Sparked

Yearning for Spring

Geoffry — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:50:43 +0000

Fashion marker gesture drawing of model Sharri Sutton

Next week begins Spring Break and in NYC we’re enjoying the warmer weather. With temperatures reaching 60°s this marker gesture of our model Sharri from yesterday’s class inspired me to post. Coming up is another tut on Painting in Adobe Illustrator!

And come draw at our next Fashion Model Drawing Meetup scheduled for March 20th at The Center in the West Village.

Fountain Art Fair | The Art Ship

Geoffry — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:42:03 +0000

Fountain Art Fair 2010

Maybe attending design school and not having the art school experience, I’m particularly fond of these creative “happenings”. This weekend concludes Arts Week in NYC with the established Armory, Scope and Pulse shows presenting new works by the international art community. In the mix, Fountain Art Fair has created a buzz this year showcasing independent talent. Founded in 2006, Fountain’s mission is to give smaller galleries and artists exposure to the larger art world. While art is subjective the venue for Fountain is a must see on the Frying Pan, the lightship rescued from the deep and back at Pier 66 at 26th street.

Brooklyn-based video and installation artist, Allison Berkoy, presenting In the Belly of the Lightship takes over rooms and caverns in the lightship with her life size video projections. The installation creates an unusual and surreal narrative suggesting events of the ship’s storied past.

Arts Week ends today but you can follow Fountain Art Fair for a happening in your area.

Fountain Art Fair 2010

Fountain Art Fair 2010 | In The Belly of the Lightship by Allison Berkoy

Rosson Crow’s Time Capsule

Geoffry — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:19:55 +0000

Posing in front of her painting Pop Shop artist Rosson Crow wears custom designed gown by Zac Posen

It’s nice to see that painters are getting dressed up for their openings! Last night’s event at Deitch for Rosson Crow’s new show Bowery Boys definitely brought back the ’80s. The minimal large open white box on Wooster Street in Soho synthesized by Crow’s nostalgia almost made you see ghosts. Receiving an invitation from our friend Alexxa, Chris and I were among the fashionable art crowd.

Crow’s subject matter captures the icongraphy of spaces and districts void of the people who created or inhabited them. Her large scale oils of the Bowery explored the history of “bad boys” in underground art and as an agent of culture in New York City. Most striking about Crow’s work is the renewed interest in actual paint. Experiencing virtual and minimal installations, art has been abstracted and reduced making brushes, strokes and imagery feel human.

Rosson Crow Bowery Boys is on view at Deitch until March 27 at 18 Wooster Street.

Rosson Crow, Untiltled (opium den), 2009, Oil, acrylic and enamel on canvas

Rosson Crow, The Pop Shop, 2010, Oil, acrylic and enamel on canvas

Rosson Crow, Barber Shop, 2009-2010, Oil, acrylic and enamel on canvas

Who Let The Dogs Out?

Geoffry — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:41:36 +0000

VMAN Spring 2010 | Bow Tie and Scarf by Tom Ford

Who wears it better? Man’s best friend or the master? In the Spring 2010 issue of VMAN, photographer Adam Fedderly and stylist James Worthington Demolet answer the question. The complete issue is filled with beautifully shot menswear editorials and on newsstands!

VMAN Spring 2010 | Hat by Z Zegna Tie by Brioni

VMAN Spring 2010 | Hat and Tie by Paul Smith

Sketching in Illustrator | The Fashion Face

Geoffry — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:06:17 +0000

The finished face viewed in Illustrator Preview mode.

The Helmut Newton homage make-up found on many of the runways in Milan’s Fashion Week inspired me to create this quick tutorial. Using Adobe Illustrator, the Brush and Blob Tool provide invaluable fun and experimentation. Just like natural media, beginning with a few simple line gestures, I prefer to use bold shapes and strong contrast to express the features. Recently, I’ve been sketching with markers from live models, and much of the quick and unfinished quality is key to sketching on the computer.

You’ll notice I don’t begin using a scanned sketch as a Template layer. I prefer sketching directly on the screen for spontaneous strokes. But, as I begun to incorporate this process, I found beginning with a sketch locked in a Template layer helpful.

To achieve the best results taking advantage of Illustrator’s brush pressure sensitivity, using a Wacom tablet or if you have the budget, Wacom’s Cintiq is important. Maybe, we can look forward to an Apple iPad drawing app soon!

The finished face viewed in Illustrator Outline mode.

Enlarged view of the Blob and Brush Tool and it’s use. The Blob Tool is great to loosely paint objects while the Brush Tool provides specific style and detail.

