Designer Sketches from NYFW Spring 2014 Collections {Part 2}

New York Fashion Week comes to an end today and closing it out is the designer behind one of my favorite inspirations sketches of this season, Ralph Lauren. His inspiration, along with these two from  Joie and Honor were three of my favorite stylized sketches from spring 2014. These pieces are all quite artistic and stylized, and certainly not your typical "fashion illustration" but they are all such beautiful pieces of artwork and examples of illustration.

Joie's inspiration (shown above) is a stunning use of mixed media. They combined a beautiful illustration with actual fabric swatches of textured whites to the paper and make tiny gathers to create the clothing silhouette. They also used a craft paper base, which you know I'm a huge fan of these days and have been illustrating on and experimenting with myself. (Remember this project for Vogue and Bobbi Brown)  

Next up is Ralph Lauren's simple yet powerful watercolor silhouette. Again, not your typical "fashion illustration" but such a wonderful minimal painting. Sometimes keeping it simple and showing restraint makes more of an impact, or as they say "less is more." I'm curious to see his collection this morning and see if this feeling is carried through to the collection. 

Lastly is Honor. At first glance this sketch seems to be just a floral appliquéd veil. It's only once you take a closer look and see the figure beneath veil: the head, the long arm, the tiered black dress, that you see how impressive this stylized illustration truly is. I would love to have a piece like this framed in my apartment. It also makes me want to whip out the gouache and experiment with painting layers of whites over a pencil sketch. 

These three designer illustrations from New York Fashion Week inspire me to take risks and experiment in my own artwork. Fashion illustration doesn't have to be traditional. Sometimes thinking outside the box can is where your creativity can truly flourish.  

Check out part 1 of my NYFW designer sketches for spring 2014.

(Fashion Illustrations by Ralph Lauren, Joie and Honor from WWD) 

Designer Sketches from NY Fashion Week (Spring 2014)

Time to drool over designer fashion illustrations fresh from the designers studios and hitting the runways. Unless you're living under a rock you probably know New York Fashion Week has kicked off this week and at the start of each fashion week WWD collects and publishes designer inspiration. Its something I, as a fashion illustrator and fashion illustration enthusiast always look forward to. This season it was a nice surprise to see that some designers opted to show more than one illustration from their spring collections. It's such a treat to see grouping of illustrations, how the collections take shape and the consistency of each designers illustrative style.

I absolutely love the first grouping of sketches from Erin Fetherston (shown above) inspired by her recent Barbados summer wedding. Her illustrations are all so feminine, soft and delicate while still conveying personality with their simple stylized top knots and a single dramatic eye. Rebecca Minkoff's sketches (below) are quite different but equally as striking. Her "strong Latina woman" inspired illustrations are certainly more detailed and the fabrics are thoroughly rendered yet not overdrawn.

Brandon Sun's sketches (below) are super simple pen and ink illustrations with no color, skin tone or design details yet you get the feel of his collection and its bold and modern Japanese samurai armor inspiration.

Last but not least is of one my longtime favorite designers, Oscar de la Renta. These illustrations are quite unique, they have classic Oscar features, faces and hair styles yet the garments are very stylized. Taking a close look, if I had to guess I'd say that the "dot calm" inspired clothing was rendered digitally from actual fabric scans. Their whimsical and fun styled illustrations for Oscar's always sophisticated, classic  and timeless designs.

For more designer illustrations from the NYFW Spring 2014 collections you can click over to Women's Wear Daily, as well as checking back here with Fabulous Doodles in a few days as I plan to feature a few more of my favorites but with an interesting twist.

(Fashion illustrations by the designer named.)

Child Fashion Illustrations {Sadie Yanks}

How insanely adorable are these little girl fashion illustrations inspired by the lovely Sadie, daughter of Editor in Chief of Hamptons Magazine and Editor at Large of Gotham Magazine Samantha Yanks!? I met Samantha about a year and a half ago at New York Fashion Week. We had great chat about her love of fashion illustration, discussed possible custom sketches, and soon after started following one another on Instagram.

