NYFW Party Sketching for Vogue & Brian Atwood

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of live-sketching party guest fashion illustrations for Vogue magazine on the last night of New York Fashion Week. This event was in celebration of the new B. Brian Atwood handbag collection, and was held at Bloomingdales flagship NYC store. It was hosted by Helena Glazer, the impeccably dressed and always uber-chic fashion blogger behind Brooklyn Blonde (shown above with my sketch of her, which was the first of the evening.)

Since this event had such a large crowd, the fashion illustrations were given as a gift with purchase to anyone who bought a bag form the collection. Most of the part guests were women, including lots of Vogue staffers and the Brian Atwood team, but I did illustrate one man, Brian's handsome partner Dr. Jake Deutsch. He's also the only sketch of the night [understandably] not sporting a new purse!

It was great end to NY Fashion Week live sketching with Vogue and Brian Atwood at Bloomingdales!  I hope you enjoy a few of my pictures and sketches from the night.

If your interested in rates for live-sketching at a corporate event or private party of your own, or have a question, you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com.

Asperkid's Charitable Fashion Coloring Book

A few months ago I was asked to contribute fashion history illustrations for a wonderful new charitable coloring book that has just been released; The Asperkid's Not-Your-Average-Coloring-Book written by Jennifer Cook O'Toole. This unique coloring book covers topics that appeal to kids on the autism spectrum by encouraging them to try new things and showing spectrum kids the potential career value of their natural talents through artwork based on science, nature, history, math and myths.

It was great to work on these historical fashion sketches and solely focus on the designs through line drawing. I have to mention that while the 1960's mod look (at the top) is probably my favorite of the group due to the strong pose and bold accessories, the 1970's illustration was inspired by one of my favorite photo's from the 1970's of my grandma (which I also featured here on Fabulous Doodles a while back.) As for the other two line drawings,  they gave me a great excuse to whip out my art and fashion history books and seek out some primary resources for inspiration. 

I'm honored to be a part of this coloring book and encourage you to show your support for Asperkids and order a copy for the little artist in your life, whether or not they are on the spectrum. A portion of the proceeds will go towards supporting art programs for children on the autism spectrum. Although I'm only one of the contributing illustrators featured in the book, I've added The Asperkids's Not-Your-Average-Coloring-Book to my Amazon shop under titles I've illustrated, to make it easy to find and order. Happy coloring!  

Kiss Kiss, Lipstick Prints for Dior & Vogue

I have another fun illustration project I worked on for Vogue to share, sketches of my lip prints for La Vie En Rouge, an event with Dior Beauty in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Rouge Dior. They sent me a handful of images of the new Rouge Dior collection and I illustrated lip marks for the team to use for lip-print analysis'. Since each lip print tells a story, Dior and Vogue were on hand to help determine what does your lip print say about you? The lip-print shown here is The Doll, with thin lips and light nude saturation (these would be my lips and my color of choice!) "Ever analytical, this woman is full of insights and is meticulously detailed. She is known for being organized, optimizing processes, and styling new looks." Okay, I'll take it!

I love sketching for beauty clients especially for such an iconic brand as Dior and this was certainly a unique out of the box project. Unfortunately I couldn't make it to the event last week as it was at Saks down in Miami and I was at another Vogue event here in NY (which I'll post about on Fabulous Doodles soon) but I wanted to share the project with you. Also, check out the new Rouge Dior collection!  

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) 

Beauty Illustrations {Vogue & Bobbi Brown}

The lovelies at Vogue Magazine reached out to me again about two weeks ago to create beauty fashion illustrations featuring Bobbi Brown Cosmetics new summer collection for a makeup event at Saks Fifth Avenue. They were open to creative input so I suggested something different, using tan craft paper as the background of the illustrations, putting the focus on the makeup and its bronzy colors. I sent this recent doodle I instagramed and this post as examples of what the artwork for this project could look like and they were on board and let me run with it.

I illustrated three different looks, the first and my personal favorite is "Beach Bronze Night" shown above. This look is all about a golden bronze eye and peachy pout. Since it's the evening look I gave her a sparkling drop earring and dark silky hair for dramatic contrast.

