Illustrators Drawing Illustrators: The List!!

My Video Message

Drum Roll Please...

It's Dec 29th which means the day has finally arrived to reveal the list for the 'Illustrators Drawing Illustrators' project. I apologize for not getting this post up sooner!! The little video I took of me pulling the names from the jar was too big to be uploaded. I feel awful about that so I'm going to see if I can edit it down. I still included my greeting video though just to say hello.

Paper Bag Princess

Season's Greetings From Daria

Happy Holidays From Kate

Illustrators Drawing Illustrators!!

Carmen Kass

Winona Ryder

Lucy Liu

Hello My Lovely Readers and Fellow Bloggers,

I have a very special announcement to make. I will be hosting the first ever Illustrators Drawing Illustrators project here on Travel Write Draw!! Now before I get into the specifics of how this project will play out, and how all you amazing readers will participate, I would like to explain how this very idea came into fruition. I've been drawing famous people since the tender age of 16 (possibly even younger). The above portraits of Carmen Kass, Winona Ryder, and Lucy Liu stand as a testimony to this statement. In the three months that I've had my blog, I've also come across a lot of brilliant illustrators drawing public figures as well. It sort of occurred to me that illustrators never draw each other and why should we be excluded from all the fun?!

Christmas Reminiscing

Holiday Card Ideas

Me before my FIT interview (Dec 16th 2008)

Winter time always makes me feel incredibly nostalgic. For better or worse, so much of my time before Christmas is spent thinking about all the people I love, have loved, and lost. It's a time to reevaluate everything we wanted out of the past year and all the things we hope to gain in the new. 2010 certainly wasn't the easiest to live through but by god was it ever one of the most rewarding. Dec 17th marked the two year anniversary of my interview here at FIT. When I think about how much my life has changed since that day I'm nearly brought to tears.

People might find it strange how emotional I feel with regards to my fashion illustration degree. It's just that when I look back and see how close I came to never pursuing my dream, when I think of all the possibilities I could have missed, when I realize that I'm happier now then I've ever been, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I couldn't imagine my life being any other way now and I'm so grateful I took that great big leap of faith. Anyways, in this post I've included two photos from Dec 16th 2008 (the eve of my FIT interview) to coincide with some holiday card ideas. Just goes to show that you never know where life is going to take you. Enjoy!!

Dreaming in Feathers

This post might qualify as the most oddly composed I've ever done here on Travel Write Draw. But to quote Bil Donovan "It's your show. You make the rules." I guess that means I can include a highly rendered nude and my Mad Men Holiday Party photos in the same entry. I've always been a bit skeptical about posting any of my anatomy work on my blog. Perhaps it's my Western upbringing, Catholic guilt complex, that leaves me feeling a bit weary about nudity. To be honest though, this particular life drawing is one of my most favorite I've ever done. To me she quite simply looks like she's dreaming in feathers.

James and I as Don and Betty Draper

Chocolat

Happy Holidays Lovelies,

I'm so beyond thrilled to share my last project of the semester!! This week has been absolutely crazy. It felt like I accomplished everything and nothing all at the same time. Not exactly sure how that is even possible. Oh wait, I am. Painkillers for my leg and working like a machine make for a warped, alternate universe. The good news is my leg has finally healed in time for the Christmas festivities. I won't have to miss out on any dancing with family and friends. I feel like I've been away from my (blog) life for so long, even though it has only been a few days.

Anyways, here are my movie poster designs for the film Chocolat. It felt like the perfect choice of film to work on during the winter season. I loved the idea of designing a typeface out of a fluid like hot chocolate. Something about the natural swirls, created through the movement of liquid, lent itself beautifully to the movie title. I also fell madly in love with Juliette Binoche's face while painting her portrait. Her features are so unbelievably stunning, a painter's dream. Now I can finally begin to celebrate Christmas' imminent arrival. Can't wait to fly home to the snowy countryside. Happy almost weekend everyone and enjoy!!

Everybody Dance

18 x 24 Final Poster

Do-do-do, clap your hands, clap your hands - Chic

For those of you who have been following my blog, you will likely remember my 70's themed posts from a few weeks ago titled 'Oh So 70's' and 'Disco In Repeat'. They were all done in preparation for our final Joe Denaro poster project. When I was searching through my multitude of references, I fell in love with this image of a beautiful woman and her gigantic hair. It became the foundation of my poster design and the afro turned into my disco ball dance scene.

I love how the color took to the paper. It gives off that smokey studio 54 vibe I was desperately trying to achieve. I thought I would share that this was the first painting in a long while where I actually stopped and savoured how much I love doing what I'm doing. Sometimes the pressure of delivering completely erodes my innate passion for producing art. But being able to share this with all of you has brought new meaning to my work. I'm reminded that there is room for all of us. Enjoy!!

