Say hello to ‘Crying Girl Alice’, the latest weeping fashionista

I would like to introduce you to the newest addition to my Crying Girl Series… Crying Girl Alice. Please do excuse the photograph, I wanted to show the painting to the very edge of the paper, so you can see the the unedited illustration. The painting stands at 34 x 36 inches, so she is smaller than her counterparts, but what she lacks in inches, she makes up for in detail. Crying Girl Alice, was influenced by one of my heroines of British fashion, the inimitable Alice Temperley. I have been a huge fan of her textile work and colourways for a long time. Temperley sews a narrative into her collections, from ribbon carrying swallows in flight to flamboyant jellyfish and beautiful Asian carp, swimming graciously over the female body, and into the elegant flow of her amazing dresses.

The background of this piece, was inspired by Gucci’s recent love affair with tigers, which i rendered into a classic flock design, layering with broken stripes. These graphic lines are fast becoming an obligatory graphic in my work, alongside my love of bright orange. The illustration has once again been painted in acrylic, with some beautiful, delicate details rendered in the cherries, the swallows and the carp. A stark contrast against the block graphic girl herself. I plan to get her professionally photographed, so I can get a limited edition of prints to sell. I cannot wait to see this beauty, mounted and framed XX

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Say hello to ‘Crying Girl Katsushika

It’s been a while since my last post, but I am determined to get back to my blogging feed. Since Instagram has consumed my daily illustrations, I have felt something has been missing. That one snapshot on my insta feed, cannot tell the stories, behind my illustrations, but only show what is on my desk and in my immediate view, and I do love a good narrartive when it comes to my work. So today I return with a new piece, from my ever growing ‘Crying Girl’ Series. May I introduce you to my newest acrylic, offspring; ‘Crying Girl Katsushika’. She is a wonderful fusion of two great creatives. The first being, the Japanese artist, Katsushika Hokusai, who painted the highly recognisable artwork, from the Edo period (1615-1868), called, ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’, which has been appropriated in many repeated art forms, and now takes a new platform in my fashion practice. The second creative, is the British born, Sir Paul Smith, who is a British fashion designer and icon, with a reputation as the Mod Father of Fashion and classic mens tailoring. Those of you who know my work, will recognise, that I do love a coloured stripe or two, dividing an image with a strong, swathe of block colour. Mr Paul Smith also loves his stripes, and it is here, that I have decided to pay homage, to those stripes, breaking up the turbulent wave pattern in this Crying Girl’s world. Katsushika’s waves also reference the original Lichtenstein painting, Drowning Girl, which was the original artwork, to conceive this entire body of my work and prcatice. More to come on this weather beaten babe, very soon! XX

 

 

Kitty’s Crying Girls…A work/show in progress

It’s been a while since my last post. Things have changed and progression is evident in so many amazing ways! Firstly, incase you have not seen it, I now am the proud owner of a new website! Yes, http://www.kittyfuller.com/ is up and running, and this makes me so happy! A new platform to exhibit and showcase my illustration work. I have been working very hard, creating many new Crying Girl Fashionistas, to my ongoing series / body of work. I think I have about 15 of these tearful beauties now, all in various stages of painted completion or undress, but the team is gathering an array of new catwalk inspirations every week! So what will happen with body of work? Am glad you asked, the aim is to get my girls, mounted and framed, and show ready! Yes I am indeed in the beginning phase, of putting together ideas for a show  of my fashion illustrations. So far, I have made two huge lists of both work and what I have to do. Two HUGE lists. I am a list girl. I love a list. But as you can see, from the montage above, these girls need alot more work. But I have faith I can do this, and by posting it on here, it becomes real, when read by someone else. So in honour of the opening credits to the quintessential, Texan soap; Dallas – the above montage merely illustrates a fabulous and promising beginning (but no JR or Bobby Ewing in the Shower dream sequence) to what i hope to be my first solo show! Coming Soon… Yikes! Cue 1960’s cheesey pop song… XX

