Masters of Fashion Illustration by David Downton

For Christmas, I was ever so lucky to be given this wonderful book by the great fashion illustrator, David Downton.

He is one of thoes illustrators that I have always admired but has been somewhat overshadowed by Tina Berning and Stina Persson in the past.

But not anymore.

As I have studied those two, I feel that I am moving on from them and looking now at other, more detailed and older illustrators from the past.

This has been made easier from the ones chosen by Downton...

Throughout the book, the images start from Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) to Carl Erickson (1851-1958) to Coby Whitmore (1913-1988) and then ending with Downton and a selection of his own creations.

What I find so wonderful is that the term 'Fashion Illustration' has really been going for hundreds of years, it has only recently been given the title 'Fashion Illustration,' previously just being labled 'Fashion Plates' and portraits.

I do feel that it is a shame that photography has taken over the previous way of capturing an image. I find that it is very interesting to see how an artist/illustrator captures what they are seeing through their own eyes and pencil, instead of taking a photograph with hardly any creativity that they have produced.

I do think that traditional illustrating, all done by hand, hardly touching a computer, is coming back. And with all the books that one sees now, it is quite impossible to ignore it.