ILLUSTRATION: Tropical Leaves

New duo prints for Spring/Summer
Flat canvas
Acrylic paints
25 x 30cm (each)
Time taken: 8 hours (approx)

ILLUSTRATION: My little piece of luxury...

Being an Instagram addict that I am now, I couldn't help but notice that designer items (often with a luxurious look or price tag) have become the subject of many illustrators' artwork. Even though I don't particularly understand the reasoning behind it, I decided I should give it a chance...

The 'item of luxury' I decided to illustrate - disregarding the fact that it may be the ONLY item of this nature in my possession - is the gorgeously glamorous Rouge Volupte Shine lipstick (5 - Fuchsia in Excess). Having made this purchase based simply on impulse right after my first student loan payment of this year, I hadn't even had a second wear of it before I decided that I was going to follow the footsteps of these Instagram illustrators who I admire so much. 

This was actually my third attempt (-the first being with watercolour before I realised that the paintings resembled those of a toddler's) and despite everything and how uninspiring I thought these were, I quite enjoyed this.

Overall I quite pleased with the final product, (looking back I'd change the odd little lines and squiggles here and there), I think I may have overdone it with the use of the high contrast but I never seem to be satisfied until there is a huge gap between black and white. 

Media Used: Promarkers, Watercolour pencils, Copic markers, Chalk, Gel pen

Time taken: 5 hours (approx)

Date: November/December 2013

MODEL OF THE MOMENT: Lindsey Wixson

Being a student on a course that requires 100% of its marking from coursework means having to do a lot of work which, needless to say, usually requires:

A) High caffeine tolerance

B) Sleepless nights

C) Dedication which can only result in aching hands and bloodshot eyes.

Being a student on a fashion course, however, is a little different...and in addition to the above you will need:

A) An insane collection of fashion magazines

B) An endless supply of drawing equipment/painting materials/fabric and trims

C) High tolerance for people constantly calling you thick (whether that's directly or simply implied or just assumed - that's irrelevant)

Being a fashion student, I found that even in my new flat, I have accumulated a few too many Vogues than the tiny space allows. Whilst debating to myself whether or not to keep the magazines, I began to flick through them in an attempt to help me decide. 

One model in particular caught my eye as she popped up in quite a few campaigns - everything from Versace to Miu Miu to Mulberry. And what absolutely just attracted me to her was her beautifully unusual face - something which, today I think would be more common in beauty shots rather than anything else. And as though to apply emphasis on that, she has also appeared in the Voguebeauty section of the magazine.

I recall first seeing this model in a youtube make-up tutorial by Lisa Eldridge - a video from 2011 and I had just fallen in love with her face from then on. So with that and the dilemma of what to do with my old Vogues, I decided that I would do something useful. And in order to prove to myself that the fashion magazines still deserved the shrine they held in my newly rented room, I would create inspiration boards (as shown in the photograph above) that would - as the name suggests - inspire me to create more adequate pieces of work.                              

I don't know about anyone else but before unleashing myself in a project like this, I always like to 'test the waters' - usually preferring to start small...hence the pencil drawing (image on the right hand side). I realise this may sound silly as the word 'project' may be being used too loosely considering I had originally set this task up for myself. However, I always find that for me, to ease into new media or new styles, I always have to treat a project as though I want to be able to use as many different media as I can, create different styles and looks and feels and experiment with every variant possible to ensure that I can perform at my best. 

This drawing (as shown on the image above) has become one of my most preferred method of illustration. I have found that as I begin to work more with coloured/toned paper that I am growing more and more confident with it, and even - dare I say it - increasingly better. As a child, you're expected to learn to draw by using lines. Growing up, you realise that the lines you have been drawing for a decade or so, were merely representations of shadows, hence the combination of HB pencils and white paper. Only when you're fully emerged into the world of art do you ever begin to give a crap about the negative space in a piece of work.

I had always considered myself a dedicated Art student, however, I have to admit that even to this day, portraying light in a painting/drawing is one of the hardest things to do. Especially when all you're given is a dark canvas and white media. Even thought I hesitate to admit, the idea of that is scary enough and that box shall remain empty in my tick-list for a long time, but is one that I hope to cross off some day.

All things aside, I do think that I did a pretty bad job with the proportions considering I had used a grid for measurements. However, as a stand-alone image, I don't think it's all that bad. I think the use of the strong contrast works well; I like the look of the subtle hints of colour - particularly in the eyes and mouth and I do like the way the light has been captured in a way to create a dewy and healthy look on the skin.

