Photo Shoot for college

As part of the styling unit we did a photo shoot based on a word the tutor gave us. We had to work in pairs and I was paired with Georgia. Our word was happy. For inspiration for our photo shoot we looked at Katy Perry's California Gurls Music Video because we thought the theme of the video was happy and the colours used were ideal for our theme.

I made a version of Katy Perry's Candy Land dress for Georgia to wear, who was going to be the model in the photos. My biggest worry was that it wasn't going to fit her because I had to guess the size. Fortunately, it did fit her. I had to make it in a short period of time so I couldn't attach everything properly. This meant throughout the day we were taking the photo, things kept falling off the dress. We are still finding bits of the dress in the classroom.

I made the dress out of one of my sister's old dresses and attached a piece of white material to it. I then found some felt in my house and used that to make the ice cream and doughnut. My dog kept running off with these. Apparently he found it fun to try and chew the attachments for the dress. I did manage to make the dress in about two days without any of it being destroyed.

 I was unable to post the image from the photo shoot because their to big to put on the blog. 

Shopping In Manchester

When my sister came home for the week, I went shopping with her to Manchester. We spent so much in the shops that we couldn't afford to have lunch out, like we planned. When we got home we did a mini photoshoot with the clothes we bought. This of course was my sister's idea.

Manchester- gallery of cosume

A few weeks ago I visited the Manchester- Gallery of Costume. While there I collected primary research for my historical unit and carried out some more oberservational drawings. Some of the displays there were incredible, especially the dresses that were made out of paper.

My observational drawings

Stylists

Katie Grand, top
Grace Coddington, bottom left
Katie Shillingford, bottom right

Finished everything for the historical and drawing unit which I got a merit and a distinction for. I am so happy about my results.

 I started  a new unit which means more work to do. I do think this unit will be better than the last because I now know what to do. It's a styling unit. I am looking forward to creating the final outcome which is where I take a historical painting and recreate it on a model, using whatever I can find. This unit is mostly looking at fashion stories; what a fashion image is trying to say. I find looking at the meaning behind the images makes you understand why the artist, stylist or photographer has created the image.

The first part of the unit involves researching into other stylists' work. These stylists include Kate Grand, Grace Coddington, Camille Bidault Waddington, Kate Phelan , Katie Shillingford and Robbie Spencer. There are some examples of their work at the top of the page.






My Illustrations

My High Street Illustration

For the final part of this unit we have to create two illustrations of the same garment.  One has to be a couture illustration and the other is a high street illustration. I spent my half term completing the couture illustration but it was worth it and I completed the high street one during my first week back at college. I struggled to develop the couture  illustration because I didn't fully understand what a couture illustration should look like. I did further research into couture illustrations and I eventually understood and created the illustration. It took me about five days to complete the illustration but the result was amazing. I built it up in layers with pen and watercolours.



My Couture Illustration

I found the high street one a little easier but it took me a while to come up with an idea for the illustration. The thing I most struggled with when creating this illustration is the planning.

 Just when I thought I had finished this unit I found out I had a few bits of outstanding work and a final evaluation to do.

      

Comparing Illustrators

The one one the left is the contemporary illustration and the one above is the historical illustration I picked to compare and contrast.

I presented my power point on the 11th October. I was very nervous leading up to the presentation.
I enjoyed doing the research on my illustrator and found out some interesting facts about her. We reviewed each others presentations; saying what our weaknesses and strengths were. When looking at the feedback I found out that my knowledge on Julie Verhoeven was good because I didn't need notes.  My only weakness was at the beginning, were I was very nervous but after the first minute or so, I grew more confident.

As a visual for my presentation, I recreated one of her illustrations ,which was on a tea cup. You can see this below.

For the next part of this unit I have to choose two illustrations, one historical, one contemporary. I then have to analyse them and talk about their purpose, audience and style. I have chosen to compare and contrast these two illustration.





Julie Verhoeven

For the next part of my historical unit I have to do a presentation on a artist/illustrator. I usually hate public speaking but I feel confident about this one because I will be doing on something that interests me (plus its a really small class).

I have chosen Julie Verhoeven as my subject for my presentation. I really love her illustrations because they are inspirational and dramatic. I particularly like her use of ink which is my favourite media to draw in. She has a very definite signature style. Some of her illustrations are quite provocative but are still beautiful pieces of art work.

Les Quatre Elément. Numero, May 2002

She is both a fashion designer and illustrator. She grew up in a creative environment because her mum was a illustrator and her dad was a graphic designer. These are were her early influences come from. One of her major influences is music. "I listen and visualise"- Julie Verhoeven. She has named shows after the titles of songs and created illusrations for album covers.

Verhoeven describes her work as "messy, spontaneous, unpredictable and jolly". I would agree I can see all these elements her illustrations. My favourite one is "Help Yourself and God Will Help You". I love how she has linked the drawings together and again her use of ink. You can clearly see the influence of music in the drawing. This is shown through the drawing of the keyboard and the music notes in the illustration. The illustration looks layered and busy because she has used different media.  I was unable to get a picture of this illustration but I will try again at a later date.




Les Quatre Elément. Numero, May 2002

Verhoeven has collaborated with global brands including, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Mulbury and H&M. She also has her ownfashion label, Gibo by Julie Vehoeven.

Julie Verhoeven's fashion designs are very much like her illusrations; bold and inspiring. By looking at these pictures it looks as though she has incorparate her illustrations into her designs.

Mulberry. Autumn/Winter 2007

GIBO, Spring / Summer 2003.