"Summer Bright" is next. This look called for a bold and bright passion fruit glossy lip, coral shimmer blush and sharp black ink eyeliner. As the bright day look I gave her a casual and fun side braid with a lavender hair tie and huge pout for that bold lip color.

The third look, "Beach Bronze Day" is the most natural of the group. It consists of a nude cheek tint, bronzed pink lip tint, and sandy gold eye shadows. I complimented this look with a white striped headscarf and bright green eyes. I tried to give each girl her own style and personality since Bobbi Brown is all about celebrating individuality. 

(Top: Brooke Hagel, Saks 5th Avenue. Bottom: Bobbi Brown makeup artists with Vogue's Cara Crowley, Bobbi Brown display in Saks) 

Walking into the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store and seeing my sketches on display for Bobbi Brown and Vogue was quite the pinch-me moment. My illustrations were incorporated on displays in multiple areas of the first floor beauty department and seemed to be a huge hit both with the Bobbi Brown makeup artists, Vogue staffers, and event guests, who repeatedly posed for pictures with and alongside the illustration displays.    

(Top: Beach Bronze Night Illustration by Brooke Hagel on display in Saks, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. Bottom: Cara Crowley Instagram, Brooke and Cara.) 

I'm so happy with how these illustrations came out and that Vogue and Bobbi Brown took a bit of chance and let me use the tan craft paper instead of standard white. This was a wonderful project to work on and certainly a proud moment having my illustrations on display in such an iconic institution as Saks Fifth Avenue.

Fabulous Doodles' 4th Blogiversary

This past weekend marked four years of my little fashion illustration blog Fabulous Doodles! It's been a great year with many exciting new clients and experiences so what better time than now to look back and spotlight some of the years highlights (alongside a few Instagram memories.)

The biggest change of this year which brought about incredible opportunities was deciding to live-sketch at parties and events. After trying it out just once, and featuring the sketches here on Fabulous Doodles, I was approached by Director of Events for Vogue Magazine, Anne Vincent! As a life-long fashion nerd, walking into the Vogue offices, portfolio in hand that first time was a surreal experience.  Even though I was a nervous reck our meeting went great, my portfolio and resume were a hit, and I booked my first Vogue job for two weeks later. I live-sketched for Vogue at the opening party of the very first Piperlime store.

Since that first illustrating job with Vogue, over the past 8 months I've been rehired to illustrate at a handful of Vogue events, sketch for their partners, attend parties, make custom stationary for Vogue staffers and had countless introductions to editors, designers, and stylists. It's been incredible working with the team from Vogue this year and knowing that I have the support and encouragement of such an iconic and influential fashion powerhouse has been extraordinary.

The next highlight of this year is one actually not featured on Fabulous Doodles but instead one that it led to. Months ago after learning of everything I was working on via Fabulous Doodles an old FIT professor and friend recommended me for a highly coveted illustration position. I was called in for an interview to be in-house illustrator for Ralph Lauren Collection! Not for Polo, not Chaps, not Rugby, not Lauren, but the creme de la creme, Ralph Lauren Collection! This meeting unfortunately didn't go as well since I didn't get the job but it was such an honor to even be considered and meet with the head designers. I now truly get it when actors say "it's an honor just to be nominated," because thats exactly how I felt simply being considered and called into the Ralph Lauren Collection offices.

Working on Sociologie Wines featuring a different stylized sketch of mine on each wine bottle has been so gratifying and I'm thrilled with the final product. The feedback from friends, family and Fabulous Doodles readers both in person and on my social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) was overwhelming, and its something I'm really looking forward to working on more as the line expands.

Next up is my collaboration with the fashion director of Quest Magazine, which resulted in a whopping 6 page spread of my fashion illustrations. I've had editorial features before but nothing that even compared to the 6 full pages in Quest's 2013 Spring Style issue.

The next one is another biggie, something to actually cross off my childhood "bucket list." I've illustrated not one but two books this year! I worked with Capstone Publishing illustrating two fashion illustration tutorial books for the tween market: Fun Fashions You Can Sketch, Girly Girl Style and Harajuku Style. It was a long process and very challenging at times but I can now say my name appears in the Library of Congress! I've also just polished off the illustrations on a third book, which hopefully will be released later this year.