In comparison to all the other pieces in this post, (so far and yet to come), this was one of the quickest, free-est form of mark-making for me (image shown above). To emphasise that point alone, I'd like to point out that, this piece was done on the cardboard backing of an old sketchbook. And from that experience, next time I decide to use cardboard scraps, I think I would stick to mediums such as paint and inks rather than promarkers as it is absolute hell to blend.

And even though, (as mentioned in my old posts), I have been trying to steer away from cartoon-like illustrations, I feel like it turned out quite differently compared to anything else I have done previously. I feel this piece may just give this long, arguably boring post (that I am currently typing up), an element of fun and that pop of life it needs to make it somewhat enjoyable.

This painting (shown on the images on the right and below) is one of the pieces I am still content with. Usually I find that if I am happy with an illustration after having completed it, it will take me a week or two to gather up a list of improvements that could have been made...which in return voids my entire sense of achievement. However, a couple of weeks have passed now and I find that, although I have my list of possible improvements and mistakes, I am also still happy with what I produced.

Needless to say my Vogues are still intact and still remain on their shrine and I have yet to find a reason to stop clinging on to them. It's absolutely amazing how images from collections from seasons and years ago - from names you had never even heard of or just completely forgot about -  provided they are good enough - and strong enough, never fail to generate ideas and provide inspirations.

ILLUSTRATION: A closer look...

University can be really full-on, especially if you have a course which requires its marking from 100% coursework rather than exams...for those of you lucky enough not to have experienced this, just imagine having the exam stress throughout the whole year. And now that I do have time to pretty much do whatever I want, I remembered how therapeutic it was to just paint, or draw or even practise hand embroidery - So pretty much what I have been doing for the whole year, minus the time limit, the guidelines and the dos and don'ts, and turns out it's surprisingly different!

If you've been through my blog before, or had a look at my older posts, this might look familiar to you. And it should be because it is an enlarged painting of a series of illustrations I had done earlier this year as part of my coursework... The image can be found here (entitled FAD COMPETITION). 

The image below (top left - green background) is the original painting and has been done on a canvas.

Size: A2 approx

Media: pen, pencil, fineliner, marker, acrylic paint, spray paint, nail varnish, watercolour

Time taken: 6 hours approx

Although I actually really like the painting I produced, after the last post (ILLUSTRATION: Changing it up) I couldn't help but render these...I have to say the filters on Microsoft Powerpoint is just growing on me! It amazes me how much the effects manage to change the image, and using only the click of a button!

1) (Top left image) I love the painting; I think it's glamorous and vibrant and young. In hindsight, I would've probably chosen a different, darker, richer colour for the background rather than the pastel green. I had a feeling, at the time that it wouldn't be the best colour to have settled for...and I have to emphasise that I did settle for the green as my colours of spray paints are very limited... If I could I would change the soft, matte green for a glossy finish of a rich ruby or deep emerald or a luxuriously warm saffron colour - anything jewel-toned really.

2) (Top right image) It surprises me how much the feel of the painting changes. Perhaps it's the lack of lack of colours and tones, but to me, it feels quite strange. I can't decide whether it has an ancient, faded look of washed out pen lines or whether the colours - particularly the blurred blueish-grey give it a futuristic feel...

3) (Top left image) I absolutely adore this rendered image. Unlike the previous image (2) this one can be described as a futuristically ancient feel. As though centuries from now, art lovers and illustrators will look at this as old  - It will be the new old, and yet it can be a classic. For those of you whom I may have lost due to the sheer stupidity of my words - I apologise. Also note, I am aware that I am being slightly overconfident. Anyway, I just feel as though, similar to the lace on her face, the painting looks almost timeless.

4) (Top right image) I can't fully remember but I have a feeling that I may have used more than one effect on this image - and I'm not entirely sure which. However, I quite like the effect of the blurry/smudged lines - to me, it resembles the strokes that can be created using a thin paintbrush. I like this because it looks slightly messier and slightly de-constructed which I usually prefer in art as well as illustrations. Although I'm not too sure whether I prefer the look of the finer details in this painting or the messy look - usually this is a no-brainer, but as this is my painting and I'm subjective, I think the image looses too much detail, especially in the lace.