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!  

Teaching Fashion Illustration at Stitched Fashion Camp

A few weeks ago I spent a day out in East Hampton teaching fashion illustration to the adorable campers of Stitched Fashion Camp. Stitched is the brainchild of Elle's creative director Joe Zee and Parsons adjunct professor Rob Yonkers. Its a week long summer fashion day camp that encompasses all the elements of the fashion industry and I had the honor of being asked to join as the industry expert on fashion illustration!

I prepared a handful of lessons including croquis (aka. fashion figures, its taken from French, the literal translation is "sketch." Its pronounced crow-key) development and various fabric and pattern rendering techniques, many of which were taken directly from archived Fabulous Doodles posts. I gave the fashion campers a lesson in fashion figures and poses and demonstrated rendering fabrics including sequins and beading, leopard, zebra, and denim. We also worked together one-on-one and I gave mini tutorials on drawing elements like faces, hair, hands and feet, just about anything the kids said they were struggling with drawing.

Throughout the day the kids tried the fabric rendering techniques I taught them and worked on illustrations of looks from their own mini collections. Many used the ditto's I handed out as a guideline, one of which is the photo-to-croquis example shown above (for more fashion figure info you can click over to my pose tutorial post.) And others created original fashion figures of their own from photo inspiration. Below is a picture of some their fabulous illustrations fresh from their sketchbooks.

Spending a day out in Hamptons and getting to work with these 12 kids ranging in age from about 10 to 15 was truly fantastic. The kids were so adorable, and so eager to learn and improve their illustrations. I have to admit I was a little nervous going in, as I had only ever tutored before one-on-one and this was my first real classroom setting but I have a feeling it won't be my last! It was such a wonderful and fulfilling experience, especially seeing the excitement in the kids eyes and the pride they exuded when they saw what they could achieve.

Click here for more about Joe Zee and Rob Yonkers Stitched Fashion Camp and if you're interested in my private tutoring and located in NYC you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com for rates.

Party Guest Illustrations for Vogue & Piperlime {Part 2}

Time for more fashion illustrations from my live-sketching at the Piperlime store preview party hosted by Vogue. Sorry its taken so long to post part two, September turned out to be a crazy month! This was such a fabulous event to be a part of and resulted in some great illustrations to add to my portfolio of live event sketches.

There was quite the spectrum of sketchable models (aka. chic party guests) in attendance to preview the beautiful new Piperlime Soho store. I got to sketch everyone from fashion bloggers, Vogue staffers and Piperlime shoe designers to teachers and private jet flight attendants! Everyone seemed to love their sketches and were thrilled to be taking them home as a custom favor.  

It was truly an honor to be hired by Vogue and Piperlime to sketch at this event and hopefully it will be the first many. To see more sketches and the guests that inspired them, check out Part 1, and afterwards you can even click over to this Piperlime video covering the event and see if you can spot some of the guests I drew. (I spotted 6!)

For questions about my live-sketching or you're interested in my rates for your next corporate event or private party you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com.

Party Guest Fashion Illustrations for Vogue & Piperlime {Part 1}

A few nights ago I was honored to work for Vogue and Piperlime illustrating guests at an exclusive preview party for the very first Piperlime store, here in Manhattan. The beautiful new store was packed with designer labels, lust worthy shoes and jewelry, and hundreds of guests all eager to have their outfits captured in a custom fashion illustration.

I want to share some of my models (aka. Vogue & Piperlime party guests) here along with the quickie sketches they inspired and got to take home as a custom party favor. The guests were all so great to draw in their fun and flirty end-of-summer party dresses.

Throughout the party I was busy sketching away while chatting with my models/guests but afterwards on my way uptown, I shared via Twitter and Instagram (@Brooklit) a few snapshots from the night, also shown below.

Later in the week as I'll be posting more favorite sketches, guests and photos from my memorable night with Vogue and Piperlime, so stay tuned.

Birthday Girl

This fancy little sketch adorning my party invitation is part of a group of line drawings I've been working on here and there inspired by my Pinterest finds. My birthday was this past weekend and I decided to throw a last minute party on the roof of the Empire Hotel for any friends who were in town. (NYC tends to clear out on summer weekends, especially in Aug.) I designed and emailed the invite literally the night before, and quickly chose this little sketch to go on it since she was fun and festive. The next day a friend pointed out that she looked a lot like my current Facebook pic (also shown above) and asked if I drew it especially for the occasion. I honestly didn't even realize it! Although the photo is similar I'm no where near a size zero, like the girl in the sketch. Since I really like how the invite turned out, as well as the fun night with friends that followed, I thought I'd share it with you. (Here is the girl, fashion blogger Blair Eadie that actually inspired the drawing, from my She's a Sketch board.)

