Fabulous Doodles Fashion Illustration blog by Brooke Hagel: Male Illustration

Showing posts with label Male Illustration. Show all posts

Ralph Lauren Mansion: Live Sketching

Live sketching custom fashion illustrations at the Ralph Lauren mansion NYC flagship store was a career highlight and even though it's been a minute I thought it deserved a highlight here. The stunning space and meticulous merchandizing have made it one of my favorite Manhattan stores for decades. I've sketched events for the brand previously under both the Ralph Lauren label and Polo but this was my first time sketching in their iconic flagship--and it did not disappoint!

The desk where they set me up to draw for the day was at the base of their notorious staircase. It's the key spot of the whole store, where everyone who walks through the store passes. It's also raised up on a small staircase platform and was styled, of course, to perfection with large spheres at my feet, a grand antler candelabra to my side and flanked by luxurious curtains.

It was a regular shopping day in the store, open to all and not a private event, but to my pleasant surprise there were many influencers and notable people who came by, including a former Miss. America, an actor as well as numerous fashion bloggers and influencers. Over on the gram I shared a bunch of videos from the event, the one of above being one of my favorites! There's nothing better than seeing the twinkle in a persons eye the moment they see their custom sketch.

My first time live sketching at the Ralph Lauren mansion was an experience that did not disappoint! I had a wonderful time sketching and meeting an array of Ralph Lauren customers and employees (including the President of RL!) in a stunning setting. The event went so well that they flew me down to Miami about two weeks later to live sketch there for a few days as well as booked me to come back for Mother's Day weekend!

Ralph Lauren Team USA Uniform Sketches | Tokyo 2021

The time has finally come, the Ralph Lauren Olympic fashion illustration's for the Team USA Uniforms have been been released and tonight we get to see them in action. “Team USA’s 2020 [now 2021 since the pandemic postponement] Opening Ceremony Parade Uniform is a classic all-American look that incorporates sustainable materials within each piece,” a press release from Ralph Lauren read. What it left out was that it incorporated elements, or better yet accessories and illustrative details we’ve yet to see from Ralph Lauren for any Olympic Games ever before such as athletes sporting face masks, and for the first time a press release illustration incorporating the disabled community with a Paralympian and a wheelchair as well as a multitude of ethnicities for the croquis. The inclusive nature of the team USA uniform illustrations released by Ralph Lauren of both opening and closing ceremony looks for 2021 are truly like none we’ve ever seen before from the brand!

In addition to the added elements mentions above, from what I can tell (and now I can’t be 100% certain but I’d be willing to bet money on it) these illustrations also appear to be digital drawings which is quite the departure for a brand with such a rich history of hand drawn illustrations behind their designs. (At the end of this post I’ll share links with examples of older works.) Specifically the opening ceremony illustration, with the multiple figures, and the way the flag and fabrics are rendered, appears to me to be evenly filled lines are that are rendered with digital brush strokes. Of course it’s still in the same beautiful Ralph Lauren illustrative style and well drawn croqui’s that are quality examples of the brand. But it’s a modern drawing technique, a high tech fashion illustration version that parallels the high performance gear and sustainable clothing elements the illustrations are representing.

Bravo Ralph Lauren! For being all-inclusive with the disabled community, representing multiple ethnicities, not ignoring the pandemic with masks and stepping out of your comfort zone by doing digital illustrations for these 2021 Olympic Team USA looks! Can't wait to see the illustrations come to life on the athletes in tonight's Opening Ceremony.

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Ferragamo Fashion Illustration Invitations

Custom fashion event invitations have always been a part of my business but over the past year and a half or so Salvatore Ferragamo has become one of my best clients and for them I've drawn many. Rarely does a major holiday pass where I'm not hired to sketch for Ferragamo and with that often comes illustrating a new custom event invitation. Since we've done quite a few now I thought it would be nice to take a look back and feature some of my favorites here on Fabulous Doodles. Each illustration is inspired by a look from the current seasons runway collection that the corporate team sends along. Occasionally the look is shown on a model but sometimes it is sent to me as isolated pieces photographed individually. I then interpret the pieces into a stylized sketch and photograph the sketch on my desktop for the Ferragamo design team to use on the invite layout for an designer studio vibe.

Its been great to have these sketches and invitations both to share on social media with my followers to let people know of the upcoming events, as well as to have the sketches to serve as examples beside me framed at the events as a sample of what it is I am there doing. I always have framed samples at my live-sketching events but this way it is 100% on-brand and representing the most recent Ferragamo collection.

I hope you've enjoyed this round up of my Salvatore Ferragamo invitations as much as I enjoyed drawing them!

