An Illustrated Fashion Blog by Angie Réhe

Last year I produced a series of illustrations for the stylish and art-loving folks at Le Louvre boutique in Melbourne, including one that was published in Vogue Brides, and another as collaboration with Paspaley Pearls– yes, it was a great run of work!  The experience was so enjoyable the idea was born to have an exhibition of work in their gorgeous store, featuring garments from the store – which means an array from Lanvin, Mouret, Marchesa, Stephen Jones, it goes on… The exhibition opened last week and is on until March 12th, as part of the VAMFF Cultural Program.

For the seventh year in a row, I will be holding a special Fashion Illustration workshop as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (VAMFF).  This year the workshop focuses on fast-and-live fashion portraits which capture a person’s “look” in a quick sketch.

Quick fashion portraits are hugely popular – stylish sketches capturing a person’s look make great mementos and an excellent way of documenting fashion.  How do you do it?  What captures the person?  How to do it quickly?  Learn the fundamentals of fashion illustration and how to create these sketches, includes live-model sketching.  Snacks and materials provided.

Why don’t you come spend a day learning how to capture someone’s style and look quickly, as a fashion illustration?  Above all, it will be fun!

More info here.

My Bridal Sketches line gives me the opportunity to draw many beautiful dresses but there are always some that are my faves.  Maybe it’s the lovely personality of the bride also, like this one.  I particularly love the touch of the heirloom veil, the old with the new.  Possibly also because I have drawn all the sisters in this lovely family as they marry.

Walking in Florence, I remember it well! On a very hot day not unlike the one in Melbourne today, walking walking, taking a wrong turn and somehow ending up on the outer ridge of Florence – how the hell did that even happen?!  The beauty of this city I was circling somehow overpowered what should have been fear, given I was alone on a deserted road and had no idea where I was.  But of course all ended well, as it usually does.  So when I needed a backdrop for this walking woman in her Sergio Rossi patchwork boots for Singapore Airlines inflight magazine SilverKris, Florence seemed the perfect match..

As seen in November 2015’s issue of SilverKris..

Enough has been said already about the loss of such a creative force as David Bowie.  It seems like 5 minutes ago that we were celebrating the David Bowie Is… exhibition in Melbourne, which is actually when I casually dropped this Aladdin Sane lightning bolt across this very old drawing.  The drawing was done when I was 15 and at the peak of my obsession with the Bowie.  I excitedly took it to the staff room at lunch time to show my teacher (possibly my first mistake), who dismissed it as nothing – “It looks like a photo” “Exactly!” “So why bother drawing it?  Art is about interpretation.”  I was crushed, clearly, since I’m still going on about it, but he was right – art is about invention and ideas, and these were things that Bowie had in bulk.  RIP.

It’s been 2 long years since the last Illustrators Australia 9 x 5 exhibition, a biannual show featuring members’ artworks on small pieces of wood – no prizes for guessing – 9 x 5 inches in size.  This year’s exhibition opens on Friday night 6pm at the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne.  Artworks are sold by silent auction on the night but you can also bid online from now. Check out the array of artworks on show here.  Auctions start at $190 and are the perfect opportunity to bag an original artwork by artists who would normally cost a lot more.  Can you pick my subject?  “Double Fantasy”, a portrait of Yoko Ono – I love her and yes her music too – true!

Can it actually be possible that we’re starting to say things like “Last chance for 2015” “Next term begins 2016”??!  Where the hell did this year go?!  Next week will see the start of the last terms for this year in both Beginners and Advanced Fashion Illustration, so if you’re in Melbourne or the surrounds and you’ve always wanted to learn the wonderful art of Fashion Illustration, or polish and extend your skills in a gorgeous friendly environment, then now is the time!

The courses are fun and packed with information and techniques.  Class sizes are small, and there is cheese and chocolate!  More info?  Just ask…

Some of this term’s demo drawings:

Some of the great work from the Introduction to Fashion Illustration course this term..

And the wonderful and varied work of the Advanced Fashion Illustration students..

Apart from frying my chest to a third degree burn within 4hrs of Melbourne having (finally) its first sunny day in 75 years, I have still been living mushroom-like in my studio, blinking uncontrollably when having to leave the house to teach or buy milk.  However, there is just something about the scent of jasmine and the first taste of a warm breeze on my bare skin that makes me want to break out the colour and rework anything that doesn’t have it.  I bring you Rainbow Bunny..