Create a stylish
fashion illustration

The art of fashion illustration is to give the viewer an insight into what is in vogue. Taking cuttings and writings from magazines and Websites is a good way to keep you up to date with what’s appearing on the catwalks.
The aim of this tutorial is to encapsulate all elements of fashion into contemporary illustration. Most of Patrick Morgan’s work uses a combination of traditional drawing techniques and computer rendering – the computer enables him to perform updates easily and also speeds up the whole production process. Fashions are always changing, and using a computer enables illustrators to respond to the brief fast and efficiently.

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My other side to me is the freelance side. I've been working for large software corporations, large printing companies, also drinks. You've got large firms regarding, fruit and international retail.

Inspiration & Research

Currently I'm designing and helping create new posters for Marangoni. …The fashion, ah, illustrations I've done for the posters are gonna be used for Milan and London
…When I receive a commission, which in my industry is a job, um, first of all I would go out, get my inspiration from people, the streets, maybe take some photographs, do a few sketches on the street, look at fashion magazines to get inspirations, what's happening now is…so dependent on the commission. If the commission wants people in it I'll begin looking at people …if they want product I'll look at product.

Then I'll go and do lots of research whether it's for the Net, whether it's for books or magazines and start building up much like a…collage of material of sketches of people …anything that I find will collate with my work.

Creation

Once I scan my drawings in I make sure that my…scans are a hundred percent clear, there's no pixilation.

I clean my images up in Photoshop—I don't use it like, Adobe illustrators would use it, using effects and different things like that is I use it quite like platforms of printmaking. So you'll have the layering, the similar layering that you would use as a screen printer. So I use it as a traditional way of printmaking.

Printing

Once I have my images finished and I'm happy I send initially a note to my client. I lean on the client. If the client's happy with the initial composition and the idea and the color palette then we'll move on towards printing.

The great thing about HP is the ease of use factor. A lot of designers are lazy people and (with a smile on his face)—sorry to say that but it's the truth—they wanta have ease of use and ease of use is turn it on, plug it into your machine and be able to calibrate and work with it simple. And it's almost a step-by-step process.

They understand that the knowledge designer, "Okay, they just want to design. They want the printer to print."

…Using the Designjet Z2100, really showed me how you can get true to your color, true to print, to an image that hasn't got many dots, and that's really important if you're gonna use traditional methods. It has to create a piece of artwork that is true to you that isn't gonna have flaws.

The HP Z2100 printer meets a lot spectrum of Pantone colors which for me is a…is a great thing in the corporate industry. Pantones for designers, for illustrators, for anyone working in …the professional market it's a…it's a big thing that we need to get right.

No matter which package I'm using it will print consistently and it's a big issue is for "I don't want this problem is: Did you do it in Illustrator?" Well, I have to dictate or image how this person's gonna do it. I don't want that problem. And the great thing is that this new printer is basically, "Yes, Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign. It works the same all across the board."

Presenting & selling ideas

Now I've finished my prints and I'm happy and I'm off to see the client me and the client will sit down and

For me HP has really helped me and it's made me feel that I'm satisfied, I'm getting a hundred percent and I feel I can give the client a hundred percent and then we can work together as a team.

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Martin Dawber showcases over 30 of the most accomplished and experimental illustrators from around the world. Fashion illustrators from America, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, France, Sweden and the UK reveal how to harness the many different media to convey fashion – but just as importantly mood and street style – combining line drawing, crayon, collage, digital graphics and even embroidery. Each stunning visual is complemented by information from the artists themselves on how they approach their work, their inspiration and their techniques. This inside information is a valuable resource for all fashion illustrators, particularly students.

All illustrators need to feed their imagination and this indispensable guide provides a feast of the world's most adventurous fashion illustrations today.

About the Author
Martin Dawber is the Principal Lecturer in Fashion at the Liverpool John Moores University where he has taught for the last 25 years. He is also a practising designer and has had his work exhibited in France and Finland. He has a Masters Degree from the Royal College of Art, specializing in Fashion Design. Martin Dawber lives in Liverpool.

About the Author
Martin Dawber is the Principal Lecturer in Fashion at the Liverpool John Moores University where he has taught for the last 25 years. He is also a practising designer and has had his work exhibited in France and Finland. He has a Masters Degree from the Royal College of Art, specializing in Fashion Design. Martin Dawber lives in Liverpool.

Publisher Batsford
Publication Date 30 August 2005
ISBN 0713489618
Size (h x w) 280x228mm
Binding Paperback
Pages 160

Illustration Now!
Ed. Julius Wiedemann

While plying its trade in erotica, Taschen discovered the art of satisfying its punters by giving them what they want: big, flashy, straightforward books, in three languages, all at a reasonable price. They have been so successful that the books as objects – their size, their high quality production values, their very appearance on the shelves – are as identifiably part of the ‘Taschen Brand’ as the content between the covers. Illustration Now! maintains this quality brand with aplomb. Most books might struggle to include 100 illustrators, but Taschen effortlessly delivers 150, alphabetically, over 544 image-heavy pages. Combined with introductions by Brad Holland and Steven Heller, this makes for an essential directory for students and art directors alike. Where this book scores top marks is in its lack of pretension. It doesn’t promise an exhibition in a book experience; it simply shows what is happening in illustration now – a brief that is succinctly promised by the book’s title. Moreover, all accompanying text is kept to a minimum, allowing the illustrations to speak for themselves.

Among the many pleasures offered by the book, I was delighted with the impressive and innovative illustration coming out of Spain at the moment. Especially noteworthy are the witty and clever portraits by Hanoch Piven, the fabric and embroidery illustrations by Paula Sanz Caballero, and the elongated figures by Fernando Figowy. It was also heartening to see the inclusion of artists such as Holland, Jordin Isip, and Mirko Ilic (all of whom were featured in the illustration special in Eye no. 35 vol. 9). Any list, however large, is as notable for its exclusions as it is for its inclusions. I was disappointed not to see the work of Tom Gauld, or Aude Van Ryn. However, I am sure, in the spirit of Taschen, that there will be space for them in the future bigger, flashier, revised edition.

Project 'two faced' - in conjunction with idN world.
"Portaits of some of the most talented and influential creatives of the last decade."

Selected artists and designers were paired off and given the task of creating a portrait of the person/collective they had been teamed up with, using their own style for which they have become renowned. They could be abstract or photo realistic, hand drawn or digitally composed, they could even have something manufactured, like a toy or sculpture.
Everyones final pieces will be compiled into a book (to be published by idN) and there will be several exhibitions organised around the world to run in conjunction with its launch, showcasing selected work. The book will have an introduction by adrian shaughnessy. wearitwithpride.com/twofaced