My Replica attempt on David Downton's work using pencil and water color painting

My interpretation of Image 1 and 2

 pencil outline as most illustrators would agree is a starting point here I attempt to dissect David Downton’s  technique starting with b pencil outline because it is quite visible on white paper compared to the H range .

Image 1:

  -   The lips on this image are one of the distinct features so using a pencil I drew the outline and lightly shaded it then proceeded to replicating a water color hand painting of it I must admit I really enjoyed doing tha

  

My chosen (original) images of David downton

David Downton Images

I have chosen two images from David Downton's original illustrations 

copyright at:  http://www.daviddownton.com/stop-press.html accessed:10/10/2011.

    

                                Image 1;  

                            Image 2;

copy right at:  http://www.daviddownton.com/stop-press.html accessed:10/10/2011.

  My next step was to attempt to break down his illustration technique, and replicate them to build on my signature style of fashion illustration. I chose these because of his clean, classical, delicate brush strokes and use light to dark palettes sometimes complete extremes in his colour choice but works effectively producing light, fragile yet effortlessly vivid images.

Digital Replica and interpretation of Svetlana Makarova's image.

                                      

 Digital Svetlana Makarova

Scanned as jpeg placed into Adobe illustrator CS3, my attempt to replicate Svetlana’s image using the same software she used

1: Collected base colors to work with these included:

      - Gold for the crown and flesh tones for skin

      - Magenta for the dress 

      - Dark Grey for leggings

      - Pink for the lips

2: Using a working tablet I traced the image using a mixture of the pencil tool and pen tool in illustrator adjusted nodes to fit the shapes.

3: started to color the dark areas using adjustment with continuous use of the eye dropper to lift out different shades I used opacities of 30% to 100% sometimes one over the other to give transitions and strength when shading from light to dark an amazing ways of adding the shadow detail never the less the time constraint in the fashion industry due to building up of layers and different opacities would impact on the intensive use of this vector method.

- Crown used light yellow 60% opacity and 50% for the dark gold.

- Leggings from dark to light 40%opacities on dark grey used linear gradient on the knee cap used cyan to grey shades

- Flesh tones used a radical gradient of 44% on the cheekbones to create blush effect.

- Stars detail on the dress i used 70% opacity of light pink then reproduced them to layer and create a bright effect from the star as if it is shining this was the quickest method of duplicating them and dragging them to the area where they were to be placed.

- Lastly the dress a strange fuchsia pink I worked between light and dark starting with dark colors and finishing with light colors in order to easily see the contrast and shadows

 Overall a very effective detail oriented way of illustrating but very time consuming

  

 

Svetlana Makarova's Profile Biography and work method

Svetlana Makarova was born in Ukraine, in Lugansk on August 09, 1981. Now lives and works in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine.

She doesn’t have any special education in arts, but qualified in specialized diplomas as an:

    - Applied mathematician,

    - Teacher of English language and

    - Literature, and manager-economist.

- She was fond of drawing since her very early childhood, but decided to make fashion illustration her career only in March 2006, after quitting her job as a manager.

- She began to study Corel DRAW and drawing some portfolios at the same time. It took her 2 months before she found her first permanent job at a Web Design Studio, which she describes as “that was the beginning”.

 - She worked as a web designer, created illustrations and eventually - began to receive orders on my illustrations. After having worked at 3 different design studios she decided that she was ready to be involved only in illustration drawing and began freelancing.

 - During her childhood she always dreamt of becoming a fashion designer one day. So when she started drawing she drew what she could do best at that time and which were girls in fashionable clothes. And eventually those became her personal style. 

- Fashion illustrators she admires and is inspired by

Svetlana’s favorite fashion illustrators include among others:

    - Gavin Reece – For his so extremely detailed, vivid and glamorous style

    - Arturo Elena – For his stylized sophisticated fashion

    - David Downton – For his clean style, classical fashion illustration style, with appreciation of how light and fragile his paintings are

   - She is also inspired by fashion designers, and takes the time to look through collections of every season, in search of inspiration.

