Fashion Illustration at Cass Art with Francesco Lo Iacono

I attended the last of Francesco's fashion illustration classes at Cass Art, Islington for the summer season. I have previously been to his classes here and here and here. As ever, it was a fantastic class and I invited my sewing and craft buddy Clea along to join in the fun. The striking model was wearing Lili Eva Bartha clothes that were full of bold graphic colours and interesting silhouettes. I used a combination of coloured pencil crayons, watercolours, felt-tips and water, marker pens and inks for the studies ranging from five to fifteen-minute poses.

Clea sketching away!

15-minute study: coloured pencil crayon & marker pen

20-minute study: watercolours, coloured pencil crayon, & marker pen

5-minute study: coloured pencil crayons

20-minute study: felt-tip, water, watercolours coloured pencil crayon & marker pen

10-minute study: coloured pencil crayon

20-minute study: felt-tip, water, watercolours & marker pen

10-minute study: felt-tip, pencil crayon & marker pen

15-minute study: felt-tip, water, watercolours coloured pencil crayon & marker pen

15-minute study: felt-tip, water, watercolours coloured pencil crayon & marker pen

I am looking forward to attending Francesco's classes again in September!

Fashion Illustration at Cass Art with Francesco Lo Iacono

I have attended a number of Francesco's classes at Cass Art, Islington (here & here) and they are always a wonderful experience. Francesco has a calm and nurturing tutoring style and is a very positive person. The cost is a very reasonable £15 for a 2-hour session with all materials included for drawing or painting. Francesco has amazing contacts in models and fashion designers showcasing two outfits for the duration of the session. Last week we had a beautiful model, Jesika July wearing Radvile Kisieliute's clothes that were full of texture and interesting construction.

The sketches range from 5-minute to 15-minute studies and I used pencil and watercolour paints during this class. Life drawing is equal parts liberating and frustrating having to work so quickly on art. It is great when the sketch isn't going that well so you can move rapidly onto a new drawing, but sometimes you want to spend some more time adding further detail or improving the quality of the line. That is the joy of practising life-drawing!

I would like to work back into some of my unfinished sketches when I get a moment to add more colour and detail that I didn't get the chance to during the class.

Join me at the next class on 13th June whilst there are places left! 

I worked into the above sketches for about 30 minutes each and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I used Windsor and Newton Promarkers and Sharpies to add more depth of colour in layers.

Fashion Life Drawing Class at Cass Art Islington

I enjoyed a great evening art class at Cass Art on the 17th October. The event is hosted by the lovely illustrator Francesco La Ianoco who organises a gorgeous model and a graduate fashion designer to showcase some amazing outfits.

We were treated to the striking fashion by Maddy Stringer who has produced the most stunning PVC coats that were vividly coloured and wildly sculptural. Check out the photos and a selection of my studies below. The evening was split into a series of 10-minute and 15-minute poses with two contrasting outfits. I used a variety of media including watercolour pencils, marker pens, inks, oil pastel and watercolours.

A 5-minute study in oil pastel, pro-marker and watercolours

A 10-minute sketch with pro-marker and watercolours

20-minute sketch with oil pastel, pro-markers and watercolours

A 10-minute sketch with pro-markers and watercolours

A 5-minute study in watercolours

A 10-minute sketch with pro-markers and watercolours

A 10-minute sketch in oil pastel and pro-markers

A 15-minute sketch in watercolours and pro-markers

A 5-minute sketch in oil pastel and chalk-pencil

A 10-minute sketch in pro-markers

A 10-minute sketch in watercolour

I thoroughly enjoyed my evening at Cass Art whiling away two hours with paints and marker pens. I would highly recommend going to any type of life drawing class if you like drawing and painting because it really challenges you in new and interesting ways. The structural construction of Molly Stringer's garments was such fun to draw!

Fashion Life Drawing Class at Cass Art Islington

Last Wednesday I took an evening class at Cass Art in Islington. I spent a delightful 2-hours drawing a life model who was wearing a beautiful selection of clothing designed by Suzi G Lee.

The cost (£15) includes all materials and paper and the advice of an Italian life drawing tutor and fashion illustrator Francesco La Ianoco. I had a really great time and produced a decent amount of work in the short time frame. Francesco started the class with 5 and 10-minute sketches leading up to 15 and 25 minutes later in the session.

The garments by Suzie Lee (a recent London Fashion graduate) were very striking and fun to draw. I didn't get a chance to take a photograph so you will have to rely on my fluid and quick interpretations of her work. Stripes, pleats, neoprene, scuba and bold colours were a re-occurring feature in the clothes which I hope you will enjoy seeing in my sketches.

 Outfit One: Neoprene bodice with large stripy pleated skirt

10-minute sketch in Promarker pen and Windsor and Newton watercolours

15 minute sketch in Promarker pen and Windsor and Newton watercolours

25-minute sketch in Promarker pens, Windsor and Newton watercolours and oil pastels

10-minute sketch in pencil crayon

10-minute sketch in Promarker pens and oil pastels

Outfit Two: High waisted trousers with raglan sleeve boxy top, over-sized jacket and bag

25-minute sketch in Promarker pens, Windsor and Newton watercolours and oil pastels

10-minute continuous line sketch in Promarker pens and Windsor and Newton watercolours

15-minute sketch in Promarker pens, Windsor and Newton watercolours and oil pastels

25-minute sketch in Promarker pens, Windsor and Newton watercolours and oil pastels

10-minute sketch in Promarker pens, Windsor and Newton watercolours and oil pastels

 I had such a relaxing time looking at the fabulous clothes and spending some time practising my drawing techniques and skills and would highly recommend this class to others.