Tuesday Tip: Illustrating Leopard

Have you always wanted to learn how to accurately illustrate leopard print? Well its your lucky day, and you may be surprised to learn that leopard just so happens to be one of the easiest and most foolproof prints to draw and draw well. Being an animal skin, leopard print is organic, some parts are clustered and messy and some are open and spacey. You really can't make a mistake with this one I promise.

1. The first step is to choose your color way, and the three markers you'd like to use for the print. With the lightest one you lay the ground color for the print. I chose a dark tan color, in order to render a more realistic leopard print.

2. Let your base color dry then add a second "coat" in streaky and somewhat rough stripes, one being down the center and then as few or as many as you'd like to each side. This will add depth to the print.

3. Choose a marker that is darker than your ground color and randomly draw comma or kidney shaped "spots" with it, as I've illustrated for you in step three with brown.

4. With your darkest marker (I used black) draw three dashes or kidney shapes of varying lengths surrounding each of the kidney shapes you drew in the step three. Its as though you're messily outlining each spot with three dashes.

5. Add highlights, shadows and any garment design details with your black and white (or white charcoal) pencils. And ta-da! There you will have a classic leopard print.

Its been quite a while since my last Tuesday Tip post, but I figured what better way to get back into the tutorial mode than by showing you how to render this fun and classic print. Since I drew the tutorial in standard leopard colors I thought I should also show how easy it is to use the same steps but with colors that are a little more on-trend. Gray, black and white shown above, is a little more pop and edgy and the purples below are a colorful alternative.

If you're hungry for more you can check out my previous Tuesday Tip here, and come back next week because I'm working on another one for you. (I promise not to wait almost 2 years for another one this time!)

***I'm also taking suggestions so let me know in the comments section if there's a tip you'd like to see to help improve your fashion illustration skills.

Secret Weapons {Part 3}

I am continually asked what tools I use most in my fashion illustrations so I thought it was time for another installment of Secret Weapons. First up, is my sketchbook and paper of choice. This may come as a surprise, being that I make a living as an artist you may think I'd use something fancy and expensive from an art supply store, but I do not. For years I've been using these Barnes & Noble exclusive sketchbooks. The reason I like them so much is that the paper is thick, almost a card stock, and super bright white. The whiteness is important to me because I scan most of my work. They have a spiral binding, which I prefer so the book can lay flat, thick hardcovers that protect the pages well, should I decide to throw in my bag, and the piece de resistance is they have perforated pages for easy tearing out. They also come in different sizes, so I have small ones (above) for quick thumbnail sketches and traveling, and larger ones for my more polished sketches. (Keep in mind however that these are not the best choice for a beginners because, as I mentioned, the paper is thick, and not conducive to tracing. It also soaks up the marker, which means you have to move fast. When I was in college, and learning, my paper of choice was Bienfang marker paper.)

Next I'd like to share the white charcoal pencil. These are fantastic for creating highlights over marker, even better than white pencils because of how dense and opaque they are. If you take a look at my last post about my new print Miriam, you can see that I used a log of the white charcoal pencil to render the large brimmed hat and create texture and highlights within it. I also use it to add shine and highlights to hair in almost all my illustrations.

Lastly is something I absolutely cannot live without when sketching, the amazing kneaded eraser. It picks up everything from the faintest smudge to heavy thick lines. Its pliable and can be molded to easily into a sharp point or stretched out for easily self cleaning and it doesn't leave marks. The kneaded eraser is a must have. (I realize I sound like a infomercial here, but its true!)

For more of my secret weapons you can check out part 1 and part 2 here.

Back to Basics

Lately I've felt I needed a little jolt in the creativity department and these drawings may be it. I dusted off my sketchbook and am really excited to share my latest sketches. These are not the usual fashion illustrations I share here on Fabulous Doodles but they're a well needed breath of fresh air for me and my Etsy shop, Brooklit. I haven't drawn like this years and its such a nice thing to revisit.

It started about a few weeks ago when I decided to dig out my watercolors and paint some little mermaids for my bathroom (shown below). Then continuing my obsession with Pinterest, I found some fantastic photos, like this beautiful ballerina (above,) that inspired me to start drawing again. I used to be so opposed to drawing from a picture, that it wasn't really drawing if you were working off a 2D image. (I guess I've gotten over that one since building my custom bridal illustration business!)

Drawing, shading, and texturizing my subject with only pencil and using brushes and paints again has been like visiting an old friend I haven't seen in a decade. (I feel like I sound crazy, I realize this, but its true!)

So for the summer I've decided to keep this sketching momentum going by adding these sketches, starting with Brooklyn Ballerina to my etsy shop available as $6 mini prints. I think this will be a nice little summer project to reinvigorate me and the shop. Are you trying anything new for summer?

