Fashion Illustration Week

Thanks to the Illustration Institute and sponsorship from the Roxanne Quimby Foundation, I was immersed in Fashion Illustration Week, held at the venerable Mechanics Hall in Portland, Maine.

On Monday our class received a swag bag of treats including an Uppercase Magazine!

Alex Rheault, a former colleague at Maine College of Art, demonstrated the croquis, a fashion sketch figure upon which any garment can be drawn.

Our class of 20 included painters, designers, textile artists, actors, writers, retired art teachers, illustrators, and fashion thinkers. We worked in the spacious ballroom with ample reference material and supplies on hand.

Alex displayed her fashion drawings on several walls.

fashion drawings by Alex Rheault

Piles of books and magazines provided inspiration and distraction.

Illustration Institute’s nimble assistant, Olwyn Moxhay, made mixed media magic of her own.

Drawings by Olwyn Moxhay

My table buddy, Jane Krasnow, created this fetching combo of patterns which I would wear in a second.

Drawing by Jane Krasnow

And I’d wear this, too, by Illustration Institute co-founder, Nancy Gibson Nash.

Collage by Nancy Gibson Nash

I had fun playing with patterns and cut paper shapes.

sketches by Jamie Hogan

Alex drew Thurl Headen, an island neighbor and Renaissance man who bakes, designs and sews his own clothes, and is a classical musician.

We kept drawing all afternoon.

drawing by Jamie Hogan

That evening, costume historian, Edward Maeder, gave a lecture in Osher Hall at MECA on the Art of Fashion: Mirrors of Humanity.

Bijou Karman taught on Tuesday, sharing a slide show of favorite contemporary fashion illustrators.

She brought an incredible sketchbook full of bold paintings with delicate hand-lettering.

illustration by Bijou Karman

She demonstrated her technique in gouache.

I delighted in seeing what others were up to. Here is Alison Goodwin painting away.

Allison Goodwin painting

This is my island neighbor Suzanne Parrott’s stylish work in progress.

drawing by Suzanne Parrott

Textile and fashion designer Michael Shyka brought his own hand-painted silk garments for drawing.

garments and drawings by Michael Shyka

My former student and Illustration MECA alum, Emma McCabe, joined the class for the day.

sketch by Emma McCabe

As did another Illustration MECA alum, Joe Rosshirt who found inspiration in a fashion magazine to create a portrait of Tommy Lee Jones.

illustration by Joe Rosshirt

Meanwhile I was having a blast getting reacquainted with gouache, a medium I used early in my career.

painting by Jamie Hogan

painting by Jamie Hogan

painting by Jamie Hogan

Love this ginger girl by Cat Stiny.

painting by Cat Stiny

Meanwhile, Bijou was quietly making marvels at her table easel.

paintings by Bijou Karman

That evening’s lecture was by New Yorker cover artist Jenny Kroik, whose keen eye for street fashion brings a reportage approach to her fluid work.

Born in Russia, Jenny lived in Israel and Oregon before landing in the Bronx. She said, “Art for galleries made me nervous,” so she approached the New York City overload by working small, and focusing on one detail, like a cool skirt. She likes gouache because “you can make mistakes!” She finds material by drawing from life, sketching as note-taking, and photographing people and details she encounters. These visual narratives all begin with a brush.

On Wednesday our class met up at the Portland Museum of Art where Jenny coached us to roam about and sketch people or art that would serve as elements in our own fashion illustrated story.

I sketched fellow classmate Asata Radcliffe, a writer, filmmaker, and liberal arts professor at Maine College of Art.

sketch by Jamie Hogan

I couldn’t resist the eucalyptus bouquet in the lobby area, while watching the entrance.

sketch by Jamie Hogan

Back in the classroom, Jenny discussed the use of thumbnail sketches to plot out composition.

Jenny did a quick painting demo with a set of paints she had pre-mixed, and from multiple sources of reference.

painting by Jenny Kroik

This is a loose work in progress. Her confident brushwork is a sight to behold!

painting by Jenny Kroik

My painting included a graphic jacket worn by a museum patron.

painting by Jamie Hogan

On Thursday Alex Rheault moderated an informative panel on Fashion in Practice. Local designers Jill McGowan, Roxi Suger, and Adele Masengo Ngoy shared their histories in design and the passions that drive them.

Alex Rheault, Roxi Suger, Adele Masengo Ngoy, and Jill McGowan at the Fashion in Practice panel discussion

That afternoon we drew from models! Roxi and Alex donned fashions from the racks and struck runway poses.

Quick but fun, I could’ve done this for hours.

sketch by Jamie Hogan

sketch by Jamie Hogan

Bijou captured it all in ink wash.

sketch by Bijou Karman

Jane instead made this fun collage.

collage by Jane Krasnow

We gathered in the Library for a final reception with amazing food by Bread and Butter.

I couldn’t make it to Friday’s open studio, but will be savoring all this style immersion for a long time. Thanks again to Illustration Institute for a fantastic week of fashion illustration!