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| Image available at: http://www.theloka.blogspot.com [Accessed: 29 November 2011] |
Arturo Elena is my second fashion illustrator
as I find his extreme technical style rather captivating. Unlike my first fashion illustrator Hanna Müller
who is relatively unknown, Arturo is an internationally renowned illustrator and
I find his work extremely inspiring. Below
you can find a personal profile of Elena which provides information regarding
his achievements throughout his career along with the methods he uses to create
his illustrations. I have also attached
some examples of Arturo’s illustrations to demonstrate his famous style.
Background
He was born in 1958 in Teruel, Spain and he
moved to Barcelona in the 1980’s after studying in Valencia and Toledo. He was always fascinated by the work of both René Gruau and Stefano Canulli and their
techniques inspire all of his drawings. In
Barcelona, he worked with the design team in charge of women’s collections for the
brands Bambú and Daniel G. After this, he further developed his career in other cities teaching
trends at the
Fashion Design and Techniques School in Seville and Malaga. While in Seville,
he met José Victor Rodríguez and José Luis Medina (Vitorio & Lucchino), who
he worked with for six years on visual identity projects. One of these projects gave him the opportunity to contribute to publications such
as “Cosmopolitan” and later “Telva”, “Elle” and other international
magazines. From there, his prestige grew
and he continued to contribute monthly illustrations to Cosmopolitan Spain from
1992-2009.
Currently,
he is continuing to teach drawing techniques at the “Instituto Europeo di
Design”, as well as contributing designs for several firms such as “Vitorio and
Lucchino”, “Roberto Verino”, and others.
(Arturo Elena, 2011)
Style & Technique
Arturo
uses professional techniques which is why his illustrations are favoured by
many designers. His style is easily
recognised as he believes in lengthening the human form in an exaggerated
manner, whilst maintaining relatively realistic proportions. He uses synthetic inks along with markers to achieve
remarkable effects and he always pays particular attention to precise details such
as the texture and colour of the fabrics.
He ensures that the facial expressions along with the body positions in his illustrations always convey
a multitude of diverse emotions. Arturo
is an undoubtedly skilful artist with an ability to draw striking illustrations,
incorporating realism and exaggeration.
Both his technique and style are beautifully creative and they
demonstrate his outstanding drawing capabilities. His extraordinary talent allows him to create
intriguing illustrations which has gained him an extremely impressive
reputation within the world of fashion illustration.
Arturo Elena. (2011) Arturo Elena. [Online]. Available at: http://www.arturoelena.com/ [Accessed: 29 November 2011].
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| Image available at: http://www.in-search-for-inspiration.blogspot.com [Accessed: 29 November 2011] |
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| Image available at: http://www.meninamor.tumblr.com [Accessed: 29 November 2011] |
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| Image available at: http://www.arturoelena.com/ [Accessed: 29 November 2011] |
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| Image available at: http://www.dilsedelsi.co [Accessed: 29 November 2011] |