For years I've followed the work of sweets stylist Amy Atlas. After meeting at a cocktail party, Amy reached out commissioning me to illustrate some dessert bar concepts for her segments on the Today Show and Access Hollywood. I've also assisted from time to time, co-crafting, setting up and styling alongside Amy and her partner in sweets Lisa. Styling is something I used to do a great deal of in my previous position before taking on illustrating full-time and its so great to be able to go back to it from time to time, especially with such a talented duo.

Last but certainly not least of the highlights of this year is illustrating for InStyle and Gap. I've been a Gap girl for as long as I can remember and InStyle was my go to magazine for years so this was another dream job/pinch-me moment and something I was thrilled to add to my portfolio.

It has been a monumental year for my illustration career and I can hardly believe starting this fashion illustration blog four years ago has led me to such wonderful opportunities. Heres hoping year five of Fabulous Doodles will be continued success, recognition, and more pinch-me moments.

(Photos and sketches: Brooke Hagel @Brooklit)

Quest Magazine Fashion Illustration Editorial

I'm so excited to share this six page fashion illustration editorial spread from Quest, New York's society magazine, Spring Style Issue. I met Quest's fabulous Fashion Director Daniel Cappello a few months ago at a Vogue cocktail party and was thrilled weeks later when he reached out asking if I'd be interested in contributing custom sketches for the style issue.

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.

Sociologie Wines {Fashion Illustration Wine Bottles}

This time last year I was contacted by the lovely creator of Sociologie Wine about illustrating some fashionable girls to compliment the flavors of her new wine collection. Lots of ideas were discussed and many emails, phone calls and pins exchanged. Well, I'm thrilled to say that it has been nearly one year and Sociologie Wines with Brooke Hagel illustrations on each bottle has launched and are now on store shelves nation wide!

These wine sipping fashion illustrations were such an enjoyable project and wonderful collaborative process. We discussed at length the flavor profiles of each wine and came up with personalities and social settings for each. We also decided to stylize the sketches by having the clothing and accessories fully rendered in color, which put more of the focus on the fashion while leaving the girl as a line drawn sketch, without any skin tone or hair color, to appeal to a wider variety of women regardless of ethnicity.

We collaborated on the outfits, colors, and overall look of each girl to enhance her unique flavor profile. Blushing Rose (personally my favorite Sociologie girl) is a light pink floral sangria, ideal for sipping throughout a party, perhaps a summer birthday soiree or afternoon shower. We put her in a party-ready flirty short pink dress, with delicate roses in her hair and gold accessories.

The Berry Red Sangria girl is little more risqué, she's a classic all-American girl but has edge. The kind of girl who see's a stunning gold sequined skirt and pairs it with a chambray shirt, chunky leather belt and her grandma Sally's pearls. And last but not least there's the wild White Citrus girl with her bright lemon yellow peplum dress, bold green bow heels and voluminous layers of textured curls.

These are the first three wines to launch the Sociologie brand but more are currently in the works and I can't wait to start sketching new girls for them. Its always a thrill to see my sketches on products but these have been particularly cool and exciting. It was such a pleasure to work with Amy of Sociologie, I'm so proud of the results and so excited for her and her growing business.

Hilarity for Charity {Fashion Package}

Seth Rogen's second annual Hilarity for Charity party benefiting the Alzheimer's Association, raising money and awareness among a younger generation is tomorrow night in Los Angeles and one of my custom illustrations is up for grabs! Not only will this star studded event be filled with funny people like Seth and his hilarious friends, and the musical stylings of the Backstreet Boys, guests will also have the opportunity to bid on a fabulous fashion pack including a custom fashion illustration or custom bridal illustration from moi, a day of personal styling by the Rachel Zoe, leather bags by Jodi Been and Rebecca Minkoff, jewelry by Alexis Bittar and much more, with all proceeds benefiting this great cause thats so near and dear to our families hearts. Even if you can't go to the show, you can still check out the Hilarity for Charity site and make a donation.

Branding Sketches for The Stylish One

Here are some fun new back-view head shots I illustrated for Boston based writer and wardrobe and bridal stylist Julie Digiovine of The Stylish One. Julie's previous branding included the back high bun, but although Julie is also a brunette, she told me she rarely ever wears her hair up. I wanted the artwork to resonate with her so I whipped up two rough sketches, one of her recognizable bun logo and another resembling her hair down, as she wears it. Well Julie liked them so much she decided to incorporate and trademark both fashion illustrations into her branding and site remodel!

