Women’s Fashion Illustration… Book Pages

Recently I was commissioned to do this series of women’s fashion illustration on the book pages.

I have stayed away from women’s fashion quite purposefully. It is such a highly saturated genre with little variety. Though illustrating the female form is much more interesting than the male form. One could understand the saturation of the women’s fashion market after having the opportunity to work in it.

My heavy handed approach with varying thicknesses of bold blacks carried over to the traditionally delicate and fluid line work of women’s fashion illustration makes for a stronger figure. With my signature book page background these illustrations maintain the sunflowerman ‘look.’

.

 

.

.

 

Fashion Illustration… D.R.E.S and GQ

Since the very last post prior to this one is about the original illustration I will not go on for long.

This is the sixth GQ cover in the series so far (the rest found here).  I might say I am actually getting quite good at this.
So step down this way and take a look at the newest edition of the illustrated GQ with D.R.E.S. ThaBeatnik.

Fashion Illustration… Dres Tha Beatnik

I was walking through Starbucks to see a friend. As I was walking this gentleman caught my eye. He was dressed very well and had this character about himself that was quite attractive.

After grabbing my coffee I walked over to where he was seated and asked if I could use him as a part of my fashion portrait series. His name is Dres D-R-E-S (dr-ah-s). Can’t lie, I struggled pronouncing Dres correctly.

It turns out that he is a local Atlanta musician, perhaps even a local celebrity. He handed me a copy of his recent album, I snapped a pic on my phone and we parted ways.

This is what came of that interaction. Also, check out his myspace and enjoy the mix.

.

Fashion Portrait… Brandon Sadler and the Black Goldfish

I did this Fashion Portrait of a friend of mine a while back now. I have mixed feelings about this piece. There is so much great about it and a few things that irk me. Things such as my lack of thought about the background. Overall the painting showcases the character and the clothes very well.

Featured here is Brandon Sadler. He is a painter based in Atlanta, GA.  He has been involved in the growing street art scene with a mural near the Studioplex in the Old Fourth Ward and has shown his work all over the city including work at the ABV gallery.

Brandon allowed me to photograph him while he was painting so I could capture the moment as it would be in real life. I went home and compiled a series of images of him painting and several images of suits from the 1920′s. I love the idea that someone would always dress so dapper even when painting and not give a second thought to where the paint might end up. Several compositional drawings later I began. I struggled with the placement of Brandon in relation to the fish and probably drew at least 15 18×24” sketches to get it exactly right.

This piece was so much fun to work on. Despite my reservations about the background it came together beautifully and it is part of a progressive process in my own work.

 

Brandon Sadler. 18×24″. Acrylic, watercolor and india ink on hardwood board.

Paul Chelko…Portrait

I must say that I am suddenly and properly honored to have done this little portrait of Paul Chelko. It was quite the accident that I came across his photograph on the cover of a 2007 edition of ‘The Atlanta Magazine (which I could not find on their website- so it’s possible I am confused as to the actual magazine).’ Over and over I mentioned the character in his face.

Sarah, my mentee, and I were practicing some techniques in painting at One Love Generation and I grabbed the magazine at the top of the towering pile for reference. As I walked over to our table where Sarah was eagerly awaiting the chance to paint. My eyes were trained on the photograph that was the cover of the magazine, analyzing the face we were about to use as practice. She exclaimed at the difficulty of drawing his face with a brush.

At the bottom of the post is an image of the portrait that Sarah did. She also painted an eye that would have been nice to grab a picture of. Her focus was a bit more centered on the painting of the eye than the portrait.

The following five images are the stages of the painting. It begins with an ink brush drawing, followed by washes of watercolor, highlights of white acrylic, dabbles of color in the cheeks and nose and retouching blacks with india ink.

Check it out. Enjoy. Share with your friends.

Sarah’s version of Paul Chelko. I thought the line-work was brilliant and a beautiful image of what she is learning as she is becoming her own artist.