from the Design Library today ... 100 YEARS OF FASHION ILLUSTRATION

sorry for the delay and lack of post last week - i think this feature will change to fortnightly otherwise I'll have run out of books within a couple more months!)

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today i am featuring a gorgeous book that was bought for me as a birthday gift - 100 Years of Fashion Illustration...

as the name suggests this HUGE book is packed with so many illustrations throughout the years ... it showcases the different styles from 1900 to present day and you can follow through to see how the trends have changed ...

the book starts in 1900:

art deco style dominates from the mid 1920's:

some elegant sketches from late 1940's:

 fun and flirty represent the 1960's nicely:

punk rockers get their moment in the 1980's:

and from 1990 onwards there are so many styles, quirky, simplistic, graphic, painterly, photographic...

 this book can be bought from Amazon.co.uk for £17.46 or from Amazon.com for $26.40

london snaps - part 2

as always lots of interesting things were going on around london today, especially being as it is the start of the August bank holiday weekend (and the weather lived up to it's usual standards - heavy downpours and a rather dramatic thunderstorm!!) 

a bit of a musical theme along the Southbank - lots of wooden huts with musical influences from different countries ...

huge children's blocks suspended outside the Southbank Centre

i was paying particular attention to the 'graffiti' style artwork...

ignore the bin!

my new almost-favourite restaurant Wahaca (mexican market eating)

tiles from Wahaca's toilets - you really can find inspiration anywhere!

there was a rather bizarre tree opposite the National Film Theatre, made of fabric roles ... strange and quite soggy by this stage ... but still pretty!

the calm before the next thunderstorm!

animaniac!

so whilst at the Natural History Museum we also took a look around some other areas. not sure what was going on in my brain today but i seemed to be viewing everything as an animation and couldn't stop making comparisons to Disney movies and cartoons!!

King Louie from The Jungle Book

Colonel Hathi from The Jungle Book

Manny from Ice Age

Monstro from Pinocchio

Pumba from The Lion King

Shenzi from The Lion King

london snaps - part 1

i had a lovely trip around central london today, something i don't do often enough.  my day started at the Natural History Museum for Scott's Last Expedition exhibition. i always forget how beautiful the building is, so much detail...they really don't make them like this anymore!

(great exhibition by-the-way... would recommend it whilst it's still open - only one week left!)

i was in complete pattern mode today and everywhere i looked i saw a potential new range...so many ideas just from the tiling and pillars!

beautiful carved archway

mosaic flooring

 pillar details

ceiling detail

from the Design Library today...DIGITAL TEXTILE DESIGN

this is a great book full of all sorts of advice, tip and tricks, and interviews to help you in creating a fantastic portfolio to showcase your work to it's best ability...that's what we all want, right?

Digital Textile Design - Portfolio Skills

the great thing about this book is it takes you step-by-step through the creative process...from those initial sketches and how important they are, the proper way to scan and transfer to your computer and how to use Illustrator and Photoshop to make AMAZING patterns!!

the step-by-step tutorials are excellent. one specific one i have found useful is the filters tutorial - they take one image and show you all of the filters that Photoshop has to offer:

the Illustartor tutorials are very easy to follow (and that is coming from someone who finds it rather tricky!):

a fab few pages on how to create a colour palette from images and photos in Illustrator:

and the all important - how to create REPEAT PATTERNS!!! what we all want to know, in an easy-to-follow breakdown for both Photoshop and Illustrator:

this tutorial proved very helpful for when i was putting together my portfolio. it shows you how to apply your patterns to actual objects and furniture in a realistic way. i know that isn't to everybody's taste but it is very handy to know and the outcomes can look great!!

the book also features interviews from a range of artists talking about their work, how they started, their processes...

you can buy this from Amazon.co.uk for £15.75 or form Amazon.com for $23.10