THE RED HAT

The Red Hat Sketch by Anna Maria - Rehcy Row - June 2013

A marker sketch from this weekend. I'm a little disappointed that this one didn't come out look more broken like my Fallen Doll sketches. Oh well, I still like it, and I'll sketch another one soon.

Have a great week!

**AM

FALLEN DOLL PRACTiCE

Fallen Doll Practicing by Anna Maria - Rehcy Row - June 2013

A quick FALLEN DOLL sketch done entirely in pen and marker with no erasing. I'm working on my sketch speed while she works on her ballet.
(Drawing done with Letraset markers and Faber-Castell pens)

FALLEN DOLL

Fallen Doll by Anna Maria - May 2013 - Rehcy Row

For several months, I've had this idea, for what I call a "fallen doll' style for my fashion illustrations, and this past weekend I finally took the time to sketch out a few. The style isn't much different from my usual style, just has a more broken-ness to the posing, which is what my sketches have been leaning to becoming for a while now. Anyways, I hope you enjoy because I'm pretty sure the FALLEN DOLL is going to become a regular in the REHCY show.
(Sketch created with Letraset markers and Faber-Castell pens)

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter!! by Anna Maria - 27 Mar 2013

Just a quick sketch to say "Happy Easter" to you!

(Pen, Letraset markers-my favorite markers, and Prismacolor pencils)

**AM

"A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act."

Quote by Mahatma Gandhi

STAGE FANTASiES

Lately I've been inspired to sketch a stage garments, and wanted to share some. Designing stagewear takes an entirely different process with flashiness and movement as top priorities...so different, yet entirely fun! Enjoy!

A lot of my inspiration came from sci-fi costumes and comic book heroes. I loved doing these; maybe I'll find some time to make a few. **AM

DESiGN PROCESS: THE BiNDER

Whenever I'm creating a new collection, the collection receives its own binder. Everything that pertains to that particular collection is kept in the binder; sketches, color scheme, fabric samples, receipts, notes from model castings etc. This makes designing a collection so much better organized. Anytime I need to find a fabric ID number in order to make a rush order on fabric, quickly compare costs, or some other minor crises, I do not have to run around frantically searching for a receipt; it's all right there in that collection's binder. This binder goes with me to every meeting, casting call, and photo shoot involving that collection. Big believer here in organization. Hey, just a bit of organization helps make life a little less stressful.

The sketches are placed in sheet protectors, and I write quick notes, and ideas on the protectors with dry erase marker. That way I can easily erase, change ideas around, and play with the order for the fashion show  while minimizing the damage done to the sketch from consistent erasing. I like to keep the sketches in good condition for future use in blog posts and such.

Names of models from casting calls are written on sticky notes and placed on the sketch of a garment that I'm considering for them. The sticky notes are changed around several times before I finalize the show's model line-up.

 This binder is from the Rehcy Vonne Fall 2011 collection. **AM

QUiCK SKETCH

Another quick sketch. Liking the simplicity of color blocking.  **AM

WARHOL iNSPiRATiON

Quick sketching and playing with some digital color blocking. Gives a cool modern Warhol inspired look to the sketch. I think I like it. What do you think? **AM

SKETCH TO REALiTY: SEA CARGO DRESS

Original sketch done for what I've deemed, the Sea Cargo dress. As you can see, the dress evolved a bit throughout the design process. This happens all the time when I'm designing. I'll be making the garment and realize the design isn't working out quite like I envisioned or I just get a new idea in the middle of patterning and change up the design. In this one I originally wanted the decorative stitching to be parallel stitches over the entire bodice and sleeves, but during the design process, I decided the stitching would be more attractive and thinning if the decorative stitching was concentrated in the center front of the dress. I'm wanting to do more versions and play around with the layout of the decorative stitching...add bright colors, maybe do one focused on the shoulder area... we'll see...

I am very happy with the way the dress turned out, and am so loving how the cargo pockets hang lower than the hem. The fabric is 100% Eco friendly cotton denim from www.nearseanaturals.com . I absolutely love the fabrics from this site and order many of my fabrics from it. They specialize in Eco-friendly fabrics and have a beautiful selection. Sourcing Eco fabrics can be a bit of a pain, so I was very happy to find this site last year. 

