INDY TAYLOR // DE0002

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5 Experimental Outfit Drawings

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5 Experimental Drawings

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5 Experimental Drawings (Before Colour)

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Experimental Lineup Illustrations

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Fashion Illustration: Jeremy Combot

Jeremy Combot is a Parisian illustrator whose work has interested me for a while now. He finds inspiration for his illustrations in almost everything, as he explains,

“My illustrations all have 'Pop Culture' for guideline. I am inspired by very eclectic references: sometimes a chic and cool Saint-Germain-des-Prés Icon, or a Shoreditch neo-punk, or even a Geisha doll-like. It is limitless.”

It is this culmination of inspirational sources that fuse together to form the ultimately unique sense of illustration style that Combot’s work demonstrates. For me, finding inspiration in everything is key to developing a well-informed body of work, which perhaps explains why I like his illustrations so much.

You can find Jeremy’s work on Cargo Collective, here: http://cargocollective.com/jeremycombotillustration as well as on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremycombot_illustration/?hl=en

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Fashion Illustration: Erin Armstrong

While her work is not explicitly based around fashion, Erin Armstrong’s art has intrigued me due to its warped, colourful shapes and abstract facial depictions.

Some elements of Erin Armstrong’s art could be moved forward and used to inspire fashion drawings, such as the use of print within her paintings or the way in which she paints human skin, with unusual colours and shapely brushstrokes.

You can see Erin Armstrong’s work here: http://www.erinarmstrongart.com/

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Fashion Illustration: JiiaKuann (Kuan Jia)

Kuan Jia’s brightly coloured illustrations feature unique models, with long necks and waspy figures, wearing popular fashion pieces from designers such as Miu Miu and Nike.

For me, his work is always interesting as there’s rarely a blank space - you always have something to look at and can pick out new details even after looking for a while.

JiiaKuann’s work can be found on Tumblr and Instagram: http://jiiakuann.tumblr.com/ and http://www.instagram.com/jiiakuann/ 

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Fashion Illustration: Conrad Roset

Conrad Roset is a Spanish illustrator whose work features a range of subjects, from fashion muses and watercolour animals to the ordinary people he sketches in his Moleskins.

I like the variety of work within his portfolio, as it shows a number of his different drawing styles from scribbly and wobbly sketches done on the spot, to delicately painted women in flowing garments.

Conrad’s work can be found on his website: http://www.conradroset.com/

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Fashion Illustration: Issa Grimm

Another illustrator whose work I have liked throughout the years is Issa Grimm, a NY-based illustrator with a background in design, who began selling her drawings aged just 12.

Her pieces have a gothic, edgy feel to them as the croquis’ are drawn with pointy features and elf-like faces. Garments are always drawn with a lot of textural detail which is not overwhelmed with colour. A lot of Issa’s recent work has focused on creating magic and eerie illustrations, which I think fits her drawing style quite well. 

Issa Grimm’s work can be found on her website: http://www.issagrimm.com/

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Fashion Illustration: Rob Phillips

While looking for interesting new ways to communicate my final line up, I came across a variety of different illustration techniques by various artists and designers.

I have always had boards on Pinterest, etc. specifically for illustration purposes, and followed a number of illustrators on social media, so some of these have been my favourites for a while, though I think it will be interesting to try and emulate some of their drawing styles for the final part of my work.

Here are some images I took of Rob Phillips’ fashion illustrations I spotted drawn on an art supplies’ shop window, around the time of London Fashion Week.

Images are my own.

Phillips’ work is characterised by bright pops of colour and spindly figures with exaggerated features, while his garment drawings leave something to the imagination with just hints of colour but always a strong visual representation of silhouette, enticing proportions and hints of expressive detail.

Rob Phillips’ work can be found on his website: http://www.robphillipswork.com/

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Mock-Up Outfit Simulation

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Image that tells a narrative...