Aside from the recent book I illustrated (which I just posted about this weekend) and the occasional bat-mitzvah girl, I haven't actually drawn many children. Well, cut to this summer and Samantha posting all these amazing photo's of Sadie and her adorable Hampton's-chic looks that I continually "like" on Instagram, and the conversation of custom sketching her fabulous little daughter started up again. 

I chose my three favorite looks from Sadie, which turned out to be Samantha's favorites as well! I tried to capture not only her style but also attitude and personality, which certainly shine through in her photos. I have to admit, I'm sort of obsessed with how these sketches came out! Samantha loves them too and we're making them into large prints to frame and hang in Sadie's room. I can't wait to see how they look blown up and in her space. 

To commission a custom illustration of the little one in your life simply click over to my Etsy shop where you can see more examples of my custom work, read about the process and purchase a custom listing of your own. Also be sure and follow Samantha through her site, twitter and instagram for all her chic and "#spyLUXE" finds.

(Instagram photos by Samantha Yanks and illustrations by Brooke Hagel) 

Punk: Chaos to Couture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Friday I popped by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to finally see the newest exhibit from the Costume Institute, Punk: Chaos to Couture. I was pretty frazzled with custom illustration orders and primping and packing for a wedding weekend, but I passed by and thought I should check it out before the summer crowds start piling in. Well, this exhibit was just the break I needed and I highly suggest stopping by if you're in New York.

Punk: Chaos to Couture spotlights punk's impact on high fashion from the early 70's to present day. I couldn't resist being a bit punk and snapping a few photos to share and instagram (shown above,) even though "photography is prohibited" in this exhibit.

(Top Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art) 

The  designer fashion, the fabulous punk-fro's, and the entire exhibit space was a wild new look for the formal and sometimes stuffy Met. The walls were textured and graffitied, the lighting was dark with pops of bright color, and the music obviously, was loud punk. The exhibit was broken up into different themes by room, and being the crafty girl I am, I have to say my favorite room was the DIY Hardware room, (shown above, top photo) with studded, pinned, chained and torn designer ensembles from Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, and Gianni Versace.

(Fashion Illustration: Brooke Hagel, Window Display: Bergdorf Goodman) 

As I mentioned I was away this weekend for a wedding and didn't have a chance to sketch anything straight from the exhibit, but I did sketch a few punk inspired illustrations a few weeks ago after live sketching at a Vogue party on the upper east side. After the event I took a little stroll along 5th Avenue and was floored by the Bergdorf Goodman windows inspired by the punk exhibit. I came right home and sketched a bunch of my favorite looks from the punk themed windows. The sketch shown above is a beaded Chanel top and skirt. Instead of drawing a face, I paired it with the outrageous punk pom-pom-fros that are shown throughout the Punk exhibit (shown below) and left the skin white, as shown on the mannequins.

(Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, dresses by Zandra Rhodes 1977) 

Punk: Chaos to Couture will be on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art now through August 14th, 2013 and I high recommend checking it out, as well as the fantastic Bergdorf Goodman windows it inspired.

(Window: Bergdorf Goodman, Fashion Illustration: Brooke Hagel) 

To see more images from the Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibit, click on over to the Met's exhibit page here and to see more of the wild Bergdorf Goodman windows inspired by the Punk exhibit check out 5th/58th, Bergdorf's blog. And to see my favorite looks from the Met Ball, the opening night gala for the Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibit click here.

I'm thinking my Etsy shop could use a little punk fashion infusion, I may list these illustrations as prints in the shop later this week.