Julie was absolute pleasure to work with, I wish all my custom client commissions were as easy breezy as working with The Stylish One.

Eva Mendes Sketches for Vogue Eyewear Party

A little over a week ago I flew to LA to live sketch at Vogue Eyewear's party celebrating Eva Mendes as the new face of their campaign. Before heading out west I sketched a bunch of fashion illustrations of Eva in various frames based off campaign shots that the lovely group at Luxottica, Vogue Eyewear's parent company, had sent me. I drew Eva in about six different eyewear looks, scanned the art and emailed them off to Luxottica in Milan and their PR company in New York. Then I crossed my fingers that all parties involved would like them.

Well, like them they did, because when I arrived at the event in Beverly Hills the space was filled with large framed prints of my illustrations. I even overheard some of the Luxottica ladies talking about shipping them back to Milan for their offices! Since Eva was hosting the soiree I decided to bring signed mini prints of the sketches for her, and was told she loved them too.

I'm still editing photo's of the event which I'll share later in the week, including some live-sketches I drew of the party guests and photo's of the sexy venue but in the mean time I wanted to post a few of my favorites of the beautiful Eva Mendes.

Fashion Illustration Books {Brooke Hagel}

I'd like to share the first two fashion illustration books I've illustrated! They are part of a new instructional series by Capstone Publishing called "Fun Fashions You Can Sketch" and as of February 1st they're out and available on Amazon for purchase.

Harajuku Style: Fun Fashions You Can Sketch, showcases Tokyo's Harajuku culture and style. Sketching and learning about Harajuku girls and their style was something completely new for me. Harajuku girls are all about themeing out an outfit and piling on layers and accessories to complete a look from head to toe. They made for some really fun illustrations including Mixed Traditions (shown above) my favorite illustration of them all, Take it to the Street, and Tokyo Punk, amoung others.

The second book, Girly Girl Style: Fun Fashions You Can Sketch, showcases ultra girly and feminine designs. Similar to the Harajuku book, I was given precise outfit design direction for each look, such as On the Runway, Crocheted Cutie, Style at Sea and Radiant Romper (all shown above) and drew detailed illustrations building a sketch from a loose gesture drawing to polished final illustration.

As I was only hired to illustrate these books and not write or consult as to how to actually build a illustration, I do have a difference of opinion regarding how to render some fabrics and build an illustration. In actuality I don't really draw this way, with this many steps and layers, however these books are for beginners, focused primarily towards tweens, so the illustrations are broken down and made clear. They are fun little books and would make a great gift for any fashion loving tween. The books are being marketed to school libraries, however they're also available on Amazon.

It has been a interesting experience illustrating my first two books. Like many projects it was really a learning process, with ups and downs along the way. Deciding how I wanted my name to appear in the Library of Congress was pretty cool and debating some of the design direction was a challenge, but I'm excited they're out there now. I hope kids enjoy them and hopefully they're the first of many more books throughout my career. Check back next week for a giveaway and your chance to win one!

Bridal Illustrations {A Chic Affair}

Recently I was commissioned by producers of luxry expos and events to sketch a handful of illustrations for two events coming soon to the Washington, D.C. area. The first one is A Chic Affair, a luxury bridal expo with the modern and savvy bride in mind. They chose this romantic and pouty bride as the face of the event, to use on thier site and all event branding.

I also drew an assortment of brides in varying gown silhouettes to be used on large banner artwork throughout the event space. Tomorrow I'll share some more illustrations for their sister expo focused on modern moms and their tiny tots.

(Illustrations by Brooke Hagel) 

Custom Fashion Illustrations

Last year I had some wonderful fashion industry clients who commissioned custom illustrations for their business' branding and I thought I would share a few of my favorites from different categories; makeup, styling and fashion blogging.

First up is makeup artist Alexis Frank. She wanted a sketch representing herself at work doing makeup, in her favorite look of leather pants, a tank top, and stilettos, with layers of gold accessories and her tool belt of brushes. Alexis also asked me to create a business card design. I gave her a few options but in the end we went with this playful yet modern and clean font. I send her a referral link to moo, who I can't rave about enough for their fantastic card quality, and her new fashion illustrated cards were on their way.