Demonstrating the pressure sensitivity of Wacom’s 6D Art Pen Brushes using the Wacom tablet and pen. Lightly touching the pen on the tablet creates a fine line weight while applying pressure makes the same stroke heavier.

Step 1

Begin to loosely sketch the features and focus on proportion. We’ll begin to stylize brush strokes in Step 2

Step 2

As natural media, irregular line weight brings emphasis and depth to the sketch. Experiment with Illustrator’s Brushes Pane to discover the myriad of styles.

Step 3

Using the Wacom tablet, broadly paint adding volume to the features and hair. I used the background to define the 3 quarter view for variation.

Step 4

Continue to define the features using the Brush and Blob Tool.

Step 5

The finished face.

Milan Fashion Week/twitpic the Runway

Geoffry — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:27:37 +0000

Prada Autumn/Winter 2010 twitpic by WWD

Keeping up with the online competition, print stalwarts such as Elle and WWD that also provide a digital presence, are twitpic-ing impromptu runway impressions. As live streaming of fashion shows extends the reviewer’s experience, instantly viewing these quick snaps extends the audience vantage point. The result is often more interesting than just clothes, capturing the atmosphere that creates fashion.

Prada Autumn/Winter 2010 twitpic by mrjoezee

Fendi Autumn/Winter 2010 twitpic by mrjoezee

D&G Autumn/Winter 2010 twitpic by mrjoezee

Burberry, Fashion Streams On!

Geoffry — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:01:23 +0000

Burberry Autumn/Winter 2010

Designer Christopher Bailey for Burberry Prorsum got ahead of the curve streaming live, his message of the brand’s Autumn/Winter 2010 collection. Beginning with backstage and pre-show interviews, the production brought yet another front row perspective to the worldwide community. In a paradox between print and digital media, incorporating the social platform from Facebook and Twitter further democratizes the runway. In real time, Burberry enthusiasts and maybe even customers exchanged tweets and updates as the models swaggered the luxurious shearlings. And, before high street retailers can react, the simultaneous pre-selling of the clothes introduces fashion 3.0.

Burberry Autumn/Winter 2010 | Twiggy!

Burberry Autumn/Winter 2010 | The Kooks

Burberry Autumn/Winter 2010

Fashion Drawing Meetup

Geoffry — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:06:15 +0000

5 minute marker sketch from our first fashion drawing Meetup at the Brooklyn Lyceum.

Last Saturday afternoon began our monthly fashion drawing Meetup sessions. Held at the Brooklyn Lyceum, Chris and I transformed their sunny cafe into a creative drawing studio. We enjoyed meeting artists from different disciplines looking to experience sketching from the fashion model. Beginning with gestures, the 3 hour Meetup finished with longer poses, while Ema, our model, the perfect artist’s figure, never waivered in her heels. The spotted faux fur illustrated and pictured here was a fabulous find at Park Slope’s vintage boutique Odd Twin.

If you’re in the NYC area, check out the New York Fashion Model Drawing Meetup here to RSVP for the next session.

Artists Karen and Dave sketching Ema. Photo: Christopher Musci

Streaming Fashion

Geoffry — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:32:41 +0000

Autumn/Winter 2010 Rodarte | SHOWstudio

As Seventh Avenue designers in 1993 began to centralize New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park their runways became a media event. Even with the controversy moving the tents to Lincoln Center, the real news is broadcasting live, the show experience. Last Spring, the late Alexander McQueen brought more runway democratization, streaming his aquatic fantasy worldwide. And this Fall 2010, fashion sites such as London’s SHOWstudio streamed Alexander Wang and shown in this post, Rodarte. Both productions included multi-camera angles allowing designers to give more depth to the collection than viewing from one of the rows.

Autumn/Winter 2010 Rodarte | SHOWstudio

Richard Chai’s Casual Cool

Geoffry — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:53:42 +0000

Richard Chai Autumn/Winter 2010

Attending the Richard Chai Menswear 2010 collection this morning at Milk Studios, began the day with a casual cool. With a changing workforce evolving from corporate 9-5 to project-based consultants, Chai offered looks tailored enough for appointments while laid back for the coffee house.

A favorite, the ubiquitous plaid shirt, redesigned from the Woolrich staple, combined 2 different pattern scales closing with a tie. Giving the attitude of casually tying a sweater, was also executed into trousers. Reminding me of vintage Issey Miyake, reconsidered enough for either the Portland or Williamsburg set.

Shorter jackets over longer cardigans worn with either slim or slouchy trousers tucked into Timberlands just might be next season’s uniform.

Richard Chai Autumn/Winter 2010