In an interview with Surface Magazine Donvavan said the following of his craft:
Your work has a distinctive quality to it that really depicts the raw essence of fashion. What is the key to great fashion illustration?
Knowledge, craftsmanship, drawing. I’m an advocate of understanding anatomy and earning your place through working hard and drawing live; not tracing and drawing up a bunch of lines to camouflage the weakness in the drawing. Often, through time, those drawings don’t really sustain the credibility they might have had been based upon a solid knowledge of drawing skills. It’s almost like dance, music, or any of the arts. In dance, if you’re going to do a modern piece, you need to have an understanding of traditional dance and ballet so you can stylize it. For me, the same holds true in fashion illustration. Just because you elongate a figure and throw some curvy lines on it doesn’t validate it as a fashion illustration.
No offense to fashion designers, I love them, but they’re not illustrators. Traditionally, design sketches serve the purpose of communicating that design to a pattern maker or draper who can reinvent it on a dress form. Whereas fashion illustration was built upon drawing from a live figure in front of you. That may not be the reality today. The ability to draw live and understand where the lines are on a figure, you can reinvent that by looking at a photo, you don’t need a live figure in front of you. But you need that training. I have many people who will say to me on Instagram, “I want to do what you’re doing. So I’m going to try this.” It doesn’t work because what I do is spontaneous. That brushstroke is probably a second, a millisecond. It’s like taking a Van Gogh and trying to emulate his lines. That was done spontaneously—he didn’t think “oh, I’m gonna put a little crosshatch here,” he was simply painting
Talking about this ephemeral process when it comes to creating art, you describe how you are in the moment as you channel your passion. As technology continues to innovate, physical drafting is almost being overtaken by digital art. In the context of fashion illustration, physical sketching is a timeless practice, but access to digital mediums expands the ability to draw to a greater audience. Where do you think the balance lies?
Both have their assets. I certainly scan my work into Photoshop, and I may play with color, or shift the background. But everything I do is done by hand. I see the possibilities inherent in using digital technology and it’s essential. I also think that moving images, animation, and taking an illustration and having it come to life is more important than it ever was, especially with social media. I teach my students, who may use Procreate, that anyone can do that and what separates them from amateurs, or people who don’t have a background in art, is the ability to actually draw live or compose live—to have an understanding of what the blueprint is beneath digital technology. Otherwise, you fall victim to relying on Photoshop or Illustrator to make work. For me, it’s limiting, despite how many different variations you can do.
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'The Art of Elegance' - join the following events:
15 September: Bil Donovan In-Conversation - 6.30pm
Join Donovan in-conversation with acclaimed fashion writer Tony Glenville for a fascinating insight into the life and work of America’s leading fashion artist and his role as Christian Dior’s first ever artist-in-residence.
17 September: Live Fashion Illustration Session and Exhibition Tour with Bil Donovan - 11.00am
Guests are invited to watch the a live illustration session in which Donovan works live to create a spectacular series of fashion illustrations with a model dressed in couture. The illustrations will then be available to purchase and the money raised donated to charity.
About Bil Donovan
Donovan is one of the most prolific and esteemed fashion and lifestyle illustrators working today. As an artist, author, educator and spokesperson he is a true champion of the art form. With a client list that currently includes Christian Dior, where he has served as artist-in-residence since 2009, Neiman Marcus, Vogue, St Regis Hotels, Kim Crawford Vineyards, Saks, New York Magazine, Elle and L’Occitane, to name a few, Bil has become the “go-to” guy for sophistication, luxe and glamour.
Donovan is the author of Advanced Fashion Drawing / Lifestyle Illustration and has illustrated a number of books including The Dress Doctor, from the original by costume designer Edith Head and Birds of a Feather Shop Together, a collection of fashion fables, both for Harper Collins and more recently, The Pursuit of Style for the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Bil currently teaches illustration at The Fashion Institute of Technology and now also at The School of Visual Arts in New York City and has spoken on the subject of fashion and lifestyle illustration at the Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival in Australia, ICON6 Illustration Conference in Pasadena California and Gallery Hanahou and led workshops at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and The Society of Illustrators in New York City where he is a member and active volunteer.
Bil continues to facilitate panels, lectures and workshops with other prominent artists to promote the art of fashion illustration and share his passion with a wider audience.