Fashion Anatomy

The Embryo Pose

Making Yoga Fashionable

The amazing Russell Simmons (as in co-founder of Def Jam, creator of Phat Farm, and passionate philanthropist) asked my anatomy professor, Karen Santry, an intriguing question. 'Would our FIT fashion illustration block be willing to draw fashionable yoga figures, for an awareness fundraiser he hosted at his home this past weekend?'

As I'm sure you can pretty well guess, our group answered with a collective YES!!!! Russell is a yoga enthusiast involved quite extensively with the Integral Yoga Institute here in New York. While our block is anxiously awaiting our individual certificates of participation, I wanted to post my embryo pose drawn for the party. I'm so pleased to say that, according to Karen, he just loved it. Namaste everyone and enjoy!!

Mermaid Jane

Jane Aldridge and her Sea of (Fish) Shoes

Color Rough

Pencil Rough

Concept Thumbnails

I owe the lovely Miss Jane Aldridge from Sea of Shoes a BIG thank-you. On September 28th, 2010 she called out to her readers for their artistic interpretations of their favorite Spring 2011 look. When I read this, my heart stopped. I submitted my entry on October 2nd and within hours my blog jumped from obscurity to the number one up-and-coming art blog on bloglovin. Surely this is a testimony to just how influential Madam Aldridge is. Later that week, when the brilliant Bil Donovan asked us to choose our favorite style icon for a conceptual portrait project, naturally I chose Jane.

Capturing Jane in a conceptual portrait proved to be no easy feat!! For one, some of the most incredible illustrators have already drawn her ie. Danny Roberts of Igor & Andre. I just really wanted to do something different. My first thought was to turn Jane into a shoe. After several attempts (as my classmates will attest) the shoe idea was just not coming together. Alas it was put to rest. I decided instead to explore the concept of Jane as a mermaid with her own sea of (fish) shoes. She has such a fresh, ethereal quality to her that lent itself perfectly to an underwater mermaid theme.

Nearly two months of preparation, ten color roughs, and one nervously painted final later, I'm relieved to say it's finished. More than anything I hope it stands as a token of my deepest gratitude to Jane. 5,200 people have viewed my entry to date and there is no telling the opportunities that can come from said exposure. I think it takes someone of amazing character to offer their readers a platform such as this. Jane, if you're reading, thank-you again for giving your readers such a wonderful opportunity to showcase their talents. I just really hope you like it. Enjoy!!

P.S. Just heard from her and she was thrilled!! Yay so happy to hear :)

All In The Frame

Redesigning Vogue

Illustrated Cover Above

Fall Shoes Pencil Rough

Spring Sandals Pencil Rough

Vogue Cover 1946

Our absolute, grand finale, last project ever ever ever in Adobe Illustrator was to redesign American Vogue's November issue. Obviously we had great big shoes to fill with this one. We were asked to reference as many former covers as possible in order to understand the evolution of the magazine. Naturally, I fell in love with the old illustrated covers from the 40's, 50's, and 60's. I took the above cover from 1946 as my inspiration point of departure. It coincided perfectly with Vogue's article on Giuseppe Zanotti's repurposed flat for Spring.

I really admired how this particular cover used one single accessory, yet achieved so much dynamism in the illustration. If the focus is strong in a design, the end result reflects that, so I wanted to be very specific about my cover's direction. In order to stay true to the November issue's text, every shoe I illustrated was from Zanotti's Fall 2010 collection. Even though the article referenced the Spring collection, I illustrated Fall given the season. Thank goodness for all these flats. After injuring my ankle in tennis yesterday, I won't be wearing heels for a long while. Enjoy!!

Barely There

Last Wednesday while viewing my blog, my dear friend and classmate Kayla said to me, "Meagan stop photoshopping the **** out of your illustrations, I want to see them raw." I genuinely honor and respect my peers' opinions. But I had to explain, in my defense, that in order to eliminate the grey smog color of the paper, so many of the delicate shadows in wash are lost. Thus I have to replace them in photoshop with the brush tool.

I happen to despise when my works aren't completely white in the background, but I also dislike losing so many of the delicate subtleties that make a piece so special. Finding a balance between the two is much harder than you think. When you're using wet media on sketch paper there is always a degree of warping. So today, for one time only, here are 6 raw and unedited brush and ink illustrations from Bil Donovan's class. Enjoy!!

P.S. Love you Kayla!! Thanks for your comical, yet incredible, input as always.