She's a Sketch {Louise}

Living in Manhattan its hard to miss all the beautiful girls abound. Within the group, there are a select few that can only be described, at least to this fashion illustrator, as "A Sketch." Its girls who have that je ne sais quoi. A combination of the modelesque physique paired with a flawlessly chic fashion sense. Louise here, who I spotted on the roof-deck of the Met, is surely one of them!

Louise was kind enough to take a picture of my friend Sarah and I. As she was taking our photo I couldn't help but notice how adorable she was and asked if I could take a pic of her for my "she's a sketch" series here on Fabulous Doodles.

It was a brutally hot city day yet she looked so calm, cool and collected in her linen shorts, wrap tank, and ballet flats. I came home inspired by Louise (who told us she was from Holland!) and all the amazing pencil drawings I saw at the Metropolitan Museum that day that I decided to pick up my sketchbook and draw.

Click here for my previous She's a Sketch post.

Illustrating Fashion: Concept to Creation

Steven Stipelman has done it again with the latest edition of his book Illustrating Fashion: Concept to Creation (3rd Edition). Stipelman's book is an excellent resource for anyone, from the aspiring student to the experienced and working fashion illustrator. The book includes step-by-step tutorials on how to draw everything from the basic fashion figure, hands, feet, and faces to clothing details like fur cuffs, tweed, lace and tulle.

In one of my very first posts on Fabulous Doodles I shared the first edition (here), as its been a staple on my bookshelves since college. In this latest edition Stipelman has updated it by redrawing more than 1,000 full color illustrations and referencing designer garments and time periods for accurate historical references.

Illustrating Fashion Concept to Creation (3rd Edition) is very easy to navigate through and use as a reference. Its divided into five main sections:

• Getting Started: Supplies, lines, etc.
• The Fashion Figure: Hands, feet, shaping the body, gesture and balance line.
• The Fashion Details: Silhouettes, necklines, drapery and bias, tailored clothing and accessories.
• Rendering: Stripes, plaids, knits and other intricate rendering techniques.
• Extras: Walking figures, menswear, children, flats.

Stipelman is an incredible teacher and seasoned fashion illustrator, so to sit in a classroom and watch him sketch was a privelage. (I was lucky enough to have Stipleman as my professor for four consecutive semesters!) Now you can observe and learn form him as well, because with this book comes a dvd of demonstrations by Stipelman! Watching my professor and friend drawing made me feel like I was 19 again, gathered around his desk with other FIT students mezmorized by his illustrating.

This book is used as a textbook for all of FIT's fashion design students and is a splurge worthy necessity for any fashion illustrator. You can check it out, along with a few of my other book recommendations here, in my Amazon shop.

eDrop-Off Illustrations

The past few weeks I have been busy working on illustrations for a website relaunch called eDrop-Off. Now that the site is up and running I can share the illustrations with you! eDrop-Off is based out of Chicago and they are the leading designer consignment shop specializing in selling designer and luxury items on eBay. They offer the chicest designer labels, so my illustrations had to be on par with Chanel, Gucci, and Oscar.

They were such great clients to work with, very trusting and easy going. They loosely provided me with descriptions of what they were looking for (like "classic Chanel suit") and sometimes a pose (like "knees together,") and let me render how I saw fit, choosing colors, fabrics, hair, and accessories.

Every time we were about to be done a few more illustration requests were added, so it ended up being a pretty big job consisting of 8 girls, an authenticity seal, a stack of magazines with a designer shoe on top, a customized Tiffany bracelet and a bulletin board with "designer" push pins! I also did a few fun things for their launch party, but I'll share those another time.

The team at eDrop Off was an absolute delight to work with (thank you Nicole!) and I wish them continued success with the new website and in their new location.

Visit eDrop-Off to check out my illustrations in action, see all the fabulous designer items for sale, and maybe even send them some of your own. It's free pick nationwide, although I can't promise your UPS person will look like this one! (below)

Tuesday Tip: Sequins

A while back you may remember I wrote about my favorite tools for fashion illustration and I mentioned the whiteout pen. Well to successfully render sequins a whiteout pen is vital. (At least for this fashion illustrator!) It's also best when choosing your marker to pick a very wet and saturated marker, like a Chartpak and a classic black Sharpie marker.

I happen to really enjoy rendering sequins, especially all-over sequins (a-la Diana Ross or Cher.) There are a few specific steps to it, but don't stress, its pretty hard to mess up. And once you complete them the results are stunning.

