Julie Verhoeven - A Bit of Rough

I don't know about you, but this totally went under my radar. God knows how, since i'm such a fan of Julie's work, and anybody will tell you it's not easy to get hold of 'Fat Bottomed Girls' or 'Gas Book 13', Julie's two book titles, both of which go for an absolute FORTUNE on the likes of amazon and ebay.

I bought Gas Book 13 as a present for a friend years ago, thinking i'll be able to get a copy of my own sometime. Could I? NO. The Gas 13 book is a treasure to behold, and Julie's talents, while praised to no end in the fashion industry, aren't as appreciated as much as they should be. Her abstract figures and skewed compositions are just incredible, women are usually always the central figures that reflect both a balance of beauty and feminism, yet hold a darker malevolent stirring. I was lucky enough to see her instore display at the Mulberry Store in Leeds while I was living there too, where the walls were covered in doodles and illustratons. I can't find any of it online, but I hope was well photographed and documented by someone.

Her new book, 'A Bit of Rough' IS available at Amazon, so grab a copy while you can, it includes a great selection of images and an essay by critic Francesca Gavin.

Here are some images both related and non related to the book, and also my favourite music video of all time, Mel G's Word Up, art directed by Verhoeven. Also check out a load of great photograph's of Julie's work on Flickr

Masters of Illustration by David Downton

Downton has released a brand new book called 'Masters of Illustration'. Seeing as how I haven't actually seen the book yet, I can't really offer any original words or opinion, and I don't want to copy and paste off Amazon like every other soul seems to have done!!

To see a video on Vogue's site from the book launch click here. Some great interviews with the likes of Erin O'Connor, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Philip Treacy and Sophia from 10 mag discussing Downton's work and the importance of fashion illustration, and also a decent preview of some of the spreads

Issue 2

Hey Guys! Some great illustrators featured for the second issue. It's with pride I can announce that Ricardo Fumanal will be the cover star and centrefold, with new illustrations coming up from his new exhibition and an interview.

Also, two incredibly successful illustrators give us their thoughts with Q&As, Jasper Goodall, and Si Scott!!

Male-Mode's Cillian Connor gives us this month's fanboy designer worship and talks about why Thom Browne is his ultimate designer, illustrator yet to be confirmed for that one!

I also put the spotlight on two major personal influences with illustrated articles, the late illustrator George Stavrinos, and an article on why Gattaca is the perfect film for a fashion audience.

We also have a potential interview with a legend, but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by confirming it, just in case it doesn't happen. Stay Tuned!!

John Paul Thurlow's Covers Shoot

Jean-Paul is heavily at work in putting together his limited edition Covers book, something i'm very excited about. Here are some outtake images, but check out the full post over on his blog here

New prints by Jasper Goodall

Hi Guys! Long time no post I know, make sure you are joining Decoy's company page on facebook for all your latest illustrative info!

Anyway, Decoy favourite Jasper Goodall has just opened up his online print shop, and to start things off he's included three gorgeous new illustrations for it.
These are a perfect evolution of Goodall's style, while retaining his signatures of kinky female sexuality and graphic simplicity, he's embraced newer techniques and also captured the zeitgeist style of retro-landscapes&polygons that we've been seeing promoted a lot on zines and sites like www.booooooom.com. Visit his site here.

New Alex Noble Illustration

Stephanie Seymour, drawn for a charity auction. Gorgeous as usual.

Polygon

I've become strangely fascinated with polygons in people's work. Most probably my desire to study things that are techincally difficult to draw (in a realist sense) and also my obsession with the desire to map out, plan, and have everything mathematically correct. (I got the numbers game twice on countdown when even Carol didn't you know)

Here are two great examples. Incredible illustrations by Viktor Timofeev (all done on ink & paper) and new photographs by Hedi Slimane from Berlin.

admittedly

I've been rubbish at keeping up with posts on this blog. I have however (pretty much) been posting about illustrators daily over on the facebook page. Look for the Decoy company page (not the group page) so you can get a nice daily update or point of interest!!
For now, here are some illustrations by the french illustrator Margot, who is a master of beautifully spare lines.

Lovisa Burfitt for H&M milan, instore illustrations

Having just had a crazy surf/trawl through many creative blogs, Lovisa's work stood out to me for it's simplicity and direct style. Really elegant simple pen / ink works used as instore interior decoration. It's good to see work like this used so effectively, it's something a lot of stores can learn from.
I've been meaning to post on the illustration work currently used in British store Marks & Spencer, but these are far nicer basically.
Check out Lovisa's site.

Paper Scissor Stone

Without doubt the coolest store in Leeds, UK, Paper Scissor Stone is now stocking copies of Decoy!

Founded by Steve Banks, head of clothing label Electronic Poet, and Si Scott, famed illustrator, the store brings together inspirations from clothing and footwear to art and prints, make sure you check out their online store if you don't live near enough to visit.

Visit their site here.

Mat Maitland

These were created a few months ago for an editorial for L'officiel Paris. Maitland's work is instantly recognisable for it's bright and exciting compositions, always with fantastic colour use and imagery. Check out his portfolio over on www.bigactive.com

New work from Ricardo Fumanal

These beautiful illustrations just popped up on his site, as part of a series of 25 illustrations for the Tsum Department Store in Moscow.