Mark Fast LFW illustration for Amelia's magazine

This is an illustration I created for the Mark Fast London Fashion Week 2012 collection for Amelias magazine.
Scroll down to see a detail view of the illustration, a screenshot, and also the photograph that the art director sent me to work from. I hope you like the illustration!

Mark Fast is a celebrated knitwear designer. This is what his website has to say about him:

"Mark Fast is a 30 year old Canadian knitwear designer. He grew up outside the city of Winnipeg, in the countryside along a highway next to a forest. This minimal, peaceful lifestyle led him to wonder what life might be like beyond the familiar frontiers of Canada.

Finally finding inspiration in London, Mark studied at Central Saint Martins for five years. He completed his BA there and went on to complete his MA in February 2008. Mark has collaborated with Stuart Vevers for Loewe, Bora Aksu, Christian Louboutin, Swarovski, Atelier Swarovski, Christian Louboutin, Topshop, Pinko, Danier, and Woolmark.

Mark designs his knits by hand on a domestic knitting machine. His work is formed onto the body as he knits. He has devised innovative stitching techniques, blending lycra with the finest luxury wools. He is inspired by the endless possibilities of lycra yarns and natural fibres together, sculpting areas of tension and areas of volume over the body.

For his AW11/12 collection Mark has designed several leather pieces that have been produced by Canadian leather goods company Danier. Mark travelled to Toronto to work at the Danier atelier on development and plans to work with them on a capsule collection to be released later this year."

“Knits have a more intimate relationship with the wearer than tailoring or corsetry. The garment takes on the shape of the person inside it, and the finished look is always a collaboration between the two.” – Claudia Croft on Mark Fast, Sunday Times Style, 11th October 2009

DETAIL:



REFERENCE PHOTO:



SCREENSHOT:

Spijkers en Spijkers LFW illustration for Amelia's magazine

This is an illustration I created on Monday for Amelia's magazine. It is of one of the models on the Dutch fashion label Spijkers en Spijkers catwalk, at their runway show at London Fashion Week.

Here is the full Spijkers en Spijkers catwalk report on Amelia's magazine.

Details:




These are a couple of experiments I did using gradients on Photoshop. I wanted to share them because I think they look pretty nice! But they weren't right for the final image:

Hannibal Girl

I watched a serial killer documentary about cannibal killers last week and had the idea of drawing a portrait of a girl with a Hannibal Lecter mask. I had some free time this afternoon in my studio so here it is ... ! I drew it on paper in pencil and ink, then scanned it in and added the colours on Photoshop.
I hope you like it...

ps. I love gradient fills!

Layelfish @ FOXY Bar Barcelona, February 2012

My latest poster for my friend Leyla in BCN, aka LAYELFISH VINTAGE.
Designed on Photoshop.

Portrait of Coco Chanel for Wonderland LA

This is a portrait of Coco Chanel I have created for a group show at Kat Von D's Wonderland Gallery in West Hollywood LA. The show is opening in a few weeks.

Here is some information about the gallery and the show that the gallery director sent me:

'Wonderland came into existence one year ago as a project space for artists and creative people to reach a large and diverse audience. The gallery space in West Hollywood is a place to display local artisan talent as well as provide drawing and painting workshops. The boutique section supports independent artists of all genres around the world and allows visitors to take home small pieces of art, handmade jewelry, books and home décor. The concept for the show, entitled "I Want To Be First" is about not only embracing the empowered independent woman, but also spotlighting female pioneers of the arts and sciences. Who was the first woman to bring down the house at a vaudeville theater? Who was the first to name a star? Who was the first to shred a guitar solo? You might be inspired by Madame Curie, Sappho, Diane Arbus, Mae West, Joan Jett or Yoko Ono, or choose cultural icons and hard core historical figures, the possibilities loom large!'

I chose to create a portrait of Coco Chanel because of her pioneering work in fashion. She redefined women's clothing and was the first woman to triumph simple, un-fussy, un-corseted designs, and also the first to allow masculine influences to enter her design aesthetic.

I drew the image in graphite and ink. Then I scanned it into the computer and added colours, and also changed the composition by cutting and pasting in Photoshop. I hope you like it!