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Team USA Closing Ceremony Designs by Ralph Lauren | PyeongChang

Here's a fun fashion illustration sneak peek of the Ralph Lauren designs Team USA will be wearing at tonights closing ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. If you've been a long time reader of Fabulous Doodles you know I'm huge fan of illustrations from Ralph Lauren design team and this powerful pair are no different. The sketches convey movement and texture and are just the right amount of unfinished to look professional with a stylized and artsy air to them. I'm excited to see them come to life on the athletes tonight!

Have a look at past Ralph Lauren Olympic uniform sketches I've featured in the past:

Brooks Brothers Boston Event

I'm so excited to be heading up to Boston again for the second year to live-sketch Brooks Brothers annual BCRF soirée. This time around I was asked to illustrate not one but two Brooks Brothers inspired fashion illustrations as the perfect preppy pair to adorn the invitation (shown above.) Guests will receive 15% off and proceeds will be donated to BCRF for Breast Cancer research.

Wednesday, November 2nd

6-8 PM

Brooks Brothers

46 Newbury Street

Boston

RSVP: Schinsky@bcrfcure.org

It was fun to draw this poised pair with their preppy pops of pink. (Try saying that one ten times fast!) I especially love how the man's suit turned out. I don't draw men too often as I'm quite self critical of how they come out but this one's a keeper.

Hope to see and sketch you there, but even if you can't make it be sure and follow along on Snapchat (@brooklit) and Insta-stories because as usual, I'll be sharing sketches in progress from the fabulous fête!

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Olympic Team USA Designs by Ralph Lauren | Rio

Ralph Lauren, the quintessential all-American design king has once again designed team USA's opening and closing ceremony looks for the Olympics and with the closing ceremony taking place later today what better time to feature sketches from the Ralph Lauren team of what we can expect to see the athletes wearing. If you've been reading Fabulous Doodles a while you know I'm a huge fan of Ralph Lauren fashion illustrations, and have featured them numerous times. The Olympic illustrations, especially the men shown here, are drawn strong and statuesque with beautiful movement and life to sketches. The color rendering is super saturated, almost like a digital illustration but I'm pretty sure they were illustrated traditionally on paper, as is standard procedure for the house of RL. I love the simplified stylized shadows throughout the skin and garments and am impressed with how many details are in each sketch, down to the intricate design of the boatshoes, the braided bracelets and tiny logos throughout the garments. All without making the illustrations appear overworked or fussy.

Shown above are the sketches from the opening night ceremony. Again showing only the men for two reasons; as odd as it is they resonate more with me than the women's this time around. And since this year they styled the men and women in identical uniforms, as opposed to years past where the women have had more feminine looks with skirts and dresses, you're not missing any opposing or complimentary designs. Its rare that I share male illustrations here but these are so well done I couldn't resist. I'll certainly be using these beautiful renderings for future reference for my own male illustrations, which I have to admit I find challenging.

I'm looking forward to tuning in tonight for the Rio Olympics closing ceremonies to see these sketches truly come to life on the athletes of team USA!

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Sketching for Jonathan Adler x Fisher Price

Last week I had the pleasure of spending my day custom sketching for Jonathan Adler and Fisher Price at New York's Museum of Arts and Design for a press preview event debuting their exciting collaboration of high contrast, high style baby gear. Since the collection is graphic and bold they requested I paint simplified monocromatic profile portraits. It was slightly different from my typical fashion illustration sketching event but it was success and everyone seemed to truly love their custom illustrations.

It was great to spend one on one time chatting with and sketching Jonathan. I've actually been a fan of his work since he opened his very first shop down in Soho in 1998. My dad is a potter so I grew up around potters wheels, kilns, and a house full to the brim of handmade pottery. I've also been collecting Jonathan's pieces for years and have loved seeing him grow the company to include all forms of home decor, furniture, lighting, fashion accessories and now baby gear (not that I have a use for this one just yet!)

Spending the day illustrating atop a museum I've frequented for years was also pretty incredible. If only my studio desk had views like this! And although I realize its a stretch I'm thinking now I can say that like my cousin, renowned sculptress Louise Nevelson, maybe I could say my work has been in MAD!? All kidding aside though it was a great event to live-sketch and the collection (which I can't share photo's of just yet) is stunning. One of the editors I sketched said the Jonathan Adler x Fisher Price collab is going to be true a game changer within the baby market.