I feel this image tells a narrative for a number of reasons. The image immediately reminded me of my concept for this collection, ‘Brave New World,’ which underpins certain elements inspired by society and the world as it is today.

The image is a 1967 piece by Walter Pichler, depicting a ‘portable living room’. The graininess of the image brings a nostalgic feel, and the irony in this is that the headset was actually a sculptural prototype of imagined tech that was never created in the 60s. Despite its vintage-look, Pichler’s photograph evokes thoughts concerning what our future will look like and the tech we could potentially be using one day.

Socially, the photograph could be quite concerning to viewers. It depicts a world in which we are disconnected from and out of touch with those around us through the use of a progressive invention, of which many were being created in the 1960s. As social beings, the image raises important questions about humanity. In reality, we are not far from what this image shows today, albeit via a different piece of equipment - the smartphone. Always plugged in and therefore detached from nature, the image gives an insightful glimpse into one artist’s depiction of the future.

For me, this is a prime example of how something even from the past can elicit thoughts and emotions that are relevant even today and in coming years, and the story tells an important narrative that relates to our current state of affairs.

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Exhibition 3: ‘Vanishing Point’ by Eske Kath

Just recently on display at Charlotte Fogh Gallery, visiting the Vanishing Point exhibition by Eske Kath involved a series of his newer landscape works, focusing on the idea of the ‘vanishing point,’ as the human interaction with landscapes and artwork questions how man comes into the image of a natural backdrop or setting.

Thoughts: Colours and silhouettes used in Kath’s landscape art, featuring volcanic eruptions surrounded by wavy smoke shapes and setting suns, turn traditional landscape art into graphic works of abstraction.

Often set in double or a trio of panels with varying shades of colour, each piece has more than one side to the artist’s work; making it more visually interesting than just a simple painting.

The forms within Kath’s recent work remind me of , as if they could have been drawn up on Adobe Illustrator. The precision and amount of attention that must go into forming these perfectly geometric shapes is astonishing.

Recent issues, possibly to do with sustainability on Earth, have made Kath’s recent work focus most on the lack of human representation within his paintings. Many pieces drift off into the horizon and a bright orange sun behind the mountains, hence the aptly named exhibition, Vanishing Point - as the landscape draws the viewer to wonder what is beyond the distance of the artist’s wonderful worlds.

Images: https://kunsten.nu/artguide/calendar/eske-kath-vanishing-point/, 

See more of Kath’s work at http://www.eskekath.dk/

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Exhibition 2: Tue Greenfort Eats Den Frie

Currently on display at the Den Frie, Tue Greenfort’s environmentalist art gives a critical look at how human activity negatively impacts upon the state of natural world; such as the ocean, over-industrialised farmlands and living organisms as a whole.

Thoughts: I like that by giving these installations a human audience, Greenfort yet again gives a narrative on how humans are taking over and exploiting elements of the natural world. To see the pieces such as green farmland and jellyfish-like sculptures in an indoor form brought further stability to this idea; they were not outdoors and in their natural environment as nature intended them to be. The installations showed the beauty of nature, with the jellyfish’s brightly coloured exteriors and ever-intriguing sculptural, flowing shapes, yet we continue to ruin all that we touch.

Being under the harsh gallery lighting and with an audience of those who disrespect it the most, these natural forms in the gallery were being exploited just as much as we exploit the nature that humans ourselves have destroyed.

While Earth is our home and where we must live and draw resources from, Greenfort’s work made me think of how we must respect it more, particularly given the current issue facing sustainability of the earth and its rapidly dilapidating finite resources.

Images: http://denfrie.dk/en/exhibition/tue-greenfort/

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Exhibition 1: ‘Soleil Levant’ by Ai Weiwei and ‘Altid Mange Problemer’ by John Kørner

AI WEIWEI: SOLEIL LEVANT

Next to Kunsthal Charlottenborg and along the Nyhavn harbour, there’s currently an art installation by Ai WeiWei. Installed on the UN's International Refugee Day, Soleil Levant consists of over 3,500 life jackets worn by refugees arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos, and draws attention to the current humanitarian situation throughout the world.

