Team Hepburn

I want to try start posting every few day about what I have done throughout the week or weekend that has been towards my course or just being creative.
So even though it's now early hours Monday morning, this weekend I haven't really done anything major creative but I did watch 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' and I have to say I absolutely love Audrey Hepburn's face as strange as that may sound, so I had to collect some of my favorite photographs of her and sketch a portrait into my college book. I would of liked to have spent more time on sketching her but I got impatient and ended up rushing it towards the end which is never good but over all I was quite pleased with how it turned out.

Sketch book with the images and a quick illustration
I done trying to represent her fashion style.

Sketched portrait of Audrey Hepburn.

In the end I thought just sketching wasn't really enough so I ended up playing around with the original on Photoshop changing the lighting, contrast and adding filters to see what different styles I could create with the same image.

First and Late British Vogue review: December 2012 Vogue goes pop!

Fashion editor: Lucinda Chambers
Photographer: Mario Testino

So this is going to be my first ever vogue review which is a little late since I have only just started the blog but lets go ahead and give it a shot.

First of all lets start with one of the main features if not the main feature, The front cover used to eye catch viewers and say ''Hey, Buy me!''
This months cover girl features Natalia Vodianova a Russian model who recently has came in 3rd on the Forbes top earning model list. Natalia who enrolled into a modeling academy at the age of 15 has achieved great success in runway, editorial and advertising modeling. This is not the first Natalia has been seen as a Vogue cover, September 2004 Natalia was presented on cover for her first time along side eight other models with quote ''Models of the Moment'' photographed by Steven Meisel and has also been seen seven times in British Vogue.
Natalia is shown center cover wearing matching Valentino skirt and jacket that add up to £2880. The colourful outfit relates well to this months theme of  ''Pop'' it has a fun young look to it and I like the the bright colours used on the soft pastel pink fabric base. The main thing that stands out to me as something I would change on the cover is the overpowering word ''Pop'' used with it's informal type and extreme use of colour, Although I understand it is used to relate to pop in being colourful and fun but I get the feeling it gives a cheap and childish view on the cover.
The cover overall does the job of connecting type to imagery and expressing the months theme but seems to have been a bit safe for vogue which is a bit of a let down since the December issue is usually one of my most enjoyed covers.

On reading the editor's letter with quote ''Culture Club'' It is explained that the theme of pop this month relating to popculture, pop music has been seen on runway for upcoming spring season and that with this issue we are ''Looking at your future, or at least next spring's wardrobe'' so look forward and prepare to seeing the trippy colourful pattern displays of the upcoming season.

The first major article ''The big bang, The gemesis of pop'' By Judith Watt, is packed full with information and imagery of ''Pop'' from the very first time the words ''Pop art'' was spoke in 1959 by artist Lawrence Alloway to describe mass culture, to how designers are ongoing using the theme ''Pop''. The article refers to a lot of different aspects and people from the ''Pop'' world such as artists, musicians, painters, designers, graphic designer, fashion designers, advertisement, film and TV pretty much anything you can think of can hold some reference to the ''Pop'' theme. What I enjoyed most about the article was the imagery used along side such as art work from Lichtenstein, 60s photograph of Twiggy and Vogue image of Mick Jagger from January 1965. Overall it was an interesting read and wasn't dragged on for too long.

Scanned Image
Stylist: Kim Howells
Photographer: Thomas Cooksey

Scanned Image
Fashion editor: Lucinda Chambers
Photographer: Mario Testino

Take the heat
''Take the heat''  features both male and female jackets, jeans, scarfs, shirts, skinny trousers, turtle necks, long sleeve Ts all at a not too expensive price all from Uniqlo's.
What I like most about this spread is the variety of male and female clothing showing both alongside each other. I have to say that the scarfs used are gorgeous with their nicely designed prints and defiantly my favorite aspect of the collection. Other than that the colours used fit in well and with the exception of the odd shirt and bright duffel coat nothing much more grabs my attention but overall the are some nice photography used and worth a look.