Scroll down to see work in progress images and details:

WORK IN PROGRESS:




DETAILS:

Limited edition Giclee print "Kuedo Severant (Scissors)"

Limited edition Giclee print "Kuedo Severant (Scissors)" 18.5" x 16" (47cm x 40cm)
AVAILABLE NOW on ETSY

Limited edition Giclee print "Kuedo Severant"

Limited edition Giclee print "Kuedo Severant" 18.5" x 16" (47cm x 40cm)
AVAILABLE NOW on ETSY

Limited edition Giclee print "Girl wearing green tights"

Limited edition Giclee print "Girl wearing green tights" 18.5" x 15" (47cm x 38cm)
AVAILABLE NOW on ETSY

Limited edition Giclee print "Audrey Melting"

Limited edition Giclee print "Audrey Melting" 18.5" x 15" (47cm x 38cm)
AVAILABLE NOW on ETSY

Limited edition Giclee print "Vanja"

Limited edition Giclee print "Vanja" 18.5" x 15" (47cm x 38cm)
AVAILABLE NOW on ETSY

Limited edition Giclee print "Lady Gaga"

Limited edition Giclee print "Lady Gaga" 18.5" x 15" (47cm x 38cm)
AVAILABLE NOW on ETSY

Limited edition Giclee print "Deedee"

Limited edition Giclee print "Deedee" 18.5" x 16.5" (47cm x 42cm)
AVAILABLE NOW on ETSY

Limited edition Giclee print "RBPM II"

Limited edition Giclee print "RBPM II" 18.5" x 13" (47cm x 33cm)
AVAILABLE NOW on ETSY

Limited edition Giclee print "RBPM"

Limited edition Giclee print "RBPM" 18.5" x 13" (47cm x 33cm)
AVAILABLE NOW on ETSY

Limited edition Giclee print "Holger Czukay"

Limited edition Giclee print "Holger Czukay" 18.5" x 18.5" (47cm x 47cm)
AVAILABLE NOW on ETSY

VITA magazine commission

Vita magasine is the Québecois version of More magazine... It is a lifestyle publication for women aged 40 and up.
The article was about working while suffering from chronic pain how to cope with it.

This was the final image (Scroll down to see roughs):



Rough drafts:

NYLON guys commission

I recently completed two commissions for NYLON guys magazine.

SHALOM AUSLANDER:

This is an illustration of the writer Shalom Auslander to accompany an extract from his latest book.

Shalom has written a lot of stuff dealing with his Jewish background, and his anger relating to it and towards God. He's a pretty intense and angry guy with a lot of inner conflict and mixed feelings, and the art director asked me to try and convey this in my illustration.

I did various roughs but this was the final image (pencil on paper, digital colour):



JON GLASER:

Illustration to accompany a Q&A with Jon Glaser who made a show called "Delocated" where a guy in the witness protection program makes a reality show about being in the program.

This is what the art director had to say: "We need a portrait but perhaps his face is covered in a ski mask like on the show OR more interesting perhaps you do something that involves obscuring his face somehow but maybe in a more conceptual way. Obviously you're good at that, so just run with the idea. We actually don't need to see him at all."

This is the final image that was accepted (pencil on paper, digital colour).
(Scroll down to see the rough drafts) :



Rough drafts:

Sonntagszeitung "Finest" commission

"Finest" is a supplement magazine of the Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung. It is distributed bi-yearly with the newspaper, which has a circulation of 270'000 copies in Switzerland.

SWISS TRENDS:

The first art assignment was to make a small/symbolic collage illustration of these items (to accompany the text in an article on "new & current fashionable trends"). For instance: fur vests; heavy eye brows; medium length skirts; the colors 'orange' and 'petrol' and other 'jewel' colors; turtle necks; sixties fashion styles (i.e. "swinging London"); oversized; maid fashion styles (collars, dresses around the knees, black/white etc); patterns/dots.

This is the final image that was accepted (pencil on paper, digital colour).
(Scroll down to see the rough drafts) :



Rought drafts:



CHRISTMAS:

The second assignment consisted of the following: A half page illustration of a "Christmas"-themed column - this should be more like an illustration rather than a collage (and also hava a different look than the above collage).

The illustration should be quite small and accompany a small poem written in German.

This is a loose translation of the German text: Mum in her kitchen apron / black/white stripes / red lipstick / we are sledging outdoors and coming back home into the warm with freezing hands / smell of christmas cookies ("mailaenderli", a typical swiss traditional chrismas cookie) / lights, candles / the scents of candle wax / the scents coming from the kitchen oven / dust of flower from the cookies (dough) / beautifully decorated table with grandmother's glasses and silverware / singing christmas carols (songs) with the ukulele.

This is the final image that was accepted (pencil on paper, digital colour).
(Scroll down to see the rough draft) :



Rough Draft:



PORTRAIT OF SILVIA AESCHBACH:

The final assignment was to create a 'simple and modest' portrait of Silvia Aeschbach, the editor-in-chief of Finest Magazine.

This was the final image (pencil on paper, digital colour):