Putting the Boot (camp) In

Online Courses for Accountability and Escapism

I’m pretty good at being self-motivated, but it’s always a good idea to have someone there to guide you and provide motivation and deadlines.

Otherwise time just stretches out of control and you don’t always achieve anything meaningful in the gaps between doing your day-job, childcare and hoovering (what gaps??). How do you escape?

That’s when it’s extra-beneficial to take online courses, especially if it’s in a topic of special interest to you.

Last week I finished the Live Wedding Illustration Masterclass with Scott W Mason, and then dived straight in to the Portfolio of Fashion Illustration Bootcamp, again with Scott (he never sleeps).

My illustrations for Week One depict garments by Alexander McQueen and Karina Bond (a relatively new designer, and former McQ student who creates her own fabrics and uses a 3d printer. Do look her up, she is amazing!)

A model stands on one leg in a lake, wearing a dress by Karina Bond, standing next to a flamingo with a Karina Bond-style wing.

Above is a fabulous garment by Karina Bond, being echoed by a flamingo. I sketched out the drawing and then filled it with watercolour and added details with coloured pencil. What do you think about the model’s leg turning into a flamingo’s leg? Do you think she should have two human legs or are you ok with her becoming part flamingo?

A model dancing with a small dog- tassels flying and sequins glittering!

I went a little bit back in time to create this drawing from Alexander McQueen’s Mycelium collection, designed by Sarah Burton for 2022-23. I loved the challenge of drawing all the sparkly sequins and tassels. I wanted to show movement so I added a dancing dog at the disco. What is the accessory that the model is holding? I am not sophisticated enough to know, but perhaps you are. Is it a bag?

My portrait of Raye

This week I have been looking at creating portraits- ideally with a link to the previous designers. I started with a portrait of glamorous global superstar Raye (now everyone has heard of her, hooraye!), who often wears Alexander McQueen, though you can’t tell in this drawing. I created the drawing with watercolour and coloured pencil and a tiny bit of white gel pen- can you see where?

My portrait of Miley Cyrus

Then I moved on to Miley Cyrus at the Oscars 2025, definitely wearing Alexander McQueen- can you tell that it’s her? Her eyebrows (or lack thereof) created a lot of controversy on the red carpet.

My portrait of Karina Bond.

The illustration above is the designer herself, Karina Bond. She is wearing one of her own dresses and a pair of feathered glasses because I couldn’t resist drawing them.

A video and a still image from my illustrations at StartUp Croydon

I also illustrated these talks by Trish Nickols and Jerry Meldrum at StartUp Croydon; which I found really helpful and inspiring- and because it’s nice to have a dream beyond the day-job, the childcare and the hoovering.

Have a great week, dabbling gleefully in whatever it is you do!

Zoe