Creativity & the Importance of Changing It Up

(Olivia Palermo inspired Fashion Illustration by Brooke Hagel) 

I'm so excited about these new sketches, especially this first one shown above. Lately I've felt stuck in a creative rut. I've been digging out some old tools and trying new things but nothing was doing the trick or "clicking." I revisited illustrating in charcoal and conte crayon, and playing around with fine point pens but that just didn't do it. A few weeks ago I dug out my watercolors in hopes that some paint would invigorate me and freshen up my illustrations, and although I had some fun and came up with a few [Golden Globe inspired] fashion illustrations, it just isn't for me at this time. After accidentally shattering the glass I used to clean brushes all over my glass desk, which then splintered into a million little shards and cut me up to the point where for two weeks it looked like I had been attacked by a cat, I decided to put the paints away. The accident also destroyed a client project I had to then redo, but luckily it just missed my new Macbook! So major crisis averted there.

A week or two ago I finally had a wave of creativity by delving into a new medium, black craft papers with white. I'm not sure if it was brought on by a stack of colored card stock paper that happened to be sitting beside me (waiting to be organized in the revolving mess that is my home office) or that I happened to be on Anthologys website that morning looking at the art of chalkboard artist Dana Tanamachi, but I decided to grab a sheet of black paper, pull up my "She's a Sketch" Pinterest board and try out a sketch in all white. Well one sketch quickly turned into three (shown above taped to my wall) and was hooked! They'd be too costly in printer ink with the full black background to make and sell prints of for my Etsy bridal shop but I'm just thrilled to be excited by drawing again and these high contrast brides were the first step in a developing my new illustrations and new style that I'm so loving now.

After black I decided to try out some of the silver, gray and tan papers as well. I also added more tools to the illustrations to try out different effects. I started with only white pencil and white charcoal but have now added black sharpies, Copics, opaque white markers and colored Prismacolor pencils. I'm so excited and invigorated by these new sketches. I happen to be traveling but I'm eager to try printing these once I'm back in my studio and seeing if I can easily reproduce them and make prints for Brooklit. I especially like the illustrations on the tan craft paper, both in the final resulting look of them and the process of creating them. It feels great to be excited about sketching again.

Honestly its a challenge to stay creative and passionate when your passion becomes a business, and clients want a specific style or look and it can feel really stale and uninspiring. Even though I'm a person who tends to resist change I'm learning that its important to change it up from time to time and try new things, especially in my artwork. In this case it was finding a new medium that's exciting me and livened up my work but it could be any change. A change of scenery, or maybe enrolling in a class and trying new techniques or sketching from models instead of images on paper, a screen or your imagination.

Thank you for all the encouragement. Working solo without a team around you is sometimes tough but every time I tweeted, Instagramed (@Brooklit) or texted something I was working on, I received such wonderful feedback and encouragement. I can't wait to continue playing with these new tools and techiniques and see where it takes me.

New Bride Fashion Illustration Prints

Last week I finally added some new bridal fashion illustration prints to Brooklit Bride, my etsy wedding illustration shop. Often when I'm stuck in a creative rut or have come to a roadblock on a project I'll take a break and sketch something different to inspire me and get the pencil moving. Last week I went through my sketchbook and realized I had a bunch of new brides in there ready to be scanned at added to the shop. Molly (shown above) is my favorite of the new girls. She was inspired by a recent New York Magazine Weddings cover I admired where the bride was wearing a cozy sweater. Adding to the casual and sexy off the shoulder sweater I gave her a messy bun and nerd-chic glasses, then juxtaposed her look with a sleek skirt and pretty bouquet.

The next bride is drawn in a classic a-line tulle gown with a beaded waistband and draped sweetheart neckline. She ended up looking so poised and regal that I gave her the name Grace after Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco.

Penny here (shown above) is a Pinterest inspired bridal illustration. I recently started a "Sketchable Headshots" board featuring women with beautiful faces and sketch worthy hair styling and accessories. Penny, with her floral headband and pretty pout were taken right from this inspiration board. For her dress I kept it simple and modern with floral lace details to compliment the bohemian vibe of her headband and named her Penny after one of my favorite boho movie characters, Penny Lane from Almost Famous.

