Is background important? Yes, it is important in many ways. Today I won't talk about having the right kind of background for a certain job or position (widely debated topic today) but I will talk about background in paintings and drawings. Not in the historical sense of the world, one that has to do with history of classical art. I won't analyze great painters, not just yet. I will, however, mention the history of fashion illustration. Is there such thing? There certainly is. It is estimated that fashion illustration is approximately 500 years old. It dates back to the origins of fashion as we know it today, albeit it could be argued with good points that fashion is a lot older than that (points I happen to agree with that is why I'm using the phrase 'fashion as we know it today' because that implies a newer definition of fashion that is often taken for granted). After all, there are very precise paintings of garments to be found in Asian art that are a lot older from Western ones, so it is not like it is something relatively new (and only five centuries old). Still, five hundred years seems to be the standard version in fashion history textbooks. Fashion illustration, from its origins, has both practical and artistic aspect. Sometimes it was a bit more than a sketch and sometimes it was a work of art in its own right. Fashion illustration, throughout history, was often used in advertisements. In fact, all the first adds in all the first fashion magazines were using just that- fashion illustrations. In fact, fashion illustrations used to be the main method of advertising. Hence, there was a strong commercial aspect to fashion illustrations back then.
Je li pozadina važna? Naravno važna je na puno načina. Danas tema neće biti imati pravi pozadinu za neki posao ili položaj (tema o kojoj se puno raspravlja danas) nego ću pričati o pozadini na slikama i crtežima. Ne u povijesnom smislu, onom koji ima veze s poviješću klasične umjetnosti. Neću analizirati velike slike, ne još. No, spomenut ću povijest modne ilustracije. Je li to uopće postoji? Naravno da postoji. Pretpostavlja se da je povijest modne ilustracije stara oko petsto godina. Datira u same početke mode kakvu poznajemo danas, mada naravno da postoje valjani argumenti da je moda puno starija od toga, s kojima se ja osobno, slažem zato i naglašavam "moda kakvu znamo danas" da bi naglasila da je riječ o novijoj definiciji mode koja se čini se uzima zdravo za gotovo. Napokon, postoje jako ddetaljne slike odjeće u Azijskoj umjetnosti koje su starije od zapadnih prikaza tako da se svakako ne radi o nečemu relativno novim ( i starom samo pet stoljeća). Ipak ta definicija od pet stotina godina čini se standardnom u povijesnim knjigama o modi. Modna ilustracija od svojih početaka imala je i praktičnu i umjetničku ulogu. Ponekad je bila tek nešto više od skice, a ponekad pravo malo umjetničko djelo. Modna ilustracija, se kroz povijest, često koristila u oglašavanju. Zapravo prvi oglasi u svim prvim modnim časopisima su koristili upravo to- modne ilustracije. Zapravo modne ilustracije su nekada bile glavno sredstvo oglašavanja. Tako da je tada postojao naglašeni komercijalni aspekt modnih ilustracija.
People say that the invention of photography has killed the fashion illustration but I would disagree. Why be negative and say that that fashion illustration was robbed of it main function and consequently lost its power? That is partially true btw, fashion illustration lost the race to fashion photography when it comes to the prime marketing tool, but that is not all the story. Fashion illustration went underground but it hasn't disappeared. Freed from its commercial purpose, fashion illustration has flourished in a new way. If you look at contemporary fashion illustrations, like Kat MacLeod, Susannah Garrod, Natasha Thomson, Garance Dore or Maya Baus (to name just a few), you will notice that have all developed their own unique signature style. Personally I simply adore contemporary fashion illustration for it is often is quite daring, wonderfully bold and refreshingly different. It is like all the rules have been abolished. This field is filled with amazingly talented artists and it is booming with life. Fashion illustration is neither forgotten nor dead, it survived the all its crisis. Perhaps its disappearance from the magazine was a blessing in a disguise for it could be argued it has helped fashion illustration get back to its artistic roots. You know what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Fashion illustration is still alive and kicking. I'm even blessed to have one fashion illustration among my blogging friends, so I often get a daily dose of inspiration. Yes, it is you Pablo! Visit his blog Fungi Express if you already hadn't. Pablo also writes great articles about various topics, mostly looking upon these worldly subjects from a fashion angle.
Ljudi kažu da je izum fotografije ubio modnu ilustraciju, ali ja se s time ne slažem. Zašto biti tako negativan i reći da je modna ilustracija izgubivši svoju glavnu funkciju izgubila svoju moć? To je djelomično točno, modna ilustracija je doista izgubila uturku s fotografijom za mjesto glavnom marketinškoga alata, ali to nije cijela priča. Modna ilustracija je otišla u podzemlje, ali nije nestala. Oslobođena svoje komercijalne svrhe, modna ilustracija je procvjetala na jedan novi način. Pogledate li suvremene modne ilustratorice ( ostavila sam vam poveznice u engleskom dijelu teksta, slobodno tamo kliknite ako vas zanimaju djela spomenutih umjetnica), sigurno ćete primijetiti da su sve razvile (slučajno je ispalo da su sve žene) poseban stil slikanja koji je samo njima svojstven. Osobno ja jednostavno obožavam suvremenu modnu ilustraciju jer je često jako odvažna, divno hrabra i osvježavajuće drukčija. Kao da su sva pravila ukinuta. Ovo polje prepuno je nevjerojatno talentiranih umjetika i puno je života. Modna ilustracija nije ni zaboravljena, ni mrtva, preživjela je sve svoje krize. Možda je njen nestanak iz časopisa zapravo bio prerušeni blagoslov jer bi se moglo reći da je baš to pomoglo modnoj ilustraciji da se vrati svojim umjetničkim korjenima. Znate kako kažu! Što vas ne ubije, ojača vas. Modna ilustracija se još drži. Čak sam toliko sretna pa imam i jedanoga modnoga ilustratora među prijateljima blogerima tako da često dobijem dnevnu dozu nadahnuća. To si ti, Pablo! Posjetite njegov blog Fungi Express ako već niste. Pablo piše i vrhunske članke, o svakakvim temam, većinom iz modnoga kuta, ali s osvrtom na svjetske teme.
