Life Drawing

In my spare time I have recently started to attend evening life drawing classes to improve my ability to draw the human form. Here are a few examples of drawings from one class. I have used various media such as watercolour, pastels, pencils, graphite and charcoal to create different effects to represent the shadows and lighting and also to make some drawings appear more abstract.

Dimension: Montage of several A3 pages

Royal Opera House Mood Board/Initial Designs

I am currently taking part in a live brief with the Royal Opera House designing costumes for the ballet "Sleeping Beauty". The directors vision that I chose to base my designs around was called "100 Year Gap" meaning the characters awoke in act 2 in 2013. This page shows a mood board of recent trends from magazines that I could draw inspiration from to design a modern witches costume for the character Carabosse. The lower half of the page shows selection of initial design ideas done in Biro, watercolour and Pro Markers. 

Dimension: Montage of several A4 sketchbook pages

Royal Opera House Design Development

Here you will see my design development and final design for the Royal Opera House live brief for the character Carabosse.  Following my mood board and initial design ideas, I decided to turn Carabosse into a modern witch by designing a sharp, striking suit. This suit would be worn in act 2 and would contrast the flamboyant dress that Carabosse would be wearing in act 1 (set in 1913). The media used in my designs are watercolour pencils and paint, Pro Markers and stick on gems. 

Dimension: Montage of 4 A4 sketchbook pages

Royal Opera House Final Illustration

This is a final illustration of my finished garment from the Royal Opera House live brief for the character Carabosse. This illustration has been done in Pro Marker pens and black ink with swatches of the fabrics I used in my garment. 

Dimension: A3

Royal Opera House Final Garment

Here are four photographs of my final garment for the Royal Opera House live brief. I personally did the hair and make-up, along with taking the photographs with a DSLR camera. My suit is made out of faux leather and matte velvet with fake barbed wire and silver studs with a spotted lace bralet underneath. I have carefully selected this design and the fabrics to portray a modern powerful woman to fit with the '100 Year Gap' directors vision. 

Elizabethan Research

In my own time, I have created a scrapbook on personal interests. I have researched aspects of the Elizabethan era to inspire me to design some modern garments. I have combined some images of royal  dresses, armour and recent collections derived from the period along with relevant fabric samples.

Dimension: 2 25x25cm scrapbook pages

Elizabethan Initial Designs

Here are six initial design ideas done in my personal scrapbook inspired by aspects of the Elizabethan era such as royal dresses and men's armour. I have taken inspiration from the silhouettes, metal in the armour and the trimmings and fabrics used on royal dresses. 

Dimension: 2 25x25cm scrapbook pages