René Habermacher & Jannis Tsipoulanis

More after the jump . . .

Julie Verhoeven - 'Fashion Icons' For Ponystep Magazine

Julie Verhoeven created some original illustrations of the industries' top designers for the launch issue of Ponystep magazine. Make sure you grab a copy of the first issue while you can, the second is due out very soon!

Richard Gray - New illustrations

Richard has just produced 10 fantastic new illustrations for a perfume editorial in the next issue of Commons&Sense in Japan. Commons&Sense is a large format magazine, so grabbing a copy would give you ten great size images of his work. I hope they're full page! Via the Art Department Illustration Blog.






More after the jump . . .

David Downton - Couture Voyeur

Thursday 8th ended up being quite a profound day for me. Firstly, I received news (which I can't divulge) in regards to my own illustration work that will in no doubt change and potentially help define my career. Presumptuous to say so I know, or to even talk about it. So, straight after this news, I was off to attend David Downton's talk at the Fashion Illustration Gallery on Cork St, a talk that I jumped at the chance of attending the moment it was announced. On the way out of the tube at Oxford Circus I even noticed the new posters for Fenwick's Autumn Winter ad campaign, beautifully done by David himself. David's talk, coupled with aforementioned news, left me feeling almost emotional at the level of passion I felt towards fashion illustration, and how I'm absolutely confident in knowing I want to continue with it for as long as I can.




More after the jump . . .

Tony Viramontes

"I look for new ideas because I always want to be in a state of creative anxiety and insecurity. If I feel sure of myself I cannot be creative."

It’s hard to write anything original about Viramontes when there are hundreds of articles out there documenting his incredible and tragically short career. His electric and energetic illustrations remain a great influence to all fashion illustrators in terms of both technique and style. I have however managed to scan some old copies of ‘fashion illustration’ and the revised edition, ‘fashion illustration today’ by Nicholas Drake which was released when Viramontes was still alive, which contains some illustrations that I haven’t seen elsewhere online.
Viramontes was more than just an illustrator, and he disliked being referred to as one. He would also work with photography and mixed the two mediums together, creating striking new wave images that would go on to gain iconic status. His work for The Face (particularly my favourite) worked closely with Ray Petri, Barry Kamen and Mitzi Lorenz and helped define the Buffalo style period of the 80s, the period that The Face was considered to be at it’s peak. Unfortunately, his career was cut short when he tragically died in 1988 of Aids, aged just 28. It’s saddening to think just how much more he would have accomplished had he lived on.
The facts:
Born in Los Angeles in 1960. After travelling extensively was based in New York - studying photography and fine arts.
A trip to Paris saw him work for major houses like Valentino, Claude Montana and Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Versace, Chanel, Perry Ellis and Rochas cosmetics.
His style was fast and electric, and he would work through dozens of quickly drawn illustrations to capture the right one. He completely wiped the floor with the illustrators at the time who were favoured for working in a softer pastel style.
His sketches caught Anna Piaggi's attention - he worked for Vogue Italia, Harpers Bazaar, Lei in Italy, Vogue USA, The Face, Marie Claire and Le Monde in France.
He listed among his influences Man Ray, Jean Cocteau, Degas, Matisse, Egon Schiele, Picasso, Fellini and Tom of Finland.
Goldy - the latest Italian version of Fiorucci - and Hanae Mori, the Japanese couturiere, asked him to take on the artistic direction of their companies, from the decoration of their boutiques to the design of their collections.
"It is extremes and contrasts that inspire me - an enormous lady in the street leading a tiny dog on a leash, for example. It is essential to capture the image, not a detail, not a garment or an expression, but an impression. Of the hundreds of sketches I might make for one drawing, it is almost always the first drawing which states the essential.”












More after the jump . . .

Luca Mantovanelli

Luca is relatively new to the world of fashion illustration, the illustrations he has produced in the last few months have significantly contributed to defining his style and we can expect to see a lot more of his work over the next few months I imagine.
I love his use of colour and tone, it manages to feel muted and colourful at the same time thanks to the grey dusky tones at play. As with all good fashion illustration, his appreciation for composition and line plays a strong part in his execution. And who doesn't like to stare at images of hot young male models?