*** Ovdje završava moj hrvatski prijevod teksta jer žurim, pa ću samo sažeti bit, naime u naredna četiri odlomka govorim o svom odnosu prema modnim ilustracijama, ali mislim da sam već govorila o tome na blogu, tako da to nije ništa novo. Nekakav je moj zaključak cijele ovo teme to da je modna ilustracije još uvijek iznad svega, nekakako kako mi djeluje i ova djevojka na slici (vratila sam se akvarelu kao što možete vidjeti). Žao mi je ali jučer nisam imala vremena prevoditi članak. Nažalost, treba mi jednako vremena za prevođenje svoga teksta kao i tuđega, to zapravo i ne ide brzo jer iako mi je hrvatski jezik materijalni moram ipak prvo pročitati tekst na engleskom jer obično na njemu pišem. Ljubim vas, hvala na čitanju.
So, it seems that fashion illustration is here to stay. Students of Fashion Designer are still taught to draw, sketch and paint their creations. This can, I believe, be very useful in developing and reinforcing the creative process of designing. Anyway, it can't hurt, right? Not that you need to be a painter to be a designer, many great designers can't draw a straight line, they simply hire professional illustrators to do it for them. Believe it or not, some artists do fashion illustrations for a living. Obviously, fashion illustration is here to stay. There are also people like myself, hobby artists who do fashion illustrations for their own pleasure. What is my story? Well, I have always done fashion illustrations ever since I was a little girl. I didn't see it as anything out of the ordinary, because I would drew and paint just about anything all the time, yet when I would draw clothes, it would usually be just that- a sketch, an illustration or a painting of an outfit. In other words, a fashion illustration. It was a hobby I never completely gave up upon, even if there was probably an odd year when I would not draw any fashion illustration. I only started collecting my own fashion illustrations recently and many of my old works were lost in the move from Split to Mostar ( I had to throw them in recycle bins because I simply couldn't transport all my paintings). I'm afraid the same faith awaits my newer works, but I'm still trying to work out a system that would allow me to store them. Being faced with so many exploding folders, I feel tempted to give it up. At any rate, fashion illustration is something I always did, but most often without even realizing that is what I was doing at the moment.
I talked about our mechanism of denial here in Why Is Fashion Often A Dirty Word? The thing is, I still want to do fashion illustration. That desire has never left me. It hasn't evolved into something more, but it hasn't lost its intensity either. So, here I am. Drawing, sketching, illustration and painting fashion illustrations in many different styles (from cartoon-ish to artistic) and using various media (pencil, make up, watercolour, pastels, oil paints and what not). I'm not active at the Instagram at the moment, but often I share these creations with you here on modaodaradosti. It can be a lot of time but naturally often it can be quite tiring because I have so many ideas and it is hard to dedicate a substantial amount of time for in. So, in reality I often can't spare more than fifteen minutes for an illustration yet that's life, always bittersweet and never having quite enough time. You know what they say? When you care, you make time for it. There is also that Inspired by feature I'm very fond of and I'm doing my best to keep it going. It's a challenge setting aside time for it and even a greater challenge figuring out how to store all those illustration. Nevertheless, it is certainly something I want to be doing and that's why I'm doing it, so no complains here.
Now, let's get back to the topic of background. Usually there is a background to my fashion illustration and it is kind of a part of my fashion illustration. I'm not sure why. Maybe it has to do with placement, the feeling of capturing some definite place and time. Perhaps I'm afraid that without it my girls would get stuck up in some fashion limbo. Joking aside, I like how a nice background makes illustration seem more grounded. You might have noticed that often background plays an important part in the atmosphere I'm trying to create with a certain illustration. To me it is just something that makes sense. Perhaps it is because I'm self-taught and have never took a fashion illustration course, but I think that the background doesn't necessarily take away the focus from the clothes. Because you know what? Clothes are never just clothes, there is always a context and a story. I'm sure that is what draws me to fashion.
The older I get, the more I realize that fashion is a very complex thing, a monstrous creature that escapes our definitions and just when we think we have cornered it, this monstrous creature jumps over our heads and leaves us in bewilderment. Fashion illustration? It has found a way to evolve. For some it's a hobby, for others a career, but it is here to stay. I was thinking of naming this illustration 'She is cooler than cool' but it has just now struck me that could be said of fashion illustration as well. This girl on this watercolour illustration of mine? She seems cooler than cool. She has her flare jeans, red blouse and matching choker, black blazer (velvet) and pointy (ankle!) boots and I love her for attitude as much as for her clothes. Do you know what else I love? Fashion illustration, for what it was and for what it is, because fashion illustration is cooler than cool. Thank you for reading!
xoxo
Ivana
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| watercolour on paper/ vodene boje na papiru |
