Illustration Rally: February 2012

27 Feb 2012

Artist 129: Saung Hnin Yee Ko

We have a lovely artist to present to you know with Saung Hnin Yee Ko, this Burmese artist has a great talent for bringing us fashion illustration straight from the heart. Saung Hnin has a great, open approachable style that reflects the simple joy of the drawn figure, she revels in this, and she takes inspiration from the female figure and their representation in culture, with a body of work that reflects cultural influences from all corners of the globe combined with a homely and warm consideration of figure that reflects a deep affection for her subjects. Suang Hnin can vary her style as she likes to include a range of influences from cubism to world fabric patterns. She delights in the female form and her style reflects her love of female grace, I am sure that as she develops her style she will go from strength to strength and with the best wishes for all her future endeavours it's Saung Hnin Yee Ko!

Who are you:

My name is Saung Hnin Yee Ko. I was born and raised in Burma (Myanmar). I've also spent half my life growing up in foreign countries, so my work is inspired by different cultures and various artists. I now live in Tokyo.

What do you do:

At the moment, I am a freelance artist and fashion illustrator. I focus mainly on female figures in their traditional/ modern costumes. I studied painting at University but I didn't feel like I've gained much from school. There is something very original and unique about my work and I feel like I've always had it. That's why I want to keep doing it and hopefully, someday, I can make my passion into a career.

I specialize in fashion illustrations and painting cubic-like figures. I love colors and I like to mix them up and create something new. Every time I sit down and draw, I can only think of tall, tanned, skinny, beautiful girls and how they walk gracefully on the runway. I am obsessed with exotic fabrics from all over the world. I would study them whenever I can and I would sometimes cut and paste them on my actual paintings. I've added real accessories on my canvas before and it worked!

I like think out of the box and paint something no one has ever done before.

I'm so inspired by all those artists/ fashion designers who have done extraordinary works. Having lived in different countries definitely helped me understand people better and I'm grateful for that.

How did you start:

I started drawing pictures as a little girl, sketching all over my room and in my school books. I remember drawing pictures on the classroom blackboard and getting scolded for it! After high school, I chose to study painting at college and that was the best decision I've ever made. I then moved to Japan and now find myself doing a lot of art-related work, I got more and more inspired by Japanese artists from all walks of life. In the recent years, I've also started learning about their intricate craftsmanship and was greatly amazed by how they're always meticulous about detail.

A Personal statement about you or your work:

I personally feel that females are the reason why this world is beautiful and my work is all about beauty and female empowerment. I'm proud of being a female and I want to express that in my pictures. My paintings represent females from all over the world. What they wear, their backgrounds and their unique features are my main focuses. It doesn't matter how they look or where they come from, I would transform them into something precious in my drawings. I'd like to keep learning about the world and keep adding more flavors to my paintings in the future.

Links:

portfolio

Magazine feature:Typographic Revolt by HypeForType

It's feature time now and we are lucky enough to have the wonderful HypeForType with the launch of their brand new magazine Typographic Revolt which is the latest creative effort from graphic designer Ryan Atkinson and is a real slick showcase of their Exclusive Faces work. So here is a snippet from their press release and if you cant wait you can get hold of a copy here!

Press Release
In an effort to bring their Exclusive Faces range to a larger audience, HypeForType approached graphic designer Ryan Atkinson to produce their first magazine release Typographic Revolt. The brief was to produce a 16 page A2 magazine with a twist. Instead of following the traditional convention, Ryan designed a quick read through A2 magazine which also doubles up as a set of 4 Exclusive Faces posters. Each page folds out to create a double sided poster perfect for your studio or home wall space. Typographic Revolt is printed as a limited litho run on 90gsm wood free paper, giving everything a premium newspaper feel which absorbs the inks to create a beautiful desaturated look and feel. Typographic Revolt is available now through Amazon.

Links:
www.hypefortype.com/
@hypefortype
facebook page

23 Feb 2012

Artist 128: Laura Alvarado

It's that time again on the rally where we take a look at some of the established and up and coming talent. This week we are bringing you a lovely illustrator by the name of Laura Alvarado. Laura is one of those illustrators that stand by the traditional skills of realistic life drawing and has a working practice that both embraces digital and preserves the warmth and joy of analogue. Laura has a great eye, both in terms of her draughtsmanship which is crisp and sure-footed but also in her composition. Her images have a power best described by the drama she evokes with her use of washed out palettes and the tension which she instils in her subjects. Her work gives the viewer a distinctive perspective that not only takes the viewer into the scene but at a distance. This gives the viewer the kind of feeling that you get from a fleeting glance down a street in passing, her work sits in the mind like a pre render of a holiday memory. It is this kind of subtlety that she can draw on as she grows and if she continues in this vein she will be more than capable of any goal she sets. So with the best of luck for this coming year we give you Laura Alvarado.

Who are you:

Laura Alvarado

What do you do:

I always start the old fashioned way - drawing on paper using graphite pencil. I then bring these images into the computer to digitally colour, or in preparation to screenprint. I create images for that are exhibited and for commissioned design projects - such as album art work to editorial pieces.