She loves drawing texture and textiles, shading, highlights, folds; she also loves drawing bags, shoes and different accessories (earrings, necklaces). “The harder object for depiction is, the more exciting it is for me to draw it” she asserts.

Some of Svetlana Makarova's work

copy right at http://lanitta.com/

Copyright at: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/ accessed 13^th/10/11.

 Work methods, elimination of detail, and application of color

Svetlana is keen on details demonstrating purity and accuracy, a perfectionist at her craft.

As for coloring method 

She uses Adobe Illustrator at the moment, and exploits majority of its tools for instance;

                                  

    - For drawing shapes she uses Pen Tool for accurate lines,

    - For more freestyle she uses Pencil Tool,

    - For thin lines (like hair) she uses brushes.

    - Coloring layers’ modes (multiply, overlay, screen), transparencies, gradients, blends and sometimes meshes

-According to her a successful fashion illustration must demonstrate;

It’s mood, emotion it brings to people, With particular attention to details and colors.

When drawing for herself she might;

    - Start with a pencil sketch

    - Scan them to the computer

    - Then start vectoring in Adobe Illustrator

When working on a commissions she usually;

   - Sketches in Photoshop because it saves time, during correction and modification of an image.

   - She the proceeds to adding detail and color.

 Svetlana Makarova is my second chosen illustrator her images exude beauty, perfection, delicately demonstrating fashion characters with great attention to detail,shapes and proportions .

In an email communication between me and her to which I must say she was very helpful and prompt I acquired the following information.

David Downton's Profile and Biography and Work method!

http://www.daviddownton.com/stop-press.html accessed 24th/11/2011.

Illustration profiles

David Downton

Biography and profile

Copyright at : http://www.daviddownton.com/stop-press.html accessed 24th/11/2011.

David Downton : profile and  some of his images
All this information is copyright of David Downton and is strictly being used for academic purposes and referencing gathered from Titanic Quarter library Belfast Metropolitan College (masters in fashion illustration by David Downton and at; http://daviddownton.com/copyright at:  http://www.daviddownton.com/stop-press.html 

Profile;                                   

 

David downtown is one of the world’s leading illustrators/fashion artist celebrated, for his timeless drawings of Paris haute couture and his elegant portraits of the world’s most beautiful women.

-He was born in Kent in the south of England in 1959  

-He studied at Canterbury foundation year 1977 to 1978 and proceeded to do a

Ba(Hons) illustrator/graphics 1979-1981.in 1984

-David Downtown then moved to Brighton and began his illustration career for 12 years a period he describes in his own words as “wagging my tail when the phone rang”.

-He worked on a variety of projects ranging from:

   -Advertising

   -Packaging

   -Illustrating fiction,

   -Cook books

   -Occasionally fashion

-He was commissioned by the financial times in 1996 to draw the couture shows and since then David has become known principally as a fashion illustrator

-his reports for the show have been viewed internationally in:

     - USA,

     - China,  

    - Australia,

    - The Middle East as well as almost every leading broadsheet and supplement.

David has commercially worked for and with among others:

     - Tiffany & co

     - Bloomingdales

     - Barney’s, Harrods

     - Top shop

     - Channel

     - Dior

     - L’Oreal

     -Vogue

     - Harper’s Bazaar

     - V Magazine

     - V&A museum

     - Van Cleef

     - Arpels.

-In 1998 David began working on a portfolio of portraits from life of some of the world’s most beautiful; women who included:

     -Erin O’connor

     -Paloma Picasso

     -Catherine deneuve

     -Linda Evangelista

     -Carmen dell’oreice

     -Iman

     -Dita von teese.

-He further launched POURQUOI PAS the first ever fashion journal

-David is also a visiting professor at London College of fashion in April 2009 he received a honour doctorate from the academy of art university san Francisco.

In an interview with Tony Glenvile, a fashion journalist and historian creative director of London college of fashion (copyright; Masters of fashion illustration, http://www.daviddownton.com).

-David Spent 15 yrs as a free lance fashion illustrator

- His first job was cover for which computer magazine in the 1980’s

-He always drew as a child and wasn’t particularly interested in fashion but was always interested in works of great fashion illustrators Gruau Antonio and Eric,he always appreciated as artists.

