Round Boys, 3 Done

I wanted to post my Round Boys series as a tryptich on Instagram, and I just finished tweaking and posting the final pose (that I thought I had finished weeks ago, but a body movement specialist's videos online showed me that I was making the legs a bit too long, so I was able to correct it. I'm happy with it but Instagram isn't loving teh trio, as the first one got lots more likes but the rest have had dminishing returns. Ah well, I like them!

Leather Demo

Had to demonstrate drawing leather and fur in model drawing class, and while I didn't prep at all, I feel like I did an okay job...although I also fear the leather shirt I brought just ended up looking too masculine on our model Xian. Oh well, menswear looks for women are still very much in style...

Woman Yesterday 2

I thought of developing the style more since I'm thinking of demonstrating a new style at a group demo I'm doing at FIT on Friday, as I want to keep my fave brushes more of a secret for now. This is my experiment with creating a mid century gouache style, where you can see the brush strokes underneath teh figre. But with htis figure I feel like I'm mixing too many old techniques improperly...

Woman Yesterday

My fashion illustration skills obviously hark back to classic illustration from when I grew up, and the nostalgia hanging around that in my head. This quick sketch was immediate, and evoked a lot of those old feelings, but it was done digitally and in present day. Does it feel too retro? To me, definitely. But I do like how it evokes the old school sketches. I'm particularly emphasizing the hands becaue I realize I draw small hands for some reason. I always thought maybe they needed to be more feminine (although one Fashion Illustrator I never met asked me to call him, then berated me for drawing small hands on men! LOL)

Woman Today

I have been a menswear fashion illustrator who used to do womenswear, but in fashion, you really do need to have a specific point of view for your illustrations to work. And as I work teaching more fashion sketch classes in FIT, I realize I'm coasting on old muscle memory and not really presenting a personal POV on women's fashion illustration. But the question was, do I even have one anymore? I can certainly do one on the fly (as I have more recently) but it doesn't have the confidence I do with menswear, nor for that matter, the confidence I had when I did it as a matter of course, back when I worshipped women's fashions in the 80s and 90s. So this is a conscious attaempt to sketch and see what makes me unique as a womenswear illustrator...but it's just a start for now.

Ski Man 3

My friend Dan posted an Insta story of Jay Kay from teh band Jamiroquai, and he was sporting a big red parka that I thought would be a better fit for the ski man illo I started last year. I never did like the jacket I designed for it, because it wasn't oversized enough for it to feel current, but I was letting the drawing style lead the look. That has been corrected now.

Round Boys 12

And he's done and ready for deployment to Instagram. I'm still not 100% about where his butt lays over his heel, but I'm not flexible enough to get into that pose so I couldn't check for sure. But in my folder of reference poses, I often draw a pose then pull up my references to check if I did the anatomy right, and I know that many men are flexible enough to sit on their heels. I didn't have any photos of this view exactly, so I often have to extrapolate from other photos how the muscles might react, turning teh man in my imagination, like a 3D model being viewed from all angles.

Round Boys 11

I loved what i started with yesterday and am happy he's developing well, but I'm still stymied by the leg anatomy and how correct it is or isn't. And sometimes, even when it's correct, it might not look correc t so I kind of need to to look right even if it's already anatomically accurate. Liks, is his butt sitting correctly on his heels? Are the legs the right size for this foreshortening? It goes on...

Round Boys 10

I thought changing his head made it more...ahem...iconic. This looks like a more heroic pose, as opposed to a comic book pose. I realize now that these hunched/crouched poses are pretty common in comics, coming from super heroes sitting atop rooftops, surveying the streets below. Maybe Spider-Man or Nightcrawler coming to mind...

I made sure to have a copy of the original nearby to gauge the proper scale so that they're both the same size.

Round Boys 9

Okay, this is getting somewhere. It feels a bit better because it's a slightly different entry into the circle as he's coming from the left now, although that left leg view is going to be problematic as I have no idea how the muscles should look in that pose, and this is just a guesstimate at this point. But I do like him looking down as if he got on to teh circle, got comfy, then is surveying the landscape before he climbs on out. Or possibly leaps!

Round Boys 8

Still trying to find the right balance between active pose and a somewhat iconic pose (although not in the way that social media uses the word, meh), that fits in the middle of the trio I had planned. I'm kind of loathe to do a spreadeagled pose again since I just did it for the opener, even if this one is more of a squat than a climbing-out-into-the-circle pose like the first.

