Illustration & Style Icon...must be Verhoeven

For as long as I can remember I have so very admired and gushed quite a fair bit at the work of British Illustrator Julie Verhoeven. Her drawings are captivating flamboyant, vivacious and provocative. Her explosive use of colour depicts her invented sinister-esque characters well bringing them to life, giving them personality and an identity within the fashion world.

Not only is she a fab illustrator, she is an incredibly eccentric snappy dresser too. Rarely seen without clashing bold prints, patterns and spots in sight, Verhoeven's wardrobe epitomises her character ideals and their mischievous yet scantily clad acid individuality.

Throughout my life as both a student and now graduate, I find myself constantly referencing her work for inspiration, technique and color theory. She is indefinitely on my list of icons, not only for her tremendous artistic contribution to the fashion and arts world...pushing boundaries for print and illustration to be featured more in fashion through mutual collaboration. But also for her fabulous style, living inspiration and artistic genius. Amazing lady!!!

XXX

All illustrative images courtesy of Julie Verhoeven & Portrait photographs courtesy of Anothermag and Showstudio.

Prints & character designs

Here are a series of pages that i did in my A5 moleskine watercolour sketchbook. Handrawn print designs with a character and outfit to match. I hope to work with this idea a little more maybe create more large scale work. Frida Kahlo's portrait inspired my characters. Drawings done in mixed media.

A Beautiful Lonely heart with wild flowers ♥

This is a drawing i did a few days ago. I was inspired by a fashion photograph of a model in Elle magazine. In the early stages of the drawing, the figure looked uninteresting and of lonely stature so i decided to go to town with my inks!!! & painted some gold flowers which now surround the girl like a wild mythical garden. I then gave her some facepaint, jazzed her attire up and painted a red runny heart on the back of her jacket. Drawing done in watercolours, oil pastels & ink.

Sonia Delaunay

Lovely inspiring patterns and colour work by Sonia Delaunay.

David Weidman

FANTASTIC work by David Weidman who I have recently discovered, an animator/printmaker who focuses on many a whimsical setting. His work features typical colour combinations of the 60's/70's which i love!!!! Along with lively, funny and beautiful little characters and animals. So inspiring!!!! Definitely a legend!!! :D

Look at more of his work HERE

Embroidery degree show June 09

Ive been meaning to put up these photos for months!!! Here are photos of my degree show work. My work was a collection of silk dresses that i acid dyed, printed and embellished. My inspiration was female portraiture ranging from the late 19th century to the mid twentieth century. The dresses were eventually made up and i suspended them in my space. I was so happy about the fact that I'd challenged myself and my existing skills as an artist/designer. I can see myself in the future working in fashion and also as a freelance illustrator.

Embroidery postcard

These are some images of my work that i was selecting for my Embroidery degree show postcard in June. The images are from my second year and also from the last few months of my third year. In the end I chose the red mono-printed lady with the small bird on her shoulder. I thought that this image would represent my working style and current third year work well.