And last but not least is an elegant bride I've named Mia wearing a dropped waist tiered gown with lace applique trim at the neckline, waist and tier hems. Her hair is in a traditional updo with a chunky bangs for a modern (and First Lady) twist.

All these new bridal prints are available in my bridal shop, Brooklit Bride and the wallpapers featured are all from Graham & Brown.

New Holiday Cards

I'm excited to share my new fashion illustration holiday card collection with you. I really enjoyed sketching the girls in this collection. To keep the illustrations playful I tried to add festive elements like Santa hats, chicly wrapped presents, and of corse inspiring fashion like my favorite look from NY Fashion Week the Oscar de la Renta black and white striped gown or the bow backed Christian Louboutins (shown below left.)

Before I could even post about them here on Fabulous Doodles they've been selling out faster than Missoni for Target. Friends, family and colleagues have been snapping them up before I could even add them to the shop!

I switched it up with this year's collection by pairing the cards with beautiful metallic gold envelopes. I'm having quite a gold loving moment right now, plus the gold really compliments the colors in the illustrations. If I do say so myself! ;)

To purchase a card or see the rest of my holiday collection check out my Etsy shop Brooklit. I'll be adding a few more cards over the next week or two and am currently accepting orders for large quantities.

Brave's Merida Inspired by Fashion Illustration?

My favorite fashion illustration, Vogue seems to have found her celebrity look-a-like in Brave's Princess Merida, the latest creation to come from the Disney Imagineers and Pixar. From the first time I saw a promo for Brave I though she was a dead on doppelgänger of my loved sketch. Perhaps one of the Imagineers was inspired by my work!? (A girl can dream.) Vogue with her wild curly hair and big blue eyes has always been dear to me. She's actually the very first illustration I drew to open my Etsy shop with back in 2007 and the only fashion illustration of mine I have framed and hung in my home. 

Today Brave is being released on blu-ray and dvd, and I just may have to pick up a copy or rent it as I can't resist a Disney Princess. Up until now The Little Mermaid's Ariel has always been my favorite but who knows maybe after seeing Brave it will be Merida. Who's your favorite Disney Princess? 

(Still shot from Brave by Disney/Pixar, and illustration by Brooke Hagel) 

Anna Karenina Inspired Banana Republic

This week the Anna Karenina Collection debuts at Banana Republic and with it comes the release of these sketches of select looks from the line. You know I can't resist chic sketches and ones with costume design tie ins, well those practically guarantee a Fabulous Doodles feature. I've been looking forward to Anna Karenina ever since first seeing the trailer months ago. Being a epic period piece, the costumes and overall film design look spectacular and worth the movie ticket alone. This BR collection is actually curated by the film's costume designer Jacqueline Durran.

The sketches are extremely stylized and seem to be done in heavy-handed, quick and sketchy technique. They remind me of the prints that are occasionally displayed in stores like BR, Club Monaco and Ann Taylor. To check out the whole Anna Karenina collection click on over to Banana Republic. (Of corse the one piece I really wanted, the BR Monogram Wool Cape, seems to be sold out already!) At least I can enjoy the sketches for now and anticipate Banana's next collaboration another with Janie Bryant and Mad Men.

(Sketches by Simon Kneen, Creative Director of Banana Republic)

Party Guest Fashion Illustrations {Part 2}

I'm excited to share more custom fashion illustrations I sketched a few weeks ago for guests at the Cameo PR party. It was such a successful event, my table (shown above with framed examples of my work and my portfolio) was continuously crowded with ladies eager to be illustrated. It seemed as though every guest was decked out in her best party frock and looking like a sketch already. (Maybe you remember my "She's a Sketch" posts!? Or follow my "She's a Sketch" Pinterest board? These girls would surely fit there, totally chic and sketch worthy.;)

I have to honest, people watching me draw has always made me a little nervous, even back in high school when we'd visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and sit to draw "studies" of the classic works. But this was so relaxed, drawing while chatting with all these lovely ladies as they waited for their custom illustrations. Everyone was so enthusiastic and supportive and overall it was a really enjoyable evening of sketching.

