In a departure from my usual illustration style i’ve recently developed these 12 portraits celebrating some of history’s classic female icons. Ranging from the television comedian Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy) to Hollywood Goddesses such as Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo, these fashion illustrations represent some of the most beautiful and best known faces of the screen. Beyond their unmistakable good looks, each of these women held an incredible talent and strength of personality that’s immortalised them in the language of popular culture. They illuminated the cinema screens like so few others have been able to since, proving their status as true cultural phenomenons that have inspired every generation after them and have the well-earned right to be called Screen Icons.
Through watching as many classic movies could find (with favourites becoming All About Eve, Mildred Pierce and Mata Hari) and researching countless photos, i’ve put great effort into trying to capture each model’s unique quality; that ‘special something’ that sticks in your memory long after your fleeting encounter with them on the screen. You may feel that there are some glaring omissions from this selection and I would almost certainly agree. I can tell you that along side of these twelve, work was started on portraits of Veronica Lake and Grace Kelly that might well become the start of a second collection, but this time around I offer you; Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo, Hedy Lamarr, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Lauren Bacall, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich. A pretty definitive list if I do say so myself. If you like them as much as I do please feel free to browse the Prints, Stationery Cards and even iphone cases available in my online store.
A note on technique: This is the first time i’ve created a collection of work purely digitally. With the new acquisition of a Wacom Intuos 5, I saw these portraits as an opportunity to test just how natural it would feel to draw and paint on this updated hardware (previously only using a cheap Wacom Bamboo tablet for colouring). Taking inspiration from fashion and lifestyle illustrators that i’ve long admired such as David Downton, Bob Peak, René Gruau, Al Parker and John Whitcomb, I wanted to develop a style that was fashion led, wasn’t too far removed from my own current work and retained a strong sense of a hand-drawn quality. Using Photoshop CS6 as my primary drawing software, I also put to work a set of brush presets developed by another great illustrator Ray Frenden. Each of these portraits were pretty much drawn exclusively using these brushes and I highly recommend them as some the of the most natural feeling digital brushes i’ve ever used. As someone who has been more that a little obsessed with ‘real’ brushes and inks, I was surprised as to just how satisfied I am with the results. There were several false starts, experimental test drawings and tweaks to the hardware made along the way (and my background in traditional illustration has certainly helped) but I can honestly say that the success of these portraits makes it harder for me to go back to the drawing board, if only for the time savings involved.
So that’s my twelve, I sincerely you hope you enjoyed them and maybe they might inspire you to re-watch some of their classic movies. I hope to work on some more in the future, not forgetting all the great leading men of cinema’s past. Remember prints and cards are available in my online store and if you are interested in a private commission please feel free to get in touch at chris@wingsart.net.
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Audrey Hepburn
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Ava Gardner
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Bette Davis
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Elizabeth Taylor
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Greta Garbo
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Hedy Lamarr
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Joan Crawford
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Lana Turner
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Lauren Bacall
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Lucille Ball
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Marilyn Monroe
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Marlene Dietrich
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