Illustration for 4160 Tuesdays...
“How would you feel about drawing burlesque?” It takes a particular kind of creative imagination in a client to look at my botanical illustrations and ask that question.
Perfumer Sarah McCartney’s roots are in writing, which informs much of my work. We had been to-ing and fro-ing about how we might work together. And we had got chatting as I collected a taster set of perfumes from Sarah’s wondrous studio.
My first task for this collaboration between Sarah’s adventurous perfume house 4160 Tuesdays and Tempest Rose, founder of House of Burlesque, was to sketch live at a show. Even for someone who draws as quickly as I do, drawing movement is challenging so I limbered up by going back to weekly life drawing – with short poses of five minutes to five seconds.
The final digital illustrations for the bespoke box and postcards distil modern burlesque down to the costumes, props and gestures in this confidently glamorous, powerful, witty genre of performance. We have a twirling tassel here, a waving glove there, a ruffle of feathers… and how they’re placed on the box and postcards is part of the story.