Wooden buttons keep with REHCY VONNE's Eco aesthetic, and the natural Atlantis theme for this collection.

I wanted the design to be a sort of military inspired, chic-ed up look. How did I do?

I had not made cargo pockets in a few years, so I actually looked at a pair of my brother's cargoes for inspiration. :-)

The cut-out design of the back gives a cute surprise to the dress.

Dress debuted at Brooklyn Fashion Weekend in NYC.
Here's the link to order the dress

*AM*

SKETCH WiTH ME

Some sketches from Rehcy Vonne Fall 2012 and Spring 2013. 

Just a little sumthin-sumthin to give you a tiny idea of what to expect

 Photos by & owned by author

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."

Quote by Mark Twain

Getting Ideas Down, Basic Sketches, & Illustration

In this post I've placed the beginning steps to a collection made only for my portfolio.

Wanting to combat the "looking not so hot because I was in a mad rush delirium this morning" syndrome, I sketched out a collection that would look sexy, sophisticated, and go from morning to evening out but remain quick and easy on those mad dash mornings.

Two amazing dresses that I bought years ago helped inspire this collection. The dresses both have fantastic fabric that feels wonderful, and, no matter how long they are twisted up at the bottom of my suitcase, they never wrinkle!! This rocks because on a mad dash morning, who has time to iron!!! (The dresses are a polyester, rayon, spandex blend.)

OK, enough raving about my two superstar dresses...

When first designing a garment, I get a general idea of what I want it to be. Next I sketch several different versions of that idea, then pick the one that's best. Demonstrated in the two following sketches of two different dresses.

After I've decided which version I like best, I may do a quick sketch like the following one, to better decide how I want the garment to fit. At this stage, I usually do not have colors in mind, just a fabric type and garment flow. The theme of the collection is also forming at this time. The theme at this point will simply be a feeling, emotion, or idea i.e. comfortable chic.

Next I sketch out the final croquis and decide colors as shown in the first image. For this collection the base colors are navy blue, a blush, a warm gray, accented by a jeweled tone fuchsia. (Note: The colors you see on your screen may not be exact matches to the original illustration.)

After the colored illustration, flats will be created and color variations decided. Flats are either hand drawn or created in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator.

Scanning into Adobe Photoshop for final editing comes next.

Layout and background will be done last, and finally I place the collection into my portfolio.

And there you go, all the steps to illustrating a collection!!!

First Steps to a New Collection

Liv Crayola 1.5inch Binder

The binder I bought for the 2011 collection

Today I thought I'd give you the first steps on how I create a collection.

* Step 1 Each collection has it's own binder, used to keep original copies of sketches, stylists' contact info, inspiration pictures etc. This keeps everything organized and easily accessible.

* Step 2 Inspiration searching-- Internet, movies, inspiration notebook, literature, history, and people

* Step 3 Preliminary quick sketching to get ideas down

* Step 4 First cuts of sketches

* Step 5 Going through personal collection of fabrics to see if any fit in the collection, noting what fabrics need to be purchased

* Step 6 Draping or flat patterning, whichever is appropriate, the Muslin A for the first garment

* Step 7 Muslin A pattern adjustments

*Step 8 Create Muslin B

*Step 9 Muslin B pattern adjustments, decide if third muslin is needed

* Step 10 Fabric and notions shopping

* Step 11 Cut, sew first garment

* Step 12 Repeat steps 6-11 for other garments in the collection

Those are the first twelve steps to creating a collection. The next ones include sketching and creating accessories, finding a show venue, advertising, getting hair stylists, make-up artists, model auditions, fittings, photo shoots, runway practice, runway type selection, hiring set designers, caterers, selecting music...

And every bit of stress and work pays off when you see the models strutting down the runway!!

First Sketches

Hey Hey!
Here's the first idea sketches for the fashion show. These are rough drafts; I may post more detailed sketches for each garment as I go along.

Questions & comments welcome! Let me hear it!!!

Workin' on Dreams!!!!!!!!