Form

Without actual form. One of the things prized in fashion illustration is the ability to delineate for with a minimum of lines. The simpler, the more elegant. I've been studying current tropes favored by younger illustrators to try and dissect what makes them more desirable to younger generations, and seeing how they differ from (or are similar to) previous generations techniques...

And there are crazy made up hats!

Framed: Isauro

I went through various miniscule details but it's amazing how the tiniest tweaks make a difference to my eyes, so much so that I can feel that this portrait is done. Done! Wonder now if I should go ahead and actually do it as a series like I had originally planned.

Noel, Joanne and their friend Heron

Noel, Joanne and their friend Heron huddled in closer for the shot... which, as you can see, really wasn't terribly necessary.

Framed 8

I ran into my model for this piece, Isauro, when I went to the gym this evening (well, afternoon if you discount how early the sun sets) and he appears to be growing his hair out. So I need to finish this before he doesn't resemble his portrait! I totally cheated though and didn't finish last night, and kept refining it well into the next night - I really wanted to finsih it. And it's pretty close to done - just need to stop a bit, and come back to it later and see if I'm satisfied with the progress. But for now it looks good.

Another reason I delayed was in my numbering system, this was drawing number 2000!  But that's kinda weird since I know that sometimes I have multiple entries for a day and they all have the same number, but additionally, my blog count says I have about 2190 posts, which may include notes and alerts, but I can't think I would have done about 200 non-drawing posts. Still, in almost 6 years, I suppose it's highly possible.

Beardy 2

I didn't finish it the way I liked yesterday, but I liked what I started. It was one of those drawings that you do when you have an idea, and you just decide to sketch it. If I had a sketchpad handy, this would be on it... and worked on over and over, just for fun...

Beardy

Beards have gone from ironic to fairly mainstream in fashion. Now they're just as normal as tattoos: considered edgy, but not unusual. I do like it when the man wearing the beard isn't so much a bear as a normal weight or even skinny guy wearing it as a style element. I like the fashion edge more than the fetish aspect of a beard.

Framed 7

Sometimes time passing between working on a piece is a good thing, because it allows you to see things you were either too invested in to change, or it just lets you feel less' precious' about the work you're doing. Sometimes I feel like everything needs to be 'just so, but when I opened this up again I just found myself sketching away automatically, adding more shading when I think I was actually holding back before. I think I had a particular style in mind that I wanted to mimic, but this time I just drew the way I felt like drawing, and it seemed to make things go by faster. How is this different from the previous? Well, fuller shading, and even more fullness to come, methinks.

Selene

I kept of thinking how bad this drawing was, in terms of finishing.I kept thinking I needed to go back into it and clean it up. So I brought it into Photoshop because this was drawn originally in Painter. It's funny, Painter was my program of choice but now, I'm so used to working in Photoshop and have figured out some of the brushes I want, that I didn't feel comfy in Painter the way I used to.Anyhow, I think cleaning up the linework is more than I want to do right now, so I did at least try to compose it so it was a bit more interesting as an action shot...

What A Character, v2.0

I went back to my photographs to see if there was a better photo. While the previous shot I started sketching was a good portrait, I realize that the second one made for a better action shot. So I'm testing two sketches for this vignette...

What A Character

Kenshin is an accomplished hairstylist in the NY downtown scene, but he's visually quite the character. IN some ways it's really easy to draw him because of his prominent styling, but at the same time, it becomes a challenge to get past them and draw his real features. So what I thought was a good start a few days ago? Not so much. I had to retool almost all of it, and it's still not there.

Hair Again!

Well, I was making cocktails earlier tonight and just wanted something mindless to sketch while I enjoyed my Spicy Pear Martini. Well, the second one. And before I knew it the clock had ticked 12 mn, and I forgot to post in time for yesterday.But anyhow, here's tonight's/lasy night's sketch.

Hair (Again) Today

I have quite a few drawings to catch up on but certainly need to take a brief breather form the fashion illustration. Always good to take a break. And drawing in a more comicbook frame of mind, I'm wondering to myself, what happened to my line? It's gotten strangely fine back in Painter! Anyhow, I thought this might be former Hellfire Club villain, The Black Queen, Selene (from The X-men).

Hiroki and his friend Heron

Hiroki and his friend Heron are fully booked this week.

Naturally 3

This nude of my friend F is turning out somewhat classical (for me) and I don't mind. After all the fashion illustration, I need to do something else as a creative sorbet.

Zipper LIne

After dinner uptown with my friends last night, I sat on the train home, and took to observing what people wore,as I usually do. A woman who stood next to me had side-zipped boots over tights that had side zippers from the ankles almost to her knee, and I liked the fact that they lined up pretty perfectly with the boot zipper. But the reality of my realization doesn't necessarily make a compelling drawing, so I'm glad at least for a flimsy excuse to practice my fauxtercolors in Photoshop.

Hair Today

I've been drawing too many men, and I felt the need to just draw whatever came to my stylus... and yup, it was some super heroine figure. I rather liked how it formed (there's more, but I cropped it for now) because I hadn't planned on anything and it was all instinct. Also, I'm tipsy from vodka.

Fashion In Progress: Siki Im

And here's the previous series on designer Siki Im.