Thoughts: My reaction to this piece was quite emotional, as the thought that these life jackets were actually worn by refugees really brings home the idea of human suffering. Art that reflects the current state of the world is important to me, as it always has a deep underlying message that means a lot to the viewer and raises awareness of contemporary issues. Having the installation so close to a popular tourist attraction within Copenhagen, the Nyhavn harbour, means exposure to the piece is increased - which is imperative in making us realise the severity of the current refugee crisis and really makes you think.

Image: my own (Soleil Levant by Ai Weiwei)

JOHN KØRNER: ALTID MANGE PROBLEMER (Always Many Problems)

A retrospective on the works of John Kørner is also showing at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, a homage to an artist that focuses on societal issues as an attempt to increase social engagement with art.

Thoughts: Featuring an abstract carpet tsunami installation and some of Kørner’s most important paintings, I liked that the exhibition gives a thought-provoking insight into the emotions, wellbeing and collective mindset of the modern-day human.

A brightly-coloured yellow wall repeats the words ‘dead Danish, Afghanistan and problems,’ brought together the place of the viewer, as well as leading them to think about the Middle Eastern situation and how it impacts upon people.

The carpet tsunami was named ‘Tsunami with a Dancefloor,’ bringing to the forefront of my mind how many crises are overlooked by people as they focus on more trivial things and problems - many of us are not first-handedly involved, and therefore lack empathy in some cases.

Visiting this exhibition brought a new insight into societal problems that the world is currently undergoing, and was a good way to look at the ways in which artists perceive them and respond to them in a way that provides an audience with something both aesthetically-pleasing yet also disturbing at the same time.

Other images: from http://kunsthalcharlottenborg.dk/da/forside/

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Prevalent Styles of Photography: STILL LIFE

Still life photography (of inanimate subject matter) has been given a new lease of life as creative direction and photography merge to bring a new wave of colourful, clever concepts to the style.

Still life is seen a lot today in product promotion, fashion and styling, as a way to show off products to consumers in an enticing way.

Image: Sara Cwynar

Image: Maurice Schelten for Liberation Magazine

Image: Unknown

Image: Lena C. Emery

What I like about modern still life:

Modern still life has evolved to evoke a more whimsical feel and thought-provoking ideas. This is hard to achieve, as capturing inanimate objects means humans are not part of the subject matter and that emotion therefore cannot be easily conveyed to the audience or consumer.

Emotion is therefore suggested through the use of colour, whether they are bright and bold or more muted and dreary, as well as through the objects portrayed themselves, the way they are positioned and the use of light and dark.

Shadows are important in still life, and alongside other photographic strategies such as reflections, layout and the addition of often seemingly unrelated objects to the main product being featured, a deeper narrative is told within just one image of ordinary, everyday objects, which is something I think is quite clever.

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Prevalent Styles of Photography: FILM / ANALOGUE

There has recently been a resurgence in the use of film cameras, as they better capture that nostalgic feel, eccentricity and unpredictability that digital cameras are often too clear and controlled for.

Some of my favourite use of film photography comes from Petra Collins, an artist that uses unexpected ways to capture the youth of today.

Images: Petra Collins

What I like about the work:

The colours in Petra’s photography are dreamy and muted, which gives a nostalgic feel via the use of film camera. The images are never too bright, but are often dark and without too much contrast, which only adds to the vintage feel.

Humans aren’t always the main focus of the images - they are often partially included, as objects sometimes play a bigger role and tell a deeper story. Fashion plays a big part in many of her images, however outfits are worn in unique ways that challenge modern styling ideals, and are often vintage and sustainably-sourced from secondhand shops.

The narrative behind many of Petra’s images focuses on girlishness and youth, which is a constant theme that ties all of her work together and gives it its distinctive style.