Gift Custom Family Illustrations | Brooke Hagel & IfOnly

I'm so excited to announce that for the next few weeks I've teamed up with IfOnly to offer custom family illustrations just in time for Fathers Day. IfOnly is an emporium where connoisseurs shop for one of a kind, extraordinary experiences and gifts for good with hundred of top luminaries. A portion of every gift benefits a charitable cause! I've chosen Hilarity for Charity, a charity near and dear to my family that was founded by my cousins Seth & Lauren Rogen. They're leading a movement to inspire change and raise awareness of Alzheimers disease among the millennial generation.

These custom sketches are available within just days for a limited time, leading up to Father's Day via IfOnly. You simply place your order on IfOnly then send their incredible concierge team your photos and any art direction you want me to have and within a few days your custom illustration is drawn and in the mail. I'm sketching every family member, from dad alone with his fishing pole to whole families, to vintage inspired wedding illustrations from your parents or grandparents wedding (check out my stylish parents circa 1973 atop this post!), and even the family dog!

I've already been filling orders and sketching away for about a week now and I'm really loving the outcome so leading up to Father's Day I've decided to share sneak peeks at some of the commissions over my Instagram feed. Sketches in progress include a dad preforming alongside Snoop Dog, a young NYC family of three, more precious pups and a even a grandpa!

I'm really excited about this collaboration with IfOnly and hope in addition to giving dads custom keepsakes I can also help to raise a little money for a great cause. You can check out all my IfOnly custom illustration offerings here and visit Hilarity for Charity to learn more about my funny family making a difference in the fight against Alzheimers.

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Delta Airlines x Zac Posen | Live Sketching

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of live sketching custom fashion illustrations at Delta Airlines press event announcing designer Zac Posen has signed on to redesign their uniforms. It was a unique event to live-sketch because the guests were all Delta employees who flew in for the day from various cities across the country. I met and sketched pilots, flight attendants, customer service reps and even grounds crew members and loved hearing where each guest was from, and how excited they were for their designer uniform upgrade. A highlight of the day was Zac Posen came over to my drafting table and even snapped a few photos (shown above) of some of the sketches I drew beforehand inspired by vintage Delta uniforms that were displayed throughout the space. It was exciting to see such an accomplished designer admire my illustrations.

I met and sketched so many wonderful Delta employees from across the country throughout the three hour event, drawing over 20 custom sketches actually. All the guests (even the men!) were thrilled to be turned into a fashion illustrations and have a memento of their current and soon-to-be old uniforms. I'm excited for them and really looking forward to seeing what Zac Posen and his team come up with for the lovely Delta team.

If you're interested in having me live sketch custom illustrations at your next corporate event or party email FabulousDoodles@gmail.com for availability and rates.

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Inspired Weekend, UK Edition

This weekend I set off to London for a long overdue visit with my British bestie Will Taylor-Willis. We took a little trip to Edinburgh, Scotland since I'd never been before, and had a wonderful weekend exploring the city, playing tourist, shopping and indulging in some incredible bites. As if spending quality time with my best friend and his amazing husband wasn't nice enough, my weekend was made all the better by two surprising features of my illustrations.

1. Nigel Barker shared this instagram of me completing a custom sketch of him and his wife Chrissy from a week or two prior. It's honestly one of my favorite custom couple illustrations thats I've drawn and it was such a thrill to see he shared it.

2. Edinburgh charmed my socks off with its cobble stone streets, tiny "Diagon Alley" style shops, castle, gothic architecture and handsome clocks, like this one atop of the beautiful Balmoral hotel.

3. For my travels I had bookmarked Domaine Home especially to check out their feature of A Lust for Life: Inside Olivia Lopez's Fashionable Loft, and was shocked to find my illustration of her in the article! I had drawn this custom sketch of the beautiful fashion blogger nearly two years ago as a commission for Love Gold.

4. No trip abroad would be complete for me without a "visual packing list." Sketching out my outfits is the only way I can pack for a big trip and really see what I have, if it will all flow and be interchangeable and if I'm missing anything. I snapped this pic just before leaving for the airport to be reunited with my crazy bestie.

(Illustrations by Brooke Hagel, mood board photo Christopher Patey for Domaine.)

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Bright Bazaar Menswear Sketches of Ted Baker AW14

Today I have menswear illustrations I sketched for Will Taylor, aka. Mr. Bright Bazaar, who just so happens to be my best friend! Will collaborated with Ted Baker and chose his top A/W 2014 picks for a bright London photoshoot feature which I then interpreted into an illustration. In addition to working with my stylish bestie, I rarely collaborate with menswear brands so this was a fun project. We went with one full illustration and then individually highlighted some in flats. Flats are silhouettes of the garments which designers frequently use in house for pattern making, draping and line sheets. The flats I chose to draw are considered stylized flats because they're fully rendered in color and show the fabrics and textures. Back in college I always preferred stylized flats, as I'm not a technical person and liked a more organic look over a basic black and white line drawing. This eclectic collection translated well since it consists of quilting, luxe leathers, jersey and denim.

