Blackbookbookblackshadowplay

It snowed quite a lot last night, and as a result I am stuck inside. Not to worry, I have found ways to be productive. Between searching for a residency in London, making soup, and drawing, I have kept busy.
Next week is the deadline for the Joe's blackbook  scholarship competition, and I have been planning to enter since I heard about it. I'm doing a menswear collection, spawned from my summer collection, "Shadowplay." Please enjoy a selection of images and videos that have served as inspiration for it all. Some are things I've posted already, but there are some new things thrown in. I will be working steadily on the collection - illustrations, trend board, etc. between work and room searching this week. Enjoy!

 Will be expanding from the looks here; The central figure was from my summer work, the other two were added in over the fall. Trying to explain that look during the crit, to a roomful of people who probably never listened to Joy Division was quite interesting. "Um, I was in a post-punk, industrial mood. It's something Ian Curtis of Joy Division would perhaps wear. They were a band... well anyway, yes. And there's a military theme as well, and I wanted to play with greys and blacks, the look of shadows. I'm marketing this to people who like this music.... uh, yes." Thankfully my good friend was an excellent model for me, because he fit in to the look. He's a wonderful artist himself:
http://alexwalcroft.blogspot.com

Anyway, continuing...

 Yes, yes. Joy Division. The collection is stemming from my "Shadowplay" collection, so what do you expect? Everytime I listen to these guys, my mind wanders and designs just seem to create themselves.

And how about some modern editorials and models? I am so glad I found a love for menswear, because it's really nice to break away from designing for women for a bit.


This is Jethro Cave, son of Nick Cave. Yes.

 
      
And of course, Nicholas Hoult, the british actor and sometimes model. He has a great look, and his photos are stunning.

 

Some more menswear....

Dior Homme, then Hermes

And hell, how about all of these photos by Hedi Slimane?

http://www.hedislimane.com/fashiondiary/index.php

Including:

I'll add more as I sketch and search. I want this to just grow out of my inspiration sources and be very strong. Wish me luck!

Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered

Over this past semester, I noticed a somewhat dark mood coming over my work. Not like my work wasn't dark already, but still. Perhaps it's from listening to so much Joy Division. or perhaps it's because my mind has been all over the place lately. In any case, I've actually enjoyed the work I produced. For my portfolio presentation in front of my Fashion Illustration class, I decided to make a mood board that summed up my 12 pieces. I feel like a few of the illustrations really fit in well with the theme.

First, the mood board.

I made that in gimp, which is like fake photoshop. I don't like using those programs, I much prefer to make them by hand, but I had to. 

And now for some illustrations!

 

 

I think this all comes from a combination of listening to Joy Division, Siousxie, and Nick Cave a lot. Also, because of the blogs I read. But it's actually very "on trend". A lot of designers have been inspired by so called "gothic" or dark themes for the fall. I took a lot of inspiration from Zana of Garbagedress as well as from the likes of certain musicians.

I did try to lighten the mood a bit in a few pieces, but that's another post for another time. I think my mood allowed for some interesting work, so perhaps it wasn't so dark after all.

2011: A sick day

I stayed home sick today, so I decided to catch up on my internship documents and watch a movie. At the suggestion of my good friend Sandra, who is a huge Kubrick fan, I decided to pop on 2001: A Space Odyssey. I was blown away. I spent some time staring at the screen after the film was over, trying to process the story and figure it out. I think it needs a second viewing. In any case, the visuals were amazing. The effects were ahead of their time, the style of the entire film was just wonderful, and it was quite inspiring. I've been collecting sources of inspiration as always, and I need to get working on a menswear collection for a scholarship competition, so it's much needed. I know I'm a little late on this movie, but it's better late than never. I am trying to catch up on movies while I have some time, and this was first on my list.

So now, some images from the film.

The music was great too. I can see why it's considered a masterpiece. It was really cinematic, it made me think, and it was beautiful. A bit slow moving, but it worked for the film. I loved the set designs and the space suits. Also, the camera work in the zero-gravity parts was awesome. Oh, and I may have developed a bit of a thing for Keir Dullea. It's those eyes. Look, I don't get out much, and I'm sick and alone. Okay?

And, related, a retro ad from plan59.com, which is a pretty awesome site.

Coming up soon: more fashion illustration work! I will most likely be home again tomorrow, so I may be able to work on some sketches. We'll see. Or maybe I'll just watch the film again...

Memory in Revolt

When I design, my concepts are usually somewhat abstract. This usually means that when I am asked to describe my concept, I end up reciting a convoluted piece of prose. For my first project in my Fashion Design class this past semester, we were asked to design a 3 piece collection for a couture designer of our choice. We were to pretend we were working for them, and to adapt our own aesthetic to fit in with their repertoire. The choice of the designer was not hard for me. It is no secret that Vivienne Westwood is my favorite designer. To work for her would be a dream. So, after doing some trend research a looking through her back catalog, I came up with a concept: Memory in Revolt. What does that mean? Here's a bit of my thought process and what I tried to explain:
Memories are what we make them. Our perceptions can change our memories. What is real and what is imagined? We look to the past while we simultaneously try to subvert it. What if what we think we remember is just an illusion that our minds created? Our memories can become veiled and concealed, repressed, changed...

And so on.
And now on to the actual pieces. A mood board, a fabrication board, and illustrations with flats. My illustration style developed a lot over the semester, and these pieces look vastly different than my later work. I am really proud at how much I progressed. In any case, I still had fun with these. At least, I think I did... my memory could be wrong...

Some results

Fashion illustrations (Fall 2010)

Fashion Design (Fall 2010) Mini-childrens collection inspired by Pan's Labyrinth

Inspiration (from summer until now)