Interestingly Luca also studied architecture, which shows through in the sharp execution and proportions.

Follow his Tumblr here.
If you like his work, make sure you also check out the work of Ricardo Fumanal, Jean Paul Thurlow and Jenny Mortsell.







More after the jump . . .

Bernadette Pascua

While surfing through various random blogs about fashion illustration and other things, I came across a link to the work of Bernadette Pascua, and I'm kind of surprised I haven't come across her illustrations before. Her work varies from the simplest of line work, to more ink based and commercially viable illustration for mags like Grazia.
I'm absolutely in love with and inspired by the simpler illustrations and their spare quality, all of which boast a fantastic proportions and character with such little markmaking. I've included all of my favourites in this long post but check out these other links to see more.
Bernadette's Flickr
Her Website.








More after the jump

DAMIEN BLOTTIÈRE

WOAH. I have been paying attention to Damien's work for a good while, but everytime I see new work from him, it feels just as fresh and exciting. A 'WOAH' felt more than appropriate to start this post with.
Damien has been building up a steady portfolio of editorial work over the last few years, working for magazines such as Dazed & Confused, I.T Post, Commons & Sense, Purple Fashion and being a fashion editor for Mixte. He has collaborated with Bernhard Willhelm and worked for Pierre Hardy, Paule Ka, Stella Mc Cartney and Carven

More after the jump . . .

New work by Tara Dougans

Tara brings us yet more incredible work, illustrating this years Student Collections at the Elite Design Academy. Tara explained "I thought about all the talented people I have met who burn brightly, and the concept of ‘a moth to a flame,’"
SO beautiful, I love the muted tones and composition, Tara's work never fails to wow me.

Full article can be seen at Nowness

Video of Decoy Issue 2

I thought I produce a quick video to show the contents of the issue! Make sure you put it onto hd mode if you can, mainly just because I hate blurry videos, and want to show off the great content.
Copies have been selling quite fast so there's a chance they could be sold out in a few weeks, get one while you can!

Patrick Nagel, the ultimate influential illustrator of the 80s?

**Before I begin, I have to point out that I've included a lot of hard to find rare, commerical and Playboy illustrations by Nagel. A simple google search will bring you his most popular works in a matter of milliseconds, so I though it would be nice to pool together a big mix of lesser seen works, alongside one or two more iconic pieces**






The first thing ANYONE usually thinks when seeing Nagel's work, before even thinking of 'illustration', is simply "EIGHTIES"
While this would be considered by the less mindful to be a negative aspect, it shows just how much Nagel's style impacted the visual language of the era. If you go round east london you will see "fakel" illustrations (rip-offs) used in every other nail and hair bar. It has become completely synonymous with the high impact o.t.t glamour of that decade. Nagel is also the German translation for "nails", whether that has something to do with it too perhaps, I'm not sure.

More after the jump . . . .

Original illustrations available.

Hello readers, I've decided to make some of my works available for private purchase. If you think you would be interested in purchasing a signed original piece, please email me (richard@richardkilroy.com) for a quote and I will try to keep prices reasonable, bearing in mind these are the original works, NOT a print. Make sure you refer to my site to see all works. www.richardkilroy.com


The illustrations available are:

8 x illustrations from the series "An Illustrated Look At Modern Menswear" for Ponystep

8 x illustrations from the series "The French Resistance" for Ponystep

3 x illustrations for Husk Magazine

2 x illustrations for I.T Post magazine.

illustrations in Hedi Slimane's California Boys

The new issue of Man About Town is a beauty. Hedi was appointed the creative director for the whole issue and guest editor, so what are you getting is essentially a Hedi Slimane Book / Portfolio, which oozes his sleek aesthetic from every layout and image. Make sure you buy this, at £7 it's probably a little more than you would normally expect but totally worth it, it WILL be a collectable.

Anyway, I thought I would post these two illustrations featured in the editorial 'California Boys'. The illustrations are self-portraits by the model Brennen Steines.