Each party guest happily posed for a quick pic before they took home their original signed sketch drawn in pencil and colored with marker (mostly with Copics, as shown above) in a protective cello sleeve.

You can check out my previous post about this live party sketching event here in Part 1 and you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com for rates to sketch live at your soiree; corporate events, weddings, sweet 16's, bat-mitzvahs, bridal showers, etc. I'd love to hear about your event and work together.

Instagram Addict

As my friends can attest to I'm a bit of a picture taking fanatic, therefore my favorite iPhone app has quickly become Instagram. In the past few months I've become a little obsessed and have been sharing everything from sneak peaks at projects I'm working on and quick sketchbook doodles, to my diy's, glimpses into my apartment and the occasional shot while out and about in the city. Shown here are a bunch of my recent favorites, but you can check out more of my pictures by following me, Brooklit. (I often share my photo's from Instragram through twitter too, which I also go by Brooklit.)

Instagram has many wonderful aspects to it but a favorite of mine is the ease of editing your images with color effects, brightness and adding a blur which you can easily adjust the size and focus of. Its so much quicker and easier than importing to photoshop. Its also fun to see what your friends are up to and "like" and/or comment on images that they post. (Here's a peak of my latest Instagram pic of a new Tuesday Tip I'm working on.)

You can now turn your Instagram photo's into something more; prints, books, magnets, even iphone cases. My friend Holly Becker of Decor8 recently did a wonderful round up of printing options for your Instagram shots, which you can check out here. I'll certainly be placing orders from a site or two from her list soon.

(All images taken by me on Instragram, @Brooklit)

New Print: Meet Mae

Meet Mae, the latest print added to my Brooklit Etsy shop. This look was inspired by a uniquely draped Zac Posen dress I spotted on Shopbop. The detail I found most enticing about the dress is gathered rounded godets along a dropped waistline that form a full skirt. Rounding out the godet tops is something I've never seen before and was inspired to incorporate it into one of "my girls."

I named her Mae because it just seemed to fit her soft and coy demeanor. Doesn't she look like she's just standing in a corner daydreaming about her future first love? To purchase a print or to see Mae in more detail, click here for the full listing in my shop.

New Brooklit Print: Miriam

Last night I sketched this new fashion illustration for my Etsy shop inspired by a photo I pinned to my "She's A Sketch" board, and I have to say, at the risk of tooting my own horn here, she's one of my favorites. Her monochromatic white ensemble of a long sleeve T and white wide leg pants paired with an oversized black straw sun hat, is my ideal simple casual chic look. Its as though she's sitting peacefully on the beach, looking out at the serene landscape pondering life beneath her fabulous hat.

Because I identify and love this sketch so much, (although my life is no where near as tranquil as the scenario I described,) I named her Miriam, which is a special name to me. Hope you enjoy her as much as I do. For more info on Miriam or to purchase a signed print, click here.

College Sketches: Val & Bridget

I'm excited to share these sketches I drew years ago in a college model drawing class (at FIT) as well as offer them as new prints in my shop. What made me want to revisit some of my college class work was something that someone recently posted on my Facebook fan page. They asked if I was ever going to draw "real women" who were not a size zero. Although I myself am no where near that size, it is my illustrative style to draw very elongated, albeit unrealistic, fashion figures.

These two fashion illustrations however were drawn from plus size models. The models posed for us for the overall stance and attitude of the sketch, then we drew garments on them based off images of our choosing. I went with two Valentino designs from a magazine editorial. The little black dress drawn on "Val" (aptly named after Valentino;) is from a 1997 collection and the elaborate taupe mini dress and feathered bag on "Bridget" are from a 2002 collection. (Luckily I had made notes besides the sketches so I can share the source info with you.) Hope you like these illustrations from my college archives.

