Fashion Illustration has been described as prose poems, having more fictional narratives than design drawings. They are more obviously filtered through an individual vision than photos.
This September 9-13 Illustration Institute offers a week-long series of workshops, presentations, and artist talks on fashion and fashion illustration, sponsored by the Roxanne Quimby Foundation. Learn secrets of fashion illustration from pros through drawing workshops using actual clothing, drawing from observation and on-site sketching, demonstrations, and lively discussion with designers.
Workshops and presentations by:
Alex Rheault
Workshop: Sketch with Attitude! Fashion Silhouette & Groupings
Fashion sketching techniques create poses with attitude and groupings on a page. Visualize clothing ideas, generate animated shapes, and garments in a varied short-hand method. Draw from actual clothing and accessories, drawings or photographs, printouts, and magazine tear sheets. Create dynamic illustrations for booklets, book art or zine content, paintings, paper dolls, design brainstorming, and more!
Bio: Alex Rheault is Assistant adjunct lecturer at UNE, curates exhibits and collaborative projects through drawing room, and teaches drawing and acrylic painting at Artascope. Rheault served as Artistic Director to Quimby Colony’s Fashion, Costume, and Textile Artist in residence Program and modeled for illustrators Kenneth Paul Block, Steven Broadway, and Robin Read in NYC. She enjoys varied community service, motorcycling, and studying Craniosacral Therapy techniques.
Bijou Karman
Workshop: Icon: Techniques for Bold Fashion Illustration
Creating memorable and bold fashion illustrations through a strategic approach. Techniques covered include: picking intriguing subjects; exaggerated proportion for the fashion figure; achieving a wow factor; creating a character; representing fabric textures; picking a focal point; boldness through flat color; painting without lines; and over-the-top power clashing. Students are encouraged to bring reference materials to work from, though some will also be provided.
Bio: Bijou Karman is an artist and illustrator from Los Angeles, Her client list includes Rihanna, Converse, Cinespia, ELLE Québec, Harper’s Bazaar Russia, InStyle, Knit Wit, Le Kilt, Stance socks, Little White Lies, The Los Angeles Times, AHD Paper Co., Papyrus, Peuterey.
Jenny Kroik
Workshop: Portland Stories
This workshop explores using observational skills to notice the stories around us in clothing and street style. It will cover sketching and thumbnail technique, use of color, and how to collect information "in the field" in order to create images later in the studio. Participants will disperse in the Portland Museum of Art or outside in Portland and spend some time drawing, then use the sketches to create a final painting.
Bio: Jenny Kroik is an NYC illustrator, painter and art instructor. She created 3 covers for The New Yorker Magazine, and her recent illustration clients include The Washington Post, The LA Times, Penguin Random House, Nob Hill Gazette, Athens Voice, The Highly and more.
Edward Maeder
Lecture: Fashion in Art: Mirrors of Humanity
Fashion, often considered frivolous, elite, or inaccessible, mirrors complexities of who we are. Historic and contemporary imagery and illustrations reveal what we believe, how we act. Maeder’s insights capture how we perceive what we wear and why through artworks that record idiosyncratic, personal and socio-political structures.
Bio: Edward Maeder, from Black River Falls Wisconsin of Bernese ancestry, is graduate of University of Wisconsin and the Courtauld Insititute of Art, London. The Greenfield Guru, is a textile and dress historian, and curator who sleuths through the seams determining the origins of garments. Walk this Way catalogues the Stewart Weitzman historic footwear collection in a series of exhibits currently travelling the US, one of many of Maeder’s book and curatorial projects.
Adele Masengo Ngoy
Bio: The designer behind 'Masengo Designs' is Adele Masengo Ngoy. Based in Portland, Maine, Adele has over 30 years of experience in the fashion industry–dating back to her accomplishments as a university fashion design student in her country of origin, the Democratic Republic of Congo. While living in the Congo, Adele designed clothing for the elite. Adele is a talented tailor and designer who can create anything you dream up, including original custom wedding gowns, special occasion attire, and everyday business wear. She is especially known for her ability to perform intricate alterations, her authentic designs and her ability to create them from scratch, which she has done for women of all shapes and sizes, worldwide. Adele is also the president & founder of Women United Around the World and owner of Antoine’s Tailor Shop and Formal Wear.
Jill McGowan
Bio: Jill McGowan is a clothing designer and owner of Jill McGowan, Inc., a nationally recognized women’s apparel brand founded in 1994. She is best known for her line of white shirts for women inspired by her experience as a pattern maker for men’s clothing.
Her designs are sold in stores throughout the country and have been featured in the New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, and Women’s Wear Daily.
Visit her new location in downtown Portland at 107 Exchange Street.
Jill’s Website
