Daily Number Seven

I'm back a tad early! I think I'm going to try and update regularly starting on Monday. But for today, I'm posting something that was started this past week and only finished today.

This look is from Givenchy's spring 2009 haute couture collection. In reality, this satin sheath dress with partial wrap and cape is the loveliest shade of pastel turquoise.

Daily Fashion Illustrations on Pause

Yeah, so obviously I'm bad at this daily illustration thing. They will be back up and running on Monday. Pinky swear.

Daily Number Six: Process

This is a portrait of Arthur Daniyarov, a rising star in the male modeling world.. He has been favored recently by the likes of Raf Simons for Raf Simons and Jil Sander, Dries Van Noten, and many other menswear designers of note. He's quite gorgeous, and I think he makes the perfect beauty study. This piece was fun, even if it took a while to get to you. In the past few days I've been busy with other illustrations and career-oriented tasks and busy work. Not to mention that I've been fitting a healthy amount of social life in there too!

I've never really quite posted evidence of my process, and because this was a study, there wasn't too much preliminary work to be shown. I hope it's informative!


This was the preliminary sketch for the finished ink painting. I drew directly on 140 lb cold press watercolor paper, neatly sealed to the table with watercolor tape. I usually treat the hair with inks swiftly and less deliberately than the portrait, so the features are pretty finite and ready for deeper tones, whereas the hair is more or less contour and some directional lines.


This is the under-painting. From the preliminary, I added some darker tone and a fullness to the form with washes of varying shades. The water-thinned ink adds a rich, suppleness that the graphite can't compensate for, which is one of the reasons I may be moving away from graphite.


For the final, I added the darkest tones with pure sumi ink, without added water. I usually keep a few round brushes loaded with water on hand, so I can easily incorporate such deep tones. It can be terrifying, making such a finite decision, but that deep black adds a contrast that you just can't get with any other medium. And it reproduces SO well.

For very fine detail work, I finish with very minute pen work on top, as well as white designer's gouache to clean up and bring out the lightest highlights. I like this gouache because it scan's REALLY well, especially when you make sure to soften the edges of your stroke with water.

Daily Number Five

I'm a day behind in general now. That's one red slip. One demerit. 10 points from Gryffindor. I am ashamed. However, I will make it up by providing a double dose one day. One day.

This is a look from Givenchy's Spring 2009 collection. BLAST FROM THE PAST. Going way back now, to the days of satin jumpsuit's with tapered legs. And a golden bow. Doesn't Mariacarla Boscono just rock this? She's fantastic, I'm really in love with her. And if you don't already know about my love for Givenchy's creative director, Riccardo Tisci -- well, don't get me started.

Daily Number Four

I know, I'm a day late. I was ALMOST finished last night, but decided that for my sanity I needed to go and relax with a friend. Busy times, these are.

This one is A BOY. Yeah, boys are hard to draw, but I think I like this one. This look is from Dries Van Noten's fall 2010 menswear line. The collection holds some timely updates to classic looks and was reliably styled for the presentation. I love the layering of the gray scoop neck sweater with the similar navy sweater underneath.

Daily Number Three

Study after Calvin Klein Collection's fall 2010 collection. I love Francisco Costa's critically named "minimalist" approach to design. For me, it's his ability to play with natural contours, shapes and proportions through garment construction that's exciting. Check 'em out in person, they really are beautiful.

Daily Fashion Illustrations

Alright, I've decided to do a fashion illustration a day. Neat and arduous goal, yes? Each little darling takes between one and two hours, and I love doing them -- so why not start a fun and helpful exercise? Also, it helps me hone in on an approach I'm quickly falling in love with. This study is from Erin Fetherston's fall 2010 collection.

Another Lanvin Study

If I love it so much, why shouldn't I just...keep studying it?
I like this one, it's a dainty little number from Lanvin's fall 2010 collection.

Finally

I've been in a creative rut. Maybe it was eight years of striving for lofty artistic and creative goals, maybe it's been my childhood imagination slowly slipping away while the real world settles in -- I don't know yet. I'm trying to find out what's missing from my creative scheme. I think the answer has been hiding underneath my own nose. It's in my sketchbooks, it's in my external hard drive, it's on the interwebz.

When did I stop painting and drawing things that I loved without thinking about who would see them? Just creating for the sake of it, letting your brain vomit on a page.

I did that today for the first time in a very long time as a quick study (instead of inside of my sketchbook), and I'm kind of relieved. I might just do this every day.

The look is from Lanvin's fall 2010 collection. The hair is a bit wack. Also, shush, I know I'm obsessed with Lanvin, don't judge me.

TWITTER

I got a twitter account. I'll probably just post information about new work, these old blog posts, and meandering thoughts on life. So if you'd like to follow, please do!

MICHAEL HOEWELER'S TWITTER

Portrait Tests!

So testing different approaches to portrait work is fun. I'm progressing, trimming, editing, understanding, and learning about my working habits. It's great!