And while I've posted older projects, here's a new one for today: the remarkable Kenshin,who does hair for many of Downtown's fashion elite...

Fashion In Progress: Antonio Azzuolo

I realize that while I posted the intermediary stages for my projects, I never actually posted the complete finished series. So here is the Antonio Azzuolo series on my Behance profile.

Best Chest

A makeup artist applies makeup to a model's chest at the Azzuolo show because the model's runway look sports an open, kimono-like top with no buttons.

Elfin Smile 3

I thought I was done, but after I googled all the models names so I could identify them in each sketch, I found myself looking through photos of this particular model in search of identifying factors, and with each photo I found I realized I had to go in and retool the portrait. It's always difficult since I'm not one of those photographic artists, but I suppose that means I have a hand which is also hopefully a style.

That's Just Ducky

My mac can't seem to handle too many processes all at once. If I'm working on Photoshop  or my browser, if I get any mail the whatever I'm doing seems to stall, and it takes several seconds, even a minute or two sometimes, to resolve. I hate that. I mean, it doesn't freeze and need rebooting, bu I do have to stop the flow of my work (or play). It's especially annoying when I play any streaming movies. Anyhow, during one such stall, I picked up a random slip of paper ( a plea from Food & Wine magazine asking me to subscribe) and doodled.

Elfin Smile 2

Part of me reeeally wants to paint this in but no, I had slotted this sketch to be in 'pencil' state only. So that necessitated being satisfied with a minimalist sketch likeness, so I only worked on it today. Last night, after cooking dinner at my friend's place, I was a bit too drunk to draw, so I took the night off and am doing a catchup drawing today.

Runway Saunter

I love walk poses, because they're toned down and normal, yet have so much complexity that can be difficult to capture. This pic I took of a runway model in mid-stride while heading back to down the runway, had a nice strong-yet-relaxed quality about it.

Elfin Smile

Male models rarely smile when they're on, but backstage is another matter. I wasn't sure what photo to work from next, but I had marked this particular shot earlier as a possible first choice, and now it's officially part of the mix. I'd love to do it in full color but I think I need a few more plain pencils.

It Bears Investigating

I'm retooling a nondenominational holiday card project and I thought that maybe polar bears might be worth exploring (I'd already used up birds and winter tree scenes).

A Shoe-In

I don't even know what the term means - "shoe-in" - but I'm anxiously listening to the election results and hoping for the best... and painting a shoe.

Kevin and his friend Heron

Kevin and his friend Heron both thought the roof would be a great place for a photo shoot, but no one knew feathers were so friction-free.

Makeup Vixen 2

The makeup artist for the next (recently-concluded SS2013) show I'm drawing now was a very stylish Japanese woman with an almost 1960s-ish "Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill" look going on. She was quite a personality from the minute you saw her. I loved the shot I used as a reference for this drawing, because she was so tiny compared to the super tall male model they used to test hair and makeup. She was poised over him in her super-high heels applying foundation to his face with both her hands, and there was something very detached yet sensual about it...

Makeup Vixen

I'm a week late on my fashion illustration series. I had planned on doing some pencil roughs to complement the more finished paintings like the last time, but hurricanes apparently had other ideas regarding Downtown New Yorkers and their need for electricity. Anyhow, first new pencil roughs tonight...

Hurrican Sandy: Blackout, Night 4

On my way home from uptown each night, I would walk down Seventh Avenue and pass by a TD Bank on the last block before the first block which didn't have electricity. It was such a stark contrast, as all the street lights, windows and storefronts were dark. In the bank's ATM vestibule however were a few guys camped out, 3 nights in a row. They were plugging their laptops into extension cords, and just hanging out sitting in the vestibule floor. I made note to do a quick sketch of the scene.

Hurrican Sandy: Blackout, Night 3

Sandy cancelled Halloween, but there were a few people out in costume on the the eve of the holiday. As I walked uptown to visit a friend for dinner and a show(er), I noticed a rather smartly-dressed guy who wasn't in costume. I liked how he looked so I made note to draw him later.

Hurrican Sandy: Blackout, Night 2

One thing I really like about my apartment building is that I have some really nice neighbors. Even the not-so-nice ones actually got friendlier. We were connecting in ways that we normally wouldn't, especially as we exchanged rumors about what was going on, when power might return, and what to do about food and water. However, one of the ubiquitous signs of modern living - internet connectivity - was faltering, because of lack of power. But people still were going around glued to their phones, the light from the touchscreens illuminating their faces in the otherwise dark streets.

Hurrican Sandy: Blackout, Night 1

These ar sketches I did on my sketchpad, via candlelight on the evenings during the 5 day blackout. Because ir was still windy and raining, my mind kept thinking of Storm from the X-men, and how her powers would be super handy during... er, Sandy. Can't say I love the drawing, but hey, it was dark.

Post-Sandy Post

In the midst of Hurricane Sandy's assault on New York, power was turned off for much of Lower Manhattan on Monday night. It just came on today for my section of the city. Without connectivity, I wasn't able to upload the drawing I did since Monday, but I HAVE been drawing (at least, with a pen and paper, in candlelight)! Will upload them starting tomorrow.