Daniel came up with the idea of featuring a handful of New York's leading ladies in stand out designer looks from the spring 2013 collections that would suit each of them and their style. Daniel picked a few options for each and I chose from the bunch which designs were most "sketch worthy." First (shown above) is Hilary Geary Ross in a lavish Oscar de la Renta ensemble beside Lauren Bush Lauren in a stunning red georgette evening gown of cascading ruffles by Ralph Lauren Collection. I have to admit, I am not a red fan normally but this was the most enjoyable look to illustrate and I'm really thrilled with the outcome.
The next grouping of illustrations starts with Carolina Herrera in Carolina Herrera of course. This gold and ivory baroque-lame gown was another favorite to illustrate with her signature up-do and elegant gown detailing. (I actually had the pleasure of meeting Carolina years ago at a party and she was incredibly graceful and striking in person.) Next, icon Lee Radziwell in a modern white Calvin Klein Collection suit. Then the lovely Aerin Lauder in a leather Fendi color blocked top and skirt with Hermes heels, and Amanda Burden in chic monochromatic Tom Ford.
The last two, a somewhat unique pairing, starts with the statuesque Julia Koch whom I've also seen before in person, at opening night of the ballet. For Julia we chose this gorgeous green silk Gucci gown, with a high neckline and billowing flounce alongside the legendary Iris Apfel in her trademark oversized glasses wearing a graphic flower printed Prada fur. I was a little nervous to tackle Iris' sketch, as its challenging to draw mature women, plus I'm such a fan of hers I didn't want to disappoint! But I think they both came out well and I love the pairing of the two beside one another.
Here are some preliminary pencil sketches, or "base sketches," so you can see the progression of how I start out sketching compared to the finished colored rendering. I apologize they're a little light, its hard to pick up on faint pencil lines with scanners and cameras but its always nice to compare a before and after. You can also check out some photos of the women and the collections as seen on the runway on my "Project Q" Pinterest board.
It is such an honor to be included in Quest's spring style issue and to have six full pages of my sketches of these strong women is something I'm truly proud of. You can take a closer look at the spread in Quests digital issue here (on pages 106-111 of the March issue) as unfortunately it's not on newsstands anymore since I'm a little tardy with this post! I was traveling when the issue came out and although I tweeted, facebooked and instagramed about it, the Fabulous Doodles post got put on the back burner.
It is such an honor to be included in Quest's spring style issue and to have six full pages of my sketches of these strong women is something I'm truly proud of. You can take a closer look at the spread in Quests digital issue here (on pages 106-111 of the March issue) as unfortunately it's not on newsstands anymore since I'm a little tardy with this post! I was traveling when the issue came out and although I tweeted, facebooked and instagramed about it, the Fabulous Doodles post got put on the back burner.
