All The Pretty Girls

The decadence of a beautiful face, drawn to drip in jewel-colored makeup could definitely dress up your white walls. Illustrator Leigh Viner's pretty girls all look like their cocktails are laced and Bowie's playing loud, pump-thumping through the wall-sized speakers at that new, shiny downtown club. Rendered in ink, or acrylic, or whatever Viner picks up to paint with, the beautiful faces she fashions are a result of a somewhat divine talent. With minimal art training, Viner has largely taught herself how to make magic on paper. Her raw technique is laudable, with its dependence on free-form lines, drips, and fabulous dribbles. The results of her skills are portraits with personality--the type of personality that you would never talk to at the party, but would always gawk at.

You can purchase Viner's work through her Etsy site for very reasonable prices. To get to know her better, and to see some of her fantastic photographs, check in on her blog.

All of the images above are copyright Leigh Viner, and are hers and hers alone. No stealing, wannabes!

By Covers Alone.

It's ok, you can judge these books by their covers. We all--as a US school system educated cohort--know their insides are classic literary goodness, but no matter. Aren't they pretty on the outside? Penguin publishers produced a series of tried and true tomes with a little jacket design help from fashion illustrator (and I want to wear it. favorite) Ruben Toledo.

You think I can figure out how to wear those jackets? To get yourself some picture book classics, head on over to Barnes and Noble.

Brett Manning Is A Girl.

Some artists have a way with smiles, or a great method of rendering the perfect hand, or they capture the twinkle in an eye with graphite on paper so well that it stares at you. Then, some have a way with texture. Ms. Brett Manning is an artist with a knack for rendering fabrics and hair and textiles in such rich detail that it begs to be worn or touched, even in two dimensions.

Her illustration work is unique and full of something special that comes through in her advanced technique that looks effortless on paper. Don't be fooled by her boyish name, Brett's site insists she's all girl; and the girl's got the goods. You can scoop up prints of her paper works or tees with her great graphics printed right on the front. That's where fashion illustration belongs, right? On clothing. It's so meta. I love it. Maybe next she could make a dress in a fabric printed with a pattern of her sketches of dresses, or a cotton scarf printed with her drawing of lush knits? Just a thought...

Just A Suggestion.

I want to be this illustration.

In the fashion business, the ability to convey clothing through art on paper is extremely important. How else does one get an idea from the mind of the designer to the needle of the seamstress? Putting dresses on paper is quite a skilled talent, requiring a knowledge of how much detail is enough. This talent isn't just for designers either. The job of a fashion illustrator is to dedicate their artistic skills to rendering the glitz, glamour, and gild of the sartorial world in ads and publications so that Conde Nast doesn't have to shell out boatloads of cash for photoshoots every time they want to show you something. Well, also, the illustrations are completely gorgeous works of art and are a nice, occassional break from envy-inducing supermodels. Fashion Illustration runs the gamut from super souped-up (think collages of fabric, glitter, flourecent colors) to paired down (think, well, Mats Gustafson).

Gustafson renders Yamamoto.

Simple suggestions of simple outfits.

Mats Gustafson was born in Sweden in 1951, but New York can now call him its own. He studied costume design at the Scandinavian Drama Institute and had his first illustration published in British Vogue in 1978. He soon moved to New York and started contributing to Interview when it was under the guidance of Andy Warhol and then he hit American Vogue. Now he works for many designers and fashion houses through both editorial and ad campaigns.

A face in ten lines or less.


A portrait of Linda Evangelista.


Papercuttings.


Watercolor washes.


Work for Tiffany.

The thing about his work is just how much it conveys with just so little. Some whispers of watercolor perfectly shape an iconic Yamamoto ensemble, some cuts of white paper instantly become a perfectly pleated, plisse dress. The simplicity of his work is remarkable, and it creates a mood that induces just as much envy in me as the photoshoots dripping with supermodels. I want to be a Gustafson; I want to be that sophisticated, elegant, and chic.

I Could Watch You Paint All Day. Or, For Four Minutes.

Youtube user Mitsib paints. You can watch if you want.

Connie Lim Is A Player.

Illustrator Connie Lim is about to make your game of go-fish the prettiest darn thing that ever crossed a card table.

Her project for the site Trend.Land makes fashionable friends with that old deck of playing cards. Her illustrations for a full deck are gorgeous to say the least, and sexy with a capital S to say the most.

I'm not aware of any purveyor of a deck of these pretty things, but you could stay up to date on her postings via Trend.Land and print yourself a lovely set when she's all done.

Even if you don't actually get to play with these cards, they'll at least be fun to look at.

Cheap Thrill: Danny Roberts Prints.

Danny Roberts' fashion illustration is the kind of thing that makes magazines everywhere worth buying. They are the kind of magazine art that I would normally carefully separate from the glue binding of the major monthly mag, trim up, and give prime position on my four walls with a tack.

It turns out that I don't have to tear and trim the flimsy magazine paper. Roberts sells prints of his illustrations online. And, he signs and number them--perfect keepsakes. They mostly come in two sizes, a 9x13 print for about $100, or an 8x11 print for...wait for it...$20! A Jackson for a high quality, signed and numbered, archival print of a very talented, nationally published fashion illustrator's work? That's a deal of beauty.

If your walls need some dressing up, or if you know a friend (are we friends? I think we are!!! ;)) who is in love with fashion and pretty pictures, your gift is set.

You can peruse Danny's brilliant work on his site Igor + Andre, and you can purchase it through his Etsy Shop, The Danny Roberts Art Store. You can also pick up Danny's work wherever Harajuku Lovers bags are sold. This piece of work will cost you a bit more than $20, but you'll be able to carry it around and put things in it.

And now, for fun, you can watch Mr. Roberts draw a self portrait in time lapse. Why not, right?