David Downton
The illustration I have created for The Chic Buzz Blog is an illustration of a woman, one who epitomises the international spirit of Chic Outlet Shopping® and with whom, I hope, there is a familiarity. She of course is not a real person, she’s an imaginary person but I had a clear idea of what she would be. I knew she had to be chic, European and generic in the sense that she needed to portray to many people the idea of chic.
When I think about what chic is I think firstly of style. What is stylish to one person may not be stylish to another yet style is something we all crave. It is very hard to pinpoint but I think that people who are chic know they are chic. I believe that chicness is something you know when you see it and style is the one thing people aspire to having. When you see someone who has a certain elegance and style, it is undeniably chic. It’s a relaxed glamour.
When I was creating her I had a very different approach than to when I draw fashion illustrations or portraiture. My fashion illustrations are very much about the detail – the neckline of a dress, the drape of the fabric – and with portraiture it is easier still to suggest the spirit of style, because it is real and exists in my subject. I have found that the women who are the objects of my most successful drawings are of course beautiful, but they also have character, personality and individuality. Their strength is their personal style and how that comes across.
10-03-2011