Round Boys 7

I'm still playing with various poses for the middle panel. For all the poses I've already laid out (feels like a couple of dozen at this point), I'm still not satisfied.

Round Boys 6

I've been hard at work trying to get a trio together, but instead oft the difficult middle piece, I was able to get the opposite bookend. I think they look nice together! Now I just need to create a pose to go between them,

Round Boys 5

Trying to create a middle piece for a projected trio in this circle motif setup. I need a strong enough pose to transition from the very strong first one, to an as-of-yet un-finalized other-end piece, but kind of wanted a back view, leg extended down kind of deal. I got my friend Ernesto to pose for a few but I'm still not 100% sure what to make of this panel. It'll be a frieze!

Dries-y

Facebook fed me ads for Dries Van Noten, who I already follow anyway. But this one ad with a particular model just felt perfect for a fashion moment, for me, so I decided to draw the figure based on the pose and the outfit—which I don't normally do! But with his legs he inspired me to do what I feel is a very Renaldo Barnette style figure because Professor Barnette is a friend and one of the professors at FIT whose work really stands out as an easy representation of how croquis drawings should be done.

The second pose is just me riffing on the style without a reference pic.

Pants Down

Trying to plan out teh attitude of a particular sketch, with this being a very immediate sketch of the idea. Sometimes I wonder, tough, if I should consider this not the prelude but the final product.

Boy On iPhone

Sometimes while sketching I just get so inspired to draw, and I'm not often certain about what I want to draw, but the inspiration is to create something nice, possibly great...and then I get distracted. I liked the boy I drew, then I got distracted with testing out some new (to me) brushes in Photoshop, to emulate some of the work fellow artists do with gouache,

ManCroquises

A fave model agency, Tomorrow Is Another Day, posed a pola of one of their models and I really liked his simple, easy stance, so I made a croquis (well, two) of it.

Crqouises In Paint

I had a vision of me trying to create a new female fashion figure for myself, one that feels more relevant to what fashion is doing now, as well as to my own sensibilities. It's hard because I'm no longer as interested nor as adept at womenswear as I am at menswear, but it's also a good challenge.

But then I got distracted with new brushes!

Round Boys 4

 

I'm trying to make this a triptych, but I need a middle panel since I have the outside ones. But many of the poses seem redundant or too similar in frame.

Round Boys 3

I decided to pull this guy out and possibly publish him on IG, and as such also decided to make him chaste with some draping, and I actually think it looks better with his dick covered! But maybe I'll show both on IG just to have a backup for the peen lovers, lol.

Behind You, 2

I caved and did two hands on his. back again. It seemed to work better with his head position. And the banana yellow took over the entire background. But I did a drawing like this before so I need to find some way to spin it differently, I think.

Light & Shadow Demo

I was teaching my students to observe  highlights and shadows in a model, and I was quite pleased as I walked around and saw some of the sketches—some of them were actually getting it! Anyhow, these were my sketches from my demo as well as of me drawing along.

Sequins

I got a bit ambitious and out together a PDF of various fashion illustrators doing shine and shimmery things, and I decided to do my own version of a sequined dress (this one taken from Zara). Not the best sketch but not the worst for something I rarely draw, although it reminds me a lot like Cliff Faust's work, so I might be channeling his sketchs from Facebook.

Arms Crossed, Tatted Up

I decided to turn this guy into the sketch I originally did inspired by a tatted model and the hot chef from my gym who has a lighthouse tattoo. It turned out pretty well, and I think I'm uploading this to Insta today. Fingers crossed they don't delete the peen!

Arms Crossed

I'm determined to do a sketch for Instagram that will feature full frontal nudity again, but I'm also hedging my bets by doing a covered, underwear version. This drawing came together rather quickly, although I have to say his face was hard to come by-I went through quite a few less satisfactory faces (since I make them up as I go along).

Behind You

I didn't love the direction of the drawing yesterday, so I did another cute twunk-looking thing looking back at you, and showing butt. And trying to change his hand positions up a bit instead of having them both on his back, I have him holding a banana. I suppose it can be suggestive.