Colourful past
At first glance I wasn't sure how I felt about this spread but looking over it I decided I love it! To sum it up expect colour, colour and more colour, it's is very camp, fun and in your face and features the cover girl Natalia Vodianova. The are some amazing prints to view here and defiantly fits in with the ''Pop'' theme. Even the background is colourful and fits nicely alongside those prints, Natalia's dynamic poses explain the young and fun style too the shoot and creates some very nice photography to view.

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Fashion editor: Francesca Burns
Photographer: Patrick Demarchelier

The fab five
Probably the biggest money maker for this months issue due to the mass amount of fan girls (Sometimes fan boys like myself) for this spreads feature One Direction who are shot wearing Burberry suits and Ralphy Lauren baseball jackets alongside model Edie Campbell. Although the spread is about the group and shows some background information about each of the boys, it seems the spotlight is mostly on Harry Styles who the writer clearly features in more detail and he even has a full page photograph unlike the other boys. I liked the use of the black and white frames for the photography but overall I found the article alongside it not much of interest, it basically just stated information that we all knew and said nothing about their fashion style. It came across more as just some page fillers.

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Photographer: Tim Walker

Like dream's do
This unusual spread shot by Tim Walker, with its trippy colourful style, features a number of designers such as Chanel, Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton. The shoot is set in an English garden capturing a sort of unusual circus feeling to the frames. The are some nice prints to be looked at and an interesting close up shot of the models face that seems to portray the movement of light.

Scanned Image
Fashion editor: Maya Zepinie
Photographe: Scott Trindle

 Elevating Rita
Before I started to read this article I thought to myself ''I can't imagine much that will be said that's going to be interesting'' but turns out I was wrong. In fact this may of been my most favorite article in the issue, I already had a like for Rita Ora but after reading this I can say that it had defiantly increased. The article sets a background to Rita's life explaining how she was scouted by Jay-Z at the age of 18 and an insight to her personal fashion taste inspired by her heroes: Gwen Stefani, Alexander McQueen, Marilyn Monroe and Debbie Harry. Rita also answers that she is interested in eventually starting her own fashion line after releasing a satisfactory amount of albums which is defiantly something I look forward to see from her in the future! The article is quite comical and upbeat showing a more softer side to Rita and along side the Photo shoot where she playfully posses in a young and elegant way, it brings it all together nicely making it an overall joyful article to read.




Overall this Issue has been a joy to read, changing my unsure opinion of the ''Pop'' theme to something I'm quite looking forward to and although it may not be as exciting as previous December issues it defiantly had some great articles and shoots to look at. The is a lot more articles that I would like to have talked about as well as going into more detail in the ones I have previously stated  but due to newly starting the blog mid month I've been rushed for time on doing a full picky review that would be able to be published in time to be of interest before next months issue lands on my door step. Hopefully the will be an improvement on detail with the January issue as well as me designing some Illustrations to go along side it that might make the review a bit more interesting.

Inks on acetate

I decided to play around with some inks but instead of jumping straight into it I wanted to get a feel for how they worked, so I took some Acetate paper and placed it on top of a photograph cutout from Vogue. I dipped the fountain tip into some red ink and started making marks along side the lines of main detail until building up the image. Luckily the inks dried on the Acetate without smudging!
I like the style created with this method, it's sketchy and quick to do but ends with a nice Illustration, you could even try putting the finished Acetate Illustration over some coloured card contrasting against the coloured ink to create another effect. 

Acetate placed on top of different style of card.

From old to whatever the future holds

Following from my introduction I wanted to show some examples of my past work so I can track improvement from here on and also to show a little more about who I currently am as a Design student.

