Pretty watercolor paintings come alive on the page with the help of artist Katie Rodgers. Commissioned by companies such as Kate Spade and Coach, Rodgers has turned her childhood love for watercolors into a full-time career. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Industrial Design, she worked in apparel design at Reebok, and illustrated on the side, until she was able to illustrate exclusively, which was only back in January 2012. Her company is called Paperfashion.
There’s an interesting interview on Fashionarium where she talks about how to succeed in the fashion illustration industry. When asked about her creative process she said this, “I spend a huge bulk of my time rummaging through fashion shows, editorials, trend reports, product design, etc. I get inspired by so many different things and people. Once I decide on a subject (this usually takes me the longest since I love so many things), I go right to the drawing table and do the illustration. I start off in pencil and then go straight into watercolor and finish it off with black ink. I don’t spend time doing sketches and sketches to get one drawing out – That takes away all the thought process in a drawing and the layers/time- which is my favorite part.”
Recently, Rodgers has been adding sprinkles or chunks of glitter onto her works that make them even more eye-catching. For Getting Ready, the illustration above, she writes on her website, “She’s getting ready to go somewhere dreamy…I wish this dress existed… and that it were mine! P.S. I used this glitter for the gown.”
