‘Just stunning! Especially the shadows and light behind! Andy Barak-Smith, lighting designer
A kind of biography
In my parallel life as a designer / pattern cutter / maker of 3D bespoke clothing and accessories, the design drawing / illustration process is important to me and my business - both to show the 'feel' of the design and the fabric used, and to show the features of the garment. Plus, as I've always loved drawing, it's a good excuse to do some! So the clothing making and the drawing and painting have always gone hand in hand; an ideal combination for someone like me....
In exhibitions of my work, whether at wedding fairs, art exhibitions or National Art Weeks in the UK..... in the mix of what I was showing, whether it was design drawings / wedding dress toiles / sample garments / actual wedding dresses I had designed and made..... the things which seemed to get a surprising amount of attention were the design drawings. To me, they are just part of the process, but maybe the reason the drawings were noticed was because they are more readily 'readable', than a garment on a hanger, or a toile. An image is immediate - you see what you see straight away, and you decide whether you like it or not. Or maybe people like the drawings because it's 'art', whereas a garment may not be considered as such, and clothing needs to be on a body to be shown off to it's best advantage.
In exhibitions of my work, whether at wedding fairs, art exhibitions or National Art Weeks in the UK..... in the mix of what I was showing, whether it was design drawings / wedding dress toiles / sample garments / actual wedding dresses I had designed and made..... the things which seemed to get a surprising amount of attention were the design drawings. To me, they are just part of the process, but maybe the reason the drawings were noticed was because they are more readily 'readable', than a garment on a hanger, or a toile. An image is immediate - you see what you see straight away, and you decide whether you like it or not. Or maybe people like the drawings because it's 'art', whereas a garment may not be considered as such, and clothing needs to be on a body to be shown off to it's best advantage.
Clothing design drawings
Fantastic fabrics in art
The representation of clothing or fabric in art has always been really interesting to me. Here's a few pieces to look at, from the Pre Raphaelites ('The Lady of Shalott' by John William Waterhouse, John Everett Millais' 'Ophelia', Jean Louis Davide's 'The Death of Marat') to Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings of fabric on a figure, as in the 'Study of St. Anne's Robe'.
Some of the the Impressionists brilliantly depicted fabrics, as shown in Monet's 'Women in the Garden', Degas' ' Dancers in Pink', and Edouard Manet's 'The Balcony'. In Toulouse Lautrec's 'Marcelle Lender danse le boléro', and Gauguin's 'Tehamana and Her Ancestors' and 'Vahine no te vi', the fabrics are all part of wonderfully graphic compositions.
The National Gallery in London is full of paintings showing drapery which have also been an inspiration. When trying to get wedding veils and diaphanous fabric right for this, my latest project, I went to the the National Gallery in London and saw a painting of Queen Charlotte (wife of George III) by Sir Thomas Lawrence, amongst many other incredible paintings - the Michaelangelos and Rembrandts especially.
Painted Garden, Villa of Livia, fresco, 30-20 B.C.E. (Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo, Rome)
