One of my very first projects when I started at Kingston was an illustration project, with a lovely lady called Helen Bullok who works in the industry. Our aim was to develop the confidence in finding our individual style, along with a self study of a sketchbook (which the last six images are taken from.) Her lessons were so different to anything ive been taught before, they were crazy- we danced to music as we drew lol, she had the most incredible models also. She invited friends to model for us and one of my favorites was a tall man who knew how to walk in stilletos better than any woman i know. He had a beautiful long posture and a really interesting face which i really liked.
Helen was exactly what a fashion illustrator is expected to be- she wore colorful clothes,her style was so unsual. She was very facinatng, as well as the way she taught us to draw. Our lessons were a lot about letting go of the precise way of drawing: it was all about colour, having fun, exaggerating, blowing things our of proportion, concentrating on pattern, painting negative spaces, continuous line but at the same time using the line to define our crazy portrayals of the figure. It wasn't about what looked great but very much so looking at whats in front of you and trying to catch every detail- whether it was the way the model's foot was slightly turned or textures of the clothing they were wearing. She constantly questioned us about how the model feels when wearing these clothes, is it claustrophobic or empowering or how does it actually feel when you stand in a particular pose, in front of an audience, what aches? Which we had to communicate.
Helen was amazing in class, every Tuesday we would have 4 and a half hours with her after sewing, which was draining but very rewarding. Her work is energetic, she's definitely up there for me with Julie Verhouven. Both take fashion illustartion somewhere where its so original and unique, and also exciting.
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