Clothes Speak Before You Do.
The Blot: Issue #5
This Gramps dresses younger than you do.
This is Alojz Abram A.K.A. Gramps. He is not embracing the common phrase “Dress your age.” He is pushing the boundaries of what age group can wear modern fashion.
He is bringing two worlds to a collision: the elderly and street wear. At 75 Gramps is wearing the boldest streetwear available.
Alojz Abram and his grandson Jannik Dieffenbach
Artist Spotlight
Magdalina Dianova
This month’s spotlight is an artist who creates clothes that speak for her characters.
Magdalina Dianova is a digital artist and illustrator that I have learned 3 things from:
1. Clothes Define the Character.
Depending on the style, clothes cover up 80% of whoever you draw, illustrate, animate or sculpt. This means that it is just as important to tell a story through clothing as it is to speak through the person. When you combine and master both story telling tools, you are set for successful and clear story telling. Clothing brings color, character, and silhouette to your design, and without these elements you will be left with few traits to distinguish your character. So, if drawing clothing folds and wrinkles scares you, now might be the time to face your fear and get to practicing!
2. Interview Your Character.
Where are they from? What is their name? Where were they born? What is their favorite show? What climate do they live in? What does their name mean? How old are they? What time period do they live in? What are their hobbies? Making a list of questions for you to answer on behalf of your character, can be the difference between a unique and cliché design. You must get to know your character before you start making decisions on what they look like.
3. Keep Going!
Once you have learned how to draw normal clothing, keep adding and building onto your original design and push it as far as you can to further distinguish your character and add visuals to better portray their internal character without ever having to speak a word.
Go check out Magdalina Dianova’s to learn more about intentional clothing design!
“You can't find inspiration in a vacuum.”
From the I.M.D. department (Inspiration, Motivation, and Discipline.)
If you only ever add two and two together, you will always get four. If you want to achieve a different result, you must change one of the ingredients or change the process.
Inspiration that leads to the same result isn’t creative inspiration it's repetition. Inspiration leads to new results or old ideas reimagined. Inspiration doesn’t come from an algorithm. If you want good inspiration to get you out of that artistic slump you're in, don’t waste your time on Pinterest, Instagram, or YouTube, go pick up a book you’ve never read or go to a place you’ve never been. Try to study and learn what you are unfamiliar with. Our world runs on patterns, but to come to a different conclusion we must break the pattern.
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