Whitney Houston

"It's amazing how people we've never met can touch our lives so much, how their work can become bookmarks for definitive moments in our lives and how we can truly love them from afar." My friend, designer Aaron Potts posted this a few days ago on Facebook in reference to the death of Whitney Houston and I couldn't agree more.

Today Whitney Houston is being laid to rest and I can't begin to explain how devastatingly sad I am. Whitney's The Greatest Love Of All was my very first cassette, The Bodyguard was my first CD, and for my college application to FIT I designed a concert wardrobe for her as my fashion design art test.

I would have loved to share my Whitney sketches with you, however they are packed away in storage with the rest of my college work, so better yet I'm sharing the work of my friend, Aaron Potts. Aaron, in collaboration with Kaufman Franco, sketched many gowns for Whitney that she and her stylists then chose from.

Whitney, I will always love you.

My Blog Goes to College

A little while ago I was contacted by representatives from the Style Design College. They are fans of Fabulous Doodles and asked if I would give approval for some of my posts to be used in within their curriculum. I'm so honored that select illustrations of mine, tutorials, and photo's will be used to help teach aspiring designers and illustrators. Style Design College has campuses in Milan, Italy and South Africa. For more about them, click here.

(Images above from my blog archive; Sequin Tutorial, Secret Weapons (tools), E-Drop Off (commission), Face It.)

New Print: Man Repeller

Last week after checking out the latest posts from the always stylish Leandra Medine, aka. the Man Repeller, I was inspired to pick up my markers and draw her in her sequined-pant fabulousness. (You know I love a sequin!) I like the sketch so much that I'm adding a print of her to my etsy shop, Brooklit. To purchase a print of Leandra, the Man Repeller, click here.

Leandra is one of the bloggers I like to check it with, who are your favorite fashion bloggers?

Best Dressed {Golden Globes 2012}

Awards season is in full swing and with that comes many inspiring and jaw dropping red carpet looks. In my effort to post more I thought I'd share my picks for best dressed from last nights Golden Globe Awards.

Charlize Theron absolutely stole the show in this stunning blush pink Dior Couture gown and diamond headband. Granted I'm sure that with her body she could wear a burlap sack and still knock em dead, this look from head-to-toe was perfection.

I love the art-deco vibe of Salma Hayek's black and gold beaded Gucci gown and adore Heidi Klum's sleek and sexy nude Calvin Klein backless dress paired with a turquoise statement necklace. The color combo with her tan skin and blond locks is so California-girl chic.

Georgina Chapman is always a favorite of mine in her beautifully intricate designs for Marchesa and this gown was no different. The wide gold lace neckline is exquisite and really stands out against the ethereal white draping. And last but not least, Claire Danes in this unique J. Mendel black and white open backed dress is a hit that certainly lands her a spot on my list.

Honorable mention's go to Shailene Woodley also in Marchesa, Elle Macpherson in Zac Pozen, Sarah Hyland in vintage Dolce and Gabbana and Nicole Richie in Julien MacDonald, all of whom chose beautiful gowns. Click here for all the Golden Globe red carpet looks.

Watercolor Fashion

Happy weekend everyone! A few days ago I stumbled upon these lovely watercolor fashion illustration ads and knew I had to share them with you. They're timeless, whimsical and just scream "Fabulous Doodles".

After a little research I learned that the watercolor paintings are all by the artist Holly Houk. She was commissioned by Kwiat to create a vintage-style backdrop for their latest advertising campaign of blue-tinted watercolor "models" for the jewels to lay over.

I think these ads are divine. I commend Kwiat on thinking outside the box and wish more brands would take advantage of all the talented painters, illustrators and artists out there.