Early Bird Gets The Gown

Against my longing to stay in bed, I got up early to join my friend Renaldo for his model drawing class, the better to try out more toned paper sketches on our fave model Cyrene. Practicing beforehand gives me confidence it will work out when I do it for my own class, and truth to tell, I can feel it already. Doing a demo while not being 100% sure just sucks, bec ause you have to perform, lecture AND produce at the same time, presenting your work as the definitive model (no pun intended) to follow. The kids might not notice but I certainly do. It can be daunting even for those with experience.

Leering Overhead

I'm trying to get back into drawing the way I did before I started teaching. I feel like I put so much energy into my lessons that I go home exhausted and not wanting to draw anymore. So I'm trying to make something also that I can post fully nude on IG and get over the feat that they will censor me again like they did at the beginning of the year.

Toned Paper Demo

I actually sketched in Lamont's class yesterday, so I had practiced and felt comfy by the time my demo sketches for class happened today. We did evening wear on a non fashion type model, and she had natural curves and was kinda cool with a very doll-like face. All on toned paper, which I think the students can enjoy, and now that I think about it, since it is very my thing on digital work, why not here as well? It's certainly fun.

Setting The Tones

I was prepping for a model drawing class with the students working on toned paper, which is kinda my thing (albeit digital) so I decided to map out some sketch ideas on how they might approach laying in highlights. This was my sample sketch in Photoshop.

Walk On, Done

I got it ready for posting.I'm still not sure it looks right, yet I know the legs are right, he's just a big-gammed guy lol

Walk On 2

I still didn't refer to any photos so I feel a bit good about myself, but still think he can be refined even further. Not sure what needs doing, need to walk away from it. Legs look a bit large...

Walk On

I started out with a profile and wanted to a walking pose, and thought it flowed fairly well. I just need to sort out the anatomical details. Well, also his head might be too small (although I've certainly seen some models with that kind of proportion!)

Sketchy Guy 2

I thought maybe he'd look better with a fuller body, and it does look better smaller, but I'm not sure what the body's doing...

Legionaires 2024

I was at the gym when I saw a woman with semi sheer tights exercising, and I thought about how the sheer elements could account for some of the cutouts in the 1970s Legion costumes, which got me redesigning costumes in my head.So I resolved to draw them as soon as I got home. These were attenmpts at rethinking the cutout theme in Saturn Girl's 70s look, and see if I can bring it into now. Hmm, not quite there yet..

ReDemo

I thought I did better with this demo than last week's, because I at least liked the form I achieved along with the proportion, in the 10 minutes that I drew it. I'm hoping to get more finished pieces done by next week, but just happy this looks cleaner.

Sihouetted Towel Boy, 6

I'm not sure if I'd consider him done because I might still draw him with his dick out. But for now, I suppose hes published on IG.

Warming Up

After my disastrous demo (well, it's not too bad but I wanted to be better) I went in to practice life fashion drawing at another professor's class, and I got a bit more of my groove on although the model felt a bit too stiff for me to really get my fashion on.

Sihouetted Towel Boy 5

So I retooled his face once again, and brought back the elements I liked about the original iteration, which was a very Bruce Weber kind of model. Like he's a frat boy or something.

Seatback

Because Instagram hasn't yet heard my appeal on my previously censored drawing (it's been months now), I find myself sketching and self censoring already. Ugh.  I should find a way to make this more about what I want to put out.

Oversized 3

 

Oversized and ready for First Friday in our Facebook Art of Fashion Illustration group.

Looking Over 2

I went further and made him a more masculine African American man, versus a more fashion black model. Although not sure where the sketch will go after this.

Looking Over

...his shoulder, to be exact. I thought I tended to prefer this pose myself, but then as I was studying the other illustrations of other professors in the FIT Fashion Art office, I noticed a LOT of other artists prefer this same pose, too! Mostly for the side-eye drama, I assume.

Bad Demo

So I was supposed to teach my kids how to render prints on garments, from an 8 minute model sketch. Needless to say it's a bit  of a lot to do esp. if you chose two garments with too many patterns! Argh. I was not happy with my demo. Fortunately my other sketches that day went better,

Noodly 3

I thought I could go into this old sketch and pick up where I left off, but again, this face I created isn't necessarily an improvement. I am just batting a thousand here, aren't I?

Sihouetted Towel Boy 4

Sometimes progress isn't improvement. I tried to clean up/improve my towel boy's face but I don't think this new face is an improvement. Oh well, back to the (almost literal) drawing board.