May I present to you; Marc Jacobs – Fall 2016 Catwalk inspired illustration

I LOVE Marc Jacobs. Not only do I love his collections, I love his creativity and showmanship on the catwalk. When Jacobs was the creative director of the French design house, Louis Vuitton between 1997 – 2014, he created an array of magical and sumptuous catwalk shows, each one like a mini cinematic narrative, where the set design encompassed the clothing designs. Jacobs now designs under his own name, and his recent Ready to Wear Fall 2016 show, did not disappoint, as he revived New York Fashion Week with an exuberant affair. Gothy black kohled eyes and painted lips, crocheted doily collars and sixty five heavily embelleished, manically layered designs, including one very real Lady Gaga. The collection was heavily loaded with references to Lydia from Beetlejuice, and various unnamed Ghosts of New York. An absolute pleasure to draw, with such eccentric models and stylised beuty, it allowed me to create a slightly sinister, heavily glazed eyed triptych of beauties. The girls remind me of kittens, large eyes, tilted heads and huge pupils. Beautifully vacant in a gothic, china doll kind of way… Enjoy! XX

 

Marc Jacobs RTW Fall 2016

Temperley Catwalk Illustration – A work in progress

Next on my fashion illustration catwalk, is one of my favorite all time designers, the quintessentially British; Alice Temperley. Her fashion label, Temperley London was launched in 2000, and this fashionista sports an MBE. Alice’s work is incredibly feminine, from long flowing dresses to off the shoulder blouses teamed with a tailored jacket and trousers. Alice trained in textiles and print when she was a student in London, hence why I adore her work. I love her approach to pattern and print, and she is never scared to combine both print and lashings of fabric, with a cheeky, thigh high slash. Her colour palette for this SS16 show mixes both pastel pinks with emerald greens, cadmiun yellows  to organic, floral prints of blues and greens. Coloured inks are perfect to illustrate Temperley’s designs, especially for this work in progress… XX

My Dolce & Gabbana Inspired Catwalk Fashion Illustration

I do hope you are having a blissfully relaxing sunday! The sun showed its gorgeous face here in Liverpool today, which was a wonderful accompaniment to my morning coffee and drawing. So here it is… My Dolce & Gabbana SS16 inspired, catwalk fashion illustration. To those of you who do not know, I am a MASSIVE D&G fan. I love the European opulance reflected in so many of their individual pieces, patterns and prints. They embrace love and life (their tagline to this campaign is; #italiaislove) which is evident in their colour saturation and beautifully hand sewn lace and floral decorations. They cut their dresses for a real woman; a woman with bosom and a curvey posterior who I imagine to sachay down the cobbled streets of Rome, as a mortal incarnation of Jessica Rabbit. I am a romantic at heart. Dolce & Gabbana never fail to fill the catwalk with an army of woman, who project a carnival of colour, intricate hand drawn prints and a wonderful sumptuous spirit. So much so, that today as I sit and blog, I too am learning beginners Italian!! I think its time to start dreaming BIG!!! Happy Sunday XX

My new Roberto Cavalli Inspired illustration

Well hello there monday! I have spent the weekend going back to what I truly love to do, no effort at all, no pressure or worry, of the specific needs of a client; I have been sketching direct from the catwalk. It is when I feel most free in my drawing. It’s all about incidental mark making, that makes me happy. I chose to illustrate Roberto Cavalli’s AW15/16 Ready to Wear Collection (What does Ready to Wear in the fashion industry mean? It is also referred to as Pret-a-Porter. It means these clothes are made for the masses and are produced in an array of sizes, like regular clothing retail outlets. The opposite is Haute Couture; which is labour intensive and the best quality fabrics and finishings, think Red Carpet one off dresses that the stars are sewn into). Cavalli is a particular favourite of mine, for the sheer lashings of animal print found amongst his work. The style of the illustration sees a very bold graphic for the girls profiles, which translates the anonymity of the models, allowing them to become a designers fashion tribe. Hope you like it… XX