-He was commissioned by a magazine to go and illustrate at Paris fashion week  to which he described as an unparallel universe  and agrees to its description as the kingdom of indulgence he found rather inspiring as an artist and illustrator  with the sheer theatrics of it and a vast to draw

-he describes his journey to fashion illustration as a process that happened very gradually and enjoying it too.

 In his own words, “Sometimes, because of my style of drawing I was asked to produce fashion images- but I think during that time I covered almost every subject matter”., From children's books to a sex manual. My first job was a cover for Which Computer magazine in the early 80's”.

Artists and illustrators David admires;

  -Gruau for his graphic genius,

  -Vertes for his humour,

  -Bouché for his lightness of touch

  -Eric for his draughtsmanship.

  -To him the best drawings are true collaborations. They normally take about two hours and usually I go to the sitters' house or a hotel suite.

- He drew Anna Piagggi between couture shows in Paris while they were taking the chairs away around them.

- Marisa Berenson was drawn on a boiling hot October day in New York on a roof terrace. "You have to be flexible", he says.

-He is planning a book and one of hi major issues is the masters of fashion illustration in which i researched available at Titanic Quarter library fashion and textiles department.

 Some of the david downtons original work  

copy right at:  http://www.daviddownton.com/stop-press.html

Work methods of elimination of detail.

David's amazing illustrations are known for their simplistic but effective flow his pallets range between dark and light mediums producing strong and effective images yet vulnerable he always kills off one eye in my own words weather to maintain an air of mystery to the sitter/model, yet very effective to me He brings out the best out of the individual without cluttering "clean cut fluid lines and fine detail strategically placed!

 “In order to leave something out, first you have to put it in, or at least understand how everything works”.

- He does dozens of drawings on to layout paper taking the best from each one as he goes.

- When the drawing looks right He start to eliminate or de-construct.

 "I keep working until it looks spontaneous, "asserts David.

David's methods of applying colour

Depends on the result he wants to achieve and what is most appropriate to the subject.

- He use watercolour or gouache for small scale pieces.

- For flat saturated colour He uses cut paper collage and then applies line using an acetate overlay.

- He also uses black Indian ink on acetate or paper for pure line drawing.

 According to David what makes a successful fashion illustration is

   - Fluidity

   - Mastery of the medium capturing a sense of the moment,

   - Layout and use of space and

   - Most important of all, strong drawing. “You can't be too good at drawing”.

David describes drawing on location.

- He doesn't draw during the catwalk shows anymore, instead he take photographs just watches. He then draws whenever the model stays still, backstage or at fittings sometimes even in the car between shows.

-The first show He ever saw was Versace couture, in which he only managed to draw Kate Moss’s arm. 

Illustration Today;

-David’s attitude to the computer is, it’s probably a necessary evil, but to him nothing can compare with that first flash of black ink on white paper.

 -I was always drawing. As a child, “my idea of a treat was a big sheet of white paper”.

Fashion illustration and portrait painting according to him have the same aims,

    - Simplicity

    - Fluid line

    - Illusion of effortlessness

    - And the added dimension of having to capture a likeness.

. -David draws what He sees; to him but the best drawings are true collaborations. They normally take about two hours, he goes to the sitters' house or a hotel suite.

  -He completes the work at home in my studio - a safe environment according to him where he I has time to evaluate it himself first.

He like to draw women, he describes as a it's a great job, Women he would like to have drawn Staying with women, from the 20th century ;  

   - Sylvaana Mangano

   - Lee Miller

   - Audrey Hepburn

   - Josephine Baker

   - Ava Gardner

   - Edith Sitwell… it's a long list.

Hi every one well come to Isabella's illustration blog

As part of my final year fashion illustration assignment Digital media is the way forward and  and thats how i ended up here i will be posting the development of my fashion illustrations unit from my chosen very inspiring masters in fashion  illustrators
-David Downton :             www.daviddownton.com

-Svetlana makarova:        http://www.lanitta.com/

 your constructive criticisim  and comments to aid my development in this genre is sufficiently welcome thanks you have a lovely day
isabella