This morning I stumbled upon my old college art portfolio, circa 1987. I thought I’d share a few blasts from my past. Fashion design school in the 80’s. Picture me in my stone washed ankle zip jeans, multicolored Chuck Taylor high tops, black leather motorcycle jacket and BIG hair. Got it? (Cue The Smiths or The Cure on your Walkman and well be all set.)
These are drawings from my fashion Illustration class, which was one of my favorite courses. The ones above were done with chisel tip Design markers. (Can you smell them? Times 20 students?) I believe these were done referencing photos from magazines.
We most often drew from live models in class, like this pair, using water color paint and Caran d’ache crayons.
More class models, in watercolor. My professor had a great trunk full of apparel that she dressed the models in to teach us how to render various textures and types of fabrics.
It’s fun to look back and think about those days…more than 20 years ago. Who we were and how different we are today. Sometime I’ll share a bit more from this era. Maybe some of my apparel design sketches. Or a picture of my Big hair. ๐
what fun! these are great. i especially love the plaid cape ๐
i love going through my old drawings from my first year art classes, wondering if i could still draw like that!
Hee hee. I remember pulling all-nighters for 48 hour deadlines for design classes. At 3am you’d be all loopy and wonder if it was the caffeine, the xylene in your Design markers or the double digit hours since you last slept. I never took any fashion classes but I still kept notebooks of apparel designs. These will never see the light of day because not only do they reek of the ’80s but I couldn’t draw either! (Oh, right, I still can’t.)
I loved the ’80’s, it was my favourite decade!
Vivienne x
This is really fun Betz. I love the red dress illustration and the last one, she is charming! It’s always fun to look back at old work and see how far you have come (or how trends come back around!)
It’s great you kept all of these. I have a fashion design degree as well and really loved doing illustrations, especially with live models. I graduated in ’97 so my styles were much more Calvin Klein, but I would have loved to design in the 80’s!
These are great!!
I vote for a picture of the big hair! Fun.
these are so fun….what talent! thanks for a trip down memory lane…and yes, lets see the big hair pic!
Nice! Brings me back to my own figure drawing classes – I really miss that enforced practice.
I still use designer markers although they are now very expensive and the makes that I used to use do not exisit any more. I took the risk of showing mine to my students,just to show that I did now what is was talking about, and they really liked them. Mine would be circa 1991.
Personally, I would LOVE to see the BIG hair!
Once in a while I sift through my drawing portfolio from college too. One time when my kids were younger they almost died laughing at my nude sketches. They couldn’t believe we drew live models. As my yellowing newsprint treasures become more brittle with age I feel older and older… I loved drawing classes,
Would love to see the big hair–on someone besides me! Oh, how the kids all laugh at those old pictures.
They’ll have their day…
Oh that’s great! Love your drawings and paintings. I’d love to take the time to learn to draw.
Those are awesome, you should frame them and hang them in your studio!
Love this post! What WERE we all thinking with hair THAT big?? I love your sketched. I went to an art program at a university, but in another life would have loved to go to design school. Nice!