Photography
From the day I was born Photography had always been in my life, my earliest memories of discovering what photography is was me being shooed away from my Grandfathers development room in fear of me messing up something. At first I didn't have a clue what all the bits and bobs in that room was about but as I grew from a clumsy toddler my Grandfather trusted me enough to watch as he would develop the film he had currently captured.
What I most enjoy with Photography is the memories it carries with it, not only is it a beautiful way of capturing a moment it's also something personal to the person who captured it.

Photo taken on my Ipod of the wheel outside the Echo Arena
in Liverpool and edited using  light sliders and contrast on Photoshop.

Photo taken using cannon camera of flowers from garden and then
edited on photoshop using a black and white filter and then
history brush around areas I wanted to restore colour to.

Sketching
Sketching is probably the most used mothered of recording in design so it's something I use a lot. I've always sketched when I was young but it's not until really the last few years that I've noticed a lot of improvement. Due to it being a big part in the Illustration world I want to be involved in, I try my best to do a sketch a day to continue with developing the method.   

Sketch of an eagle. 

Sketch of Japanese Geisha girl.

Sketch Created by cutting out section of photography
and sketching in the missing image. 

Watercolours

The most recent method I have begun to try, the reason why I decided to buy myself a watercolour set and start picking up the techniques used is because I noticed that it's a big feature used within Fashion Illustration and although at the minute it's quite difficult to get my head round I enjoy the bright colours and elegant finish they create and hope to improve the skill to a style similar as some of my favorite Fashion Illustrators.

Watercolour Illustration of a Jimmy Choo shoe and using
glitter glue to add shine.

Watercolour illustration inspired by cutout.

Markers

Markers also play a big part in Fashion Illustration and I have had a bit more practice with them than the watercolours. I enjoy using the markers, you can create some nice depth effects with them by overlapping and I currently have been using Promarkers.

H&M Illustration using promarkers. 

Digital
Not only do I use Photoshop for editing pictures I also use it for design and sketching with my graphic tablet. I really like using this method because mistakes made can be undone and you can also create a neat finish and more realistic look to design work. 

Image created using graphic tablet
to create outline and image of
stained glass window for print.

Introduction: Something New

A little about myself.
I am currently a college student at Liverpool Community College studying Graphic Design, I am about half way through my second year and undertaking my UCAS  application process to apply for higher education, if things go well I am hopping to get onto a Fashion Illustration or Fashion Graphics course at uni.

Fashion has always been a big part in my life, from when I was young I would watch my mother (who has the biggest variety of creative skills I have ever seen in another person) go through the process of pattern cutting and construction of a garment, I was always inspired by the amazing looking fabrics that would appear at my house and become created into a garment completely unique in itself. From viewing my mother creating endless amount of different styled garments for her ever eager friends, it taught me that not every one has the same taste in style, even within a close group of friends.
Unlike my mother who enjoys pattern cutting and sewing I have a more interest into the Illustration, Photography and Advertisement side to Fashion, but mostly the Illustration. The first time I found myself showing an interest in Fashion Illustration was while I was doing some research on artist when I stumbled upon a women named Nadia Flower. Her unique style, soft water colors and unusual designs amazed and ever since she has been my favorite Fashion Illustrator. Leading from Nadia I found verious other Illustrators that inspired me such as Laura Laine who uses photography with her Illustrations and the well know David Downton who has a more free and expressive style with using watercolors and inks.

Not only do I enjoy traditional art I also enjoy digital and currently experiment using Photoshop and a Graphic tablet. Unlike traditional I feel like digital gives a more realistic and sharp style which used right can create nice effects.

What I'm hopping for from creating this blog.
The reason for me creating this blog was purely to try a new way of storing my design work and personal opinions, to push my design work into more development and most of all to show in any upcoming uni interviews.
I'm hopping to include stuff such as, monthly reviews of Vogue since I'm subscribed and can state my opinions on here, development through my design work creating a sort of time line I can look back on, book reviews since I love to read and really just anything that may come in my life that would be interesting to talk about.