1. You begin by coloring the base of your design. Its important to leave white streaks where you want your highlights. Let it dry a little then add a second coat of your color to areas in shadow (see example #1.)
2. Outline the design, draw any seams, and add any extra shadowing with a dark pencil. I use the Prismacolor cool gray 90% pencil. (#2)
3. With your black Sharpie stipple dots all over the garment (#3). Load up on dots in areas that are white and are going to be a highlight.
4. With your whiteout pen place a dot on top of each black one. Get a rhythm going and it will be over before you know it. (#4)
5. This is not a necessary step, but I like to add a few faint "X's" with my finest tip black pen to create subtle streaks of light. (I use a Micron pen, tip size 005)

The white dots will absorb the color you put down first, especially if you used a very wet marker. The dots will turn into a lighter shade of your color. This is why if you look at my examples, they don't look like white sequins on colored fabrics. It looks as though I've actually painted all these little colored sequins! And the tip of the Sharpie, being almost the same width as the whiteout pen, creates the perfect shadow to make each sequin pop.

Above are illustrations from my Etsy shop of Carrie and Samantha (from the first SATC movie), both sporting fabulous sequin pieces. Carrie is available in a print, magnet or bookmark, and Samantha is on a bookmark.

Inside the Sketchbook: Renaldo Barnette

As promised I have more fabulous fashion illustrations to share with you from the sketchbook of my friend Renaldo Barnette. These illustrations are a small sampling of the inner (and outer, with the cover sketch pictured above) workings of his sketchbook and how he builds on ideas and develops his designs.

I love how he uses dress forms here to illustrate the back of designs. Its different and adds depth to the pages but its also such a genius time saver. I didn't actually discuss this with Ren, so I can only speak for myself here, but each illustration takes time, even if its just a back view. So to not have to illustrate another set arms, legs, head of hair, etc. helps your design rhythm to flow and stay focused on creating.

Another element in Renaldo's sketches that I admire is that he illustrates a variety of ethnicities and bodies. Many illustrators stick to one overall look but that is clearly not the case for Renaldo. You even see evidence of that in the few images in this one post.

These were just a few samples of Renaldo's work that I quickly photographed while we sat on park bench in my neighborhood with an hour to kill. Hopefully he'll let me share some more with you again soon. (And hopefully next time there won't be a sketchy homeless man serenading me!) Because I love a good Renaldo fix, as I'm sure you, my readers, do too!

Tuesday Tip: Denim

Back by popular demand, here is a new Tuesday Tip! A few people have asked me about how I render denim and jeans, so I've put together this little tutorial. To start you need to choose your denim color. The two colors that I use most frequently for denim are the Pantone 652-T (which I used in these examples) for lighter denim and the Copic marker in Agate B99 for dark denim.

1. Take your chosen color and fill in the garment with a solid wash.
2. With the same color, draw thin diagonal stripes. This can be with the fine tip end of the marker (this Pantone marker has 3 tips) or with a colored pencil in the same color.
3. Draw diagonal lines with a white pencil. *This is the key step to rendering denim effectively!
4. Using Cool Gray 90% pencil draw the seam lines. Then you have the option of taking a yellow/orange pencil to draw stitch lines parallel to each seam line. (This is not a must)

Something to keep in mind is that you can also add shadows and highlights within that first step. If you leave some white streaks, they will act as your highlights. And by applying a second layer of the marker to select edges and folds you can create shadows. This is exactly what I did to render the jeans shown in my "doodle" at the top of this post. For older posts with more of my illustrations of denim click here, here, or here.

I know everyone really enjoys the Tuesday Tip posts, therefore I've brought them back, however I can't promise to write one every tuesday. They are extremely time consuming so for now I'm going to shoot for one every 2 or 3 weeks. Enjoy!

Tuesday Tip: Lips

This week I want to get specific with you and focus on one feature, the mouth. There are many different ways to draw a mouth; smiling, smirking or even frowning. I'm going to show you my standard go-to perfect pout. Once you master this it's easy to play around and try variations.

1-Start by drawing a circle. Then draw one line through then center horizontally and another vertically.

2-Mark the sides and center with slightly darker "dashes" and begin drawing the contour of the mouth.

3-Lightly erase all the lines. (Once you add marker you cannot erase, the marker sets it into the paper.) Just leave the faint pencil lines so you can still see where to apply color.

4-Add a second coat of marker to the entire top lip and very bottom edge of the bottom lip. Then with your dark pencil lightly outline and add shadows in the center middle, center bottom, and sides.

Something important to keep in mind when drawing the mouth is the top lip is ALWAYS darker because its in shadow. Look in the mirror or some photos and blur your eyes and you'll instantly see it. Above is an example of the "perfect pout" on Audrey from my etsy shop. (Dylan, Vogue and Mystie all sport a variation of this mouth as well.)

For now this is the last tuesday tip. It was only set up as a four week series, but I do promise to resume it again sometime in the future. Thank you though for all the positive feedback! Happy sketching!