Inspiration: David Downton

I think all watercolor artists have a healthy obsession with illustrators due to their mastery of the medium and David Downton www.daviddownton.com is one of the most talented illustrators out there. I've had a love affair with his work since I first laid eyes on it and it's always exciting to see such successful, technical imagery in illustration. His work is featured in many major advertisement campaigns such as, Chanel, Tiffany & Co., various book covers including the cover of "100 Years of Illustration" as seen below.

His line work is beautiful and his floating imagery creates such interesting use of negative space. As a young artist I sometimes find myself wondering why my work looks so amateur, so ordinary, but I think the key to a really wonderful drawing is due mostly in part to variation in line and strong editing skills. The only real way to deal with this dilemma is drawing more, more, more and it seems as though that's exactly what Downton does. "For me this is the hardest and the most interesting thing. In order to leave something out, first you have to put it in, or at least understand how every thing works. I do dozens of drawings on to layout paper taking the best from each one as I go. When the drawing looks right I start to eliminate, to de-construct if you like. I keep working until it looks spontaneous."

I really enjoyed his answer when asked what the secret to becoming a successful fashion illustrator, "Fluidity, mastery of the medium - capturing a sense of the moment, layout and use of space and most important of all, strong drawing. You can't be too good at drawing." I couldn't agree more and I wish that drawing was pressed upon me more when I was attending art school. I'm still trying to make up for lost time but I do know that my most apparent growth spurts in drawing skill were achieved in my figure drawing classes. Working from life is the most difficult, embarrassing and mandatory thing artists can do.