator and what it's like to live in New York. Well here are my answers out in the open for all of you; a comprehensive Top 5 of what I've learned, and what you can expect as a creative in arguably the greatest city on the planet.

1. Dream big, start small, expect nothing: When I first applied to attend FIT while still living in Toronto, I had a million ideas of what my life would look like when I moved to New York. I expected to be embraced wholeheartedly by the glamourous world of fashion the minute I moved here. I thought I would be given the key to the industry on a silver platter. I imagined I would have my own company straight out of my associates in illustration, making my own illustrated accessories, coffee table books, and absolutely killing it financially. Needless to say I had BIG dreams and even BIGGER expectations and that often led to HUGE disappointment. 

How To Design An Illustrated Scarf

Hello My TWD Darlings,

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and great start to your week! I for one had a pretty stellar weekend involving an uber fun filled roadtrip to Toronto for a dear friend's wedding on Saturday (more on that to come!!). I'm finally bouncing back from the whirlwind of nearly 24 hrs spent in a car in 2.5 days lol. Regardless, today I'm riding high on life because I discovered that the illustrated scarf I designed for Collection 18 has finally become available to buy on NORDSTROM EEEeeeee!! Yes I'm totally squealing over this.

I VERY rarely show any of the work I do for my employer here. But I thought it could be really interesting for you, my sweet Travel Write Draw inner circle, to show the behind the scenes of making the scarf and also break down a comprehensive (and very much abbreviated) how to that you can use when considering designing a scarf yourself. SO it starts a little something like this.

STEP 1: Decide on your theme! When we were considering our trends almost a year ago now we were seeing lots of evidence of flamingos everywhere from fashion accessories to home goods. It became clear that this wasn't a trend to be ignored. So we agreed to move forward with an engineered scarf design involving a flamingo and I got straight to work on pulling references to draw from.

JEFF KOONS : A RETROSPECTIVE

Hello Lovelies,

I can't thank you enough for your amazingly sweet comments you left on my latest post Finding My It Girl. The wheels are definitely in motion and I've been doing a lot of thinking about additional ways I can better serve you all, my readers, here on Travel Write Draw. Ultimately I want to give you access to the very best of art, culture, fashion, & illustration here in New York and abroad and inspire along the way. So today I'm starting with an inside glimpse into what I consider one of the best art retrospectives I've seen to date in New York - Jeff Koons: A Retrospective at the Whitney Museum.

I visited this exhibition a week or so ago and was absolutely overjoyed by the experience. Jeff Koon's work is meant to elicit a reaction from its viewers and it most certainly did for me. There is something really refreshing about standing next to oversized everyday objects, play-doh and the like, that ignites the child in you. I left feeling totally recharged which says a lot considering it was crowded with the typical selfie obsessed attendees. The saturated colors alone are worth the visit. If you are planning to make a visit to New York this Summer, make it apart of your "must see list" otherwise enjoy the snapshots I curated just for you.

Much love,
Meag xx

Finding My "It" Girl

Good Evening My Darlings,

It feels like forever since I last sat down and connected with all of you here on Travel Write Draw. Truthfully I've been having a really rough time lately, as in lots of crying, breakdown fits, and rocky emotional roller-coaster rides. I'm about to make some MAJOR moves here in New York and quite frankly I'm scared shitless. I've been doing what most overly anxious OCD people are prone to doing - running around asking everyone for advice and seeking answers, while feeling totally unsure and uncertain about making a major decision. And all the advice getting can really throw you for a loop. In my quest to get some real answers on how to create real quality content on my blog, I consulted with a blog "expert" and walked away feeling completely sideswiped to the point that I didn't feel like I could write on my blog anymore (hence why I disappeared for over two weeks).

I WAS PARALYZED...I was told that my content wasn't good enough, that my traffic was dismal, and that I needed to write an E-Book?! I felt like everything I had ever learned about social media, being authentic, and being myself was completely WRONG. Honestly I'm still reeling from the experience. BUT with every hard lesson comes a wave of self-affirmation. How can anyone FAIL at being THEMSELVES?! Seriously?! How can you go wrong expressing yourself, speaking from your heart, and connecting with people from every corner of the world?! Frankly the fact that I've managed to connect with anyone through the internet in a meaningful way feels like a huge WIN to me.

Furthermore, last night I attended a brilliant personal branding class through The Lovely It Girl, a personal brand consulting boutique, where the founder Michela Aramini challenged all of us to identify our inner "It Girl". Suddenly all the reasons I love life and feel passionate about being a fashion illustrator came flooding back to me. I was reminded that my "It", my unique intrinsic value, is the only voice I really need to listen to.

So my loves, I'm on the quest to find and re-define my inner "It". Just like the ever stunning and talented Candice Lake I illustrated above, I want to exude all the light and warmth of the world from the inside out. I want to live in my "It" and I want you all to come with me. What does being your "It" self mean to you?! Who are you at your very best?! I'm thanking Michela Aramini BIG time for beginning the new movement and suggest all you amazing readers join in.

SO much love,
Meag xx

BE YOUR OWN IDOL

This past year has been a year of major transformative growth. Whether knowingly or not, I managed to attract people into my life who have changed me irreversibly. I'm sitting here in my bedroom/studio right now, half awake from the wear and tear of today, knowing there is much to be said and expressed in this post. I'm fighting with the little energy I have left today to give to the most important thing in my life, my dream (aka my blog, my illustrations, my love of travel, and my connections with all of you). This severely skewed equation of how my time is divided daily, as a result of a demanding full-time job, is perhaps the reason I'm writing this evening at all. Something is wrong with the way I'm living and today and each day forward I need to be my own idol.

ANIA.B

Hello My Lovelies!! 

How has your week been?! It's after midnight in New York but I'm dying to get my new post up on the blog as it has already been another seven days since I last updated here. The great news is that the wonderful collaborations and commissions keep coming in, but that allows infinitely less time to connect with all of you amazing and inspiring individuals on here. I'm trying to negotiate with the universe to make the days longer but there seems to be some pushback...

Anywho, I'm thrilled to share with you this fashion illustration gif I did of my friend and fabulous model/blogger Ania of Ania.B. Her pose is so dynamic in front of this stunning James Wyper mural in Calgary, Canada. I have been following Ania's blog for the past four years now so when I saw her post this photo on Instagram the other day, my heart practically leapt from my chest. It was a 'no ifs, ands, or buts' kind of illustration inspiration. It was mine to draw, so I did, and boy did it feel good!!

Much more to come on the blog so stay tuned my loves, but for now it is time for the ZZZzzzzzz. My eyes are closing as I type this. See all you beautiful people soon!!

Much love,
Meag xx