How did you start:

I have always loved drawing as far back as I can remember. The real beginning of becoming an illustrator was probably in 2005 when I was on Foundation. I then went onto study illustration and specialised in printmaking.

A Personal statement about you or your work:

London based graphic artist, working in a number of areas including print design, illustration, sub-cultural research, layout design and silkscreen printmaking.

Links:

portfolio
@LauraAlvarad0
facebook

20 Feb 2012

Artist 127: Laurindo Feliciano

Feature time! We have a real treat lined up for you with the amazing collage stylings of Brazilian Laurindo Feliciano. Laurindo is based in Paris and produces some of the most distinctive collage style work with hand made technique giving him a great tactile feel and a great base for his digital additions. Composite working has become the bread and butter of much of the illustration community but with convenience comes great responsibility and the ability to pull all the image levers you can to make the final product as efficient you can. In this way it is great that Laurindo can preserve his handmade feel so well and create such a multitude of texture. His work has an almost rococo feel and abounds with a luxury of visuals. His work leaves you satisfied, filled with imagery to break down and digest. Laurindo's work acts like a shattered mirror reflecting and fragmenting both culture and the viewer. you can look at his work and sees yourself, your eye engages with familiar and unique forms which at once imparts his message but gives a hint of introspection. Laurindo has a great eye for detail and his work is a pleasure to consume with it's concordant palette and many facets. A great feast for the eyes and the soul we give you the work of Laurindo Feliciano.

Who are you:

I'm a Brazilian artist and illustrator, born in 1980 and living in Paris since 2003. I'm graduated in product and interiors design.

What do you do:

I do collage mixing media like acrylic, tape, pencil and wax crayon. I always start hand-making and then I use Photoshop. I think that this is a wonderful skill, but a great work needs more than this. It needs a lot of research and a big sense of composition. My ideal work environment needs old paper, magazines and books, all kind of pencils and a wonderful light coming from my window. It is how my work gets shape.

How did you start:

I spent my whole life drawing and reading a lot. After I graduated, I worked in design and architecture offices in Paris for several years. I really loved this but I felt that I really needed to do Art to be myself. In 2009, I decide to be honest and turn this passion into my full-time work.

A Personal statement about you or your work:

I'm inspired mainly by nature, animal behaviour, life x death and nostalgic images. My collage work is the visual response to some obsessions that I have since I'm very young, and I think it will never ends. I feel that my Artwork is changing and becoming something very intimate, unexplainable by words, only by images. I just want to do that for the rest of my life.

Links:

portfolio

@laurindof

facebook

16 Feb 2012

Interview: La Mode Outré

It's time for an interview here on the Rally and we have a great interview feature now on James Bent the creative mind behind La Mode Outré, Asian street style photography site that showcases some awesome new trends and brings out the best looks with a twist in their latest collaboration with fashion illustrators that takes the concept and amplifies it giving context to the illustration and holding up a mirror to both the photography and the style of the subject. So without further ado over to James.

1. Who are you?
Good question. I'm a 33 year old British guy who has been travelling for the last 13 years, now living in Asia. I have a job as a Learning Consultant which allows me to work remotely while living in cities that I like. And I run a site called La Mode Outré which is an Asian street style photography site that also collaborates with fashion illustrators.

2. How did you start La Mode Outré?
I studied English & Creative Studies at University (Portsmouth, UK) and loved writing fiction for which I used photos of people to base characters on. One day while in a book shop looking for photo books of people I came across the Sartorialist and fell in love with it. About three months later just after moving to Singapore for work, my partner said "why don't you take your own photos". So I did and the site kind of developed from there.

3. Why Asian street fashion?
Coincidence. Just how it happened. Realising that its still quite niche. Loving living in Asia. A whole bunch of reasons, none of which started with any kind of plan.

4. What is the idea behind the fashion illustration project?
Just like the site and the photography, it all happened when a friend told me that their friend was an illustrator who wanted to do a collaboration. So we did it, I liked how it worked in with the site and added something cool - I mean, people illustrating photos of people that I had taken, that's neat! - so I just carried on with it. I'm not sure I have an idea of anything, it's just if it works, if its cool, then keep it going! I look forward to what the next thing might be to add into the mix. Maybe fashion design collaborations!?

5. What is the plan for the future?
Just keep it going!

6. Any messages for our readers?
I think you can go at life and projects and stuff with the attitude that "I must be perfect at this before I try, I must make sure that I'm successful right from the start", but I think in reality you've got to be prepared to jump in at the deep-end, to give it a go, to learn on the job and to make mistakes so that you can rework it and make it awesome. Plus, I think things seldom happen on day one, or on month one, or even year one, it's like there are so many people doing good stuff now that the difference is who's still doing it after two years, five years, ten years. Aim big, collaborate, participate, get active and do awesome stuff.

And never think that to do something you need permission. The only thing who's permission you need to do something, to be something, it's yourself, your own permission. You know?

Links:
La Mode Outré

@LaModeOutre

La Mode Outré on facebook