This next fashion illustration is of Rebecca, an adorable magazine editor with a side business in personal styling. Her business is called LBD Stylist, so of corse her illustration is decked out in a chic little black dress, pointy toe heels, and a sparkling statement necklace, all inspired by Rebecca's favorite designers.

Last but certainly not least is sweet southern fashion blogger of Just Dandy and new e-boutique owner Danielle Downing of ShopDandy. Danielle was lovely to work with and knew exactly what she wanted with detailed pictures of hair, jewels, a pose and an exact shade of hot pink for the flouncy frock.

It was great working with each of these girls to create a fashion illustration that truly represented them, their style, and their businesses.

Gap Fashion Illustrations for InStyle Party

Two weeks ago I was hired to create some fashion illustrations for an event with Gap and InStyle magazine! Being a huge fan of both powerhouse brands I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to sketch for them. 

The project involved two parts, first I had to create sketches in advance of the party that would be scaled up and printed out as posters to adorn the interactive art wall/step and repeat that guests would see when they arrived at the NYC flagship store event. The second part was, while everyone was mingling, I live sketched the event hosts; Kimberly Pesch of Eat.Sleep.Wear (shown with her sketch below), Christine Cameron of My Style Pill and DJ Harley Viera Newton. 

All the Gap fashion illustrations shown throughout this post were inspired by the "Outfit's We Love" spotlighted on Gap.com. They're a bright mix of cozy and luxe layers styled with plaids, stripes and colorful basics. Throughout the event I live sketched the three hosts who were decked out in head to toe Gap looks as well. As each sketch was completed it was added to the art wall so guests could take a look and snap some pics. 

This was such a great evening with such positive feedback from all the guests including my [possibly bias] little brother and 90 year old grandma, the fabulous hosts as well as the teams from InStyle and Gap! It really was such a fun event to be a part of and I'm excited to share the sketches and photos. 

(Photo's by Gap and InStyle, Illustrations by Brooke Hagel) 

Lash Menu Illustrations

I'm excited to share these new "lash menu" sketches I was commissioned to draw for Lash Affair Lounge. They asked me to illustrate an assortment of lash extensions offered in the new salon. I had no idea you could get lash looks ranging from a natural, soft and pretty lash boost, like "The Beauty" shown above, to intense dramatic fullness like "The Diva" shown below.

Whats funny for me about illustrating a lash menu is that I was taught not to draw tiny details like eyelashes, nails or teeth in fashion illustrations. In the past few years, especially with all my bridal illustration clients and the dramatic lash making a comeback, I've rebelled and began adding lashes to my sketches but I have to admit I feel guilty every time and wonder what my professors would say. Crazy right! (Its true, every-single-time I sketch a lash I see FIT Professor Steven Stipleman shaking his head at me.)

This was my first foray into illustrating a lash menu (hair and nails, I've drawn a few.) I'm really proud of how all these lashy ladies came out and I'm pretty sure the client, Lash Affair Lounge, loves them as well. Now I just need to get myself up to Edmonton Cananda to try out their lash services like mink lash extensions. I mean how luxuriously Oprah would that be? Fingers crossed theres a Lash Affair Lounge hitting Manhattan in the not so distant future because my lashes could use a boost.

Illustrated Invitations

Recently I've worked on illustrations for a bunch of new client invitations and announcements and when these two arrived in my mailbox I couldn't wait to share. 

The first one (above), a stylized wedding illustration of a bride and groom is near and dear to my heart because its actually a save the date announcement for my brother. They're a playful and fun couple, and they liked this bride and groom I drew in the past, so we decided to go with stylized "bobble head" illustrations for their save the dates. They were thrilled with my depiction of them and have been getting glowing reviews from all the guests about my sketch.

This second invitation is for a bridal shower luncheon and uses my Gwen print from my bridal illustration shop Brooklit Bride. The mother-of-the-bride and luncheon host contacted me because the illustration resembled her bride daughter. She bought the usage rights to my illustration and made these gorgeous invitations. This invitation so strikingly lovely in person. The bridal illustration is printed on a velum overlay, the shower/luncheon information is printed on a gold edged card stock beneath, and the two pieces are held together with a actual ribbon bow tied at the waist! Its beautiful.