(Illustrations by Brooke Hagel, Photo by Will Taylor)

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Olympic Team USA Sketches by Ralph Lauren

Tonight is the start of the winter Olympics in Sochi Russia and the United States team will again be sporting Ralph Lauren, the longstanding official outfitter of team USA. Shown here are the fashion illustrations for the opening and closing ceremony parade, and as you can always expect from Ralph Lauren these fashion illustrations are rendered to perfection.

The design however is pretty hideous and way too reminiscent of ugly holiday sweaters (The New York Times even titled an article "US Olympic Outfits Worthy of Stares, If Not Metals") but the illustrations are still drawn to perfection and worth a good look. And regardless of what craziness they'll be wearing, I'll be routing for team USA to go for the gold!

(Illustrations by Ralph Lauren)

Hugo Boss Holiday Party Sketches

Last week I live-sketched at my first holiday party of the season for fashion and lifestyle brand Hugo Boss. It was their annual employee holiday party and was held downtown at VIP Room in New York's Meatpacking District. The Hugo Boss employees made fabulous models to sketch for the night and were all so enthusiastic about receiving a custom illustration even Hugo Boss CEO Mark Brasher (shown above, left) sat with me for a custom sketch of his own.

It was quite a large party and a line quickly formed for custom fashion illustrations that lasted the whole night but it was wonderful to meet and sketch all the chic Hugo Boss employees and I was so happy to be a part of their company celebration.

For more information about my event-sketching or rates to sketch fashion illustrations at your corporate event or private party you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com.

NYFW Party Sketching for Vogue & Brian Atwood

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of live-sketching party guest fashion illustrations for Vogue magazine on the last night of New York Fashion Week. This event was in celebration of the new B. Brian Atwood handbag collection, and was held at Bloomingdales flagship NYC store. It was hosted by Helena Glazer, the impeccably dressed and always uber-chic fashion blogger behind Brooklyn Blonde (shown above with my sketch of her, which was the first of the evening.)

Since this event had such a large crowd, the fashion illustrations were given as a gift with purchase to anyone who bought a bag form the collection. Most of the part guests were women, including lots of Vogue staffers and the Brian Atwood team, but I did illustrate one man, Brian's handsome partner Dr. Jake Deutsch. He's also the only sketch of the night [understandably] not sporting a new purse!

It was great end to NY Fashion Week live sketching with Vogue and Brian Atwood at Bloomingdales! I hope you enjoy a few of my pictures and sketches from the night.

If your interested in rates for live-sketching at a corporate event or private party of your own, or have a question, you can email me at FabulousDoodles@gmail.com.

Male Fashion Illustrations {Milan Fashion Week Spring 2014}

(Roberto Cavalli)

Milan Men's Fashion Week is approaching and in anticipation Women's Wear Daily has published a bunch of designer illustrations, including the chic Roberto Cavalli sketch shown above, set to appear on the runways straight from the designer's drafting tables. Yes, I'm featuring male illustrations ladies and gents, you read that correctly! Over the past four years of Fabulous Doodles I written countless posts on designer illustrations from womenswear fashion weeks but this is the very first menswear feature.

(Les Hommes and Diesel Black Gold)

There are many reasons for this. First, men are extremely difficult to illustrate. Secondly, I was a womenswear fashion design major and spent years of college and subsequent years since, strictly drawing women. Last but not least I never had to challenge myself with illustrating men until my recent foray into live-illustrating at events where I can't exactly turn people away just for being male.

(Z Zegna and Ermanno Scervino)

Men are challenging to draw, every illustrator and designer I know personally admits to that. The line of a man is very straight and angular and its hard to make them statuesque, slim and fit without appearing girly. And if you draw them too big and brute then they come off sort of dumpy instead of masculine. You also have to be precise when drawing tailored pieces (as shown in the Brioni below) and its quite difficult to draw masculine facial features. Put too much pressure on the pencil while rendering the eyes for instance, and suddenly your man can look like he's wearing mascara.

(Brioni)

For me learning to draw men is a work in progress, for years I used to actually turn down projects that requested a male illustration, but over the past year and having to live-illustrate men more and more I've learned and consequently improved. Studying these designer sketches from the men's collections, and how these designers render the male proportions and male features can only help my illustrating and hopefully yours as well.

These designer menswear sketches are from Women's Wear Daily, and if you click on over you can check out even more illustrations and inspiration from the spring 2014 Milan collections.

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