PORTFOLIO 2014
NATALIA LEYCHENKO
ILLUSTRATOR & FASHION CONSULTANT
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Natalia Leychenko email : natalialeychenko@gmail.com date of birth
: 4 Nov 1990
phone : +44(0)7598920955 qualification
: UAL, BA Fashion Illustration
address
: British, Russian
: 41 Queen’s Gate Terrace, SW7 5PN, London
nationality
Education 2013- 2014
Central Saint Martins Graphic Design Portfolio Course (Tutor: Bobby Gunthorpe)
2013 (July)
Central Saint Martins, London Fashion Communication and Promotion Summer School (Tutors: Julian Seaman, Harriet Worsley)
2013 (June)
Central Saint Martins, London Graphic Design Summer School (Tutor: Bobby Gunthorpe, Suky Best)
2013 (May)
Central Saint Martins, London Business Start Up For Creatives course (1 week) (Tutor: Alison Branagan)
2012-2013
Heatherley’s School of Fine Art, London Portraiture course (Tutors: Daniel Shadbolt, Paul Gildea, Allan Ramsay, Danny Cuming, Mina Stevens, Claudia Carr, Tony Mott, George Levantis, Atul Vohora)
2012
Central Saint Martins, London Modern Art History course (10 weeks) (Tutor: Tark Butler)
2009 – 2012
London College of Fashion BA (Hons) Fashion Illustration (Second-class honours, upper division (2:1) Course leader: Tony Glenville (Tutors:Pierce Atkinson, Sue Dray, Marese McGrane, Mark Wells, Alun Davies, Liliana Sanguino)
2008 – 2009
London College of Fashion Fashion portfolio course
2007-8
Drawing school, Moscow Academic drawing course (1 year)
Professional experience 2011
Maria Luisa Paris (online shop). London Project-competition. Develop fashion illustrations for the website entrance banner.
2011
Amaka Showroom. London Internship. Creation of fashion illustrations for look books and promotion
2009
Playing Fashion magazine. London Freelance project. Fashion Illustrations
Software
Photoshop CS6 Indesign CS6 Illustrator CS6 Microsoft Office
good good basic good
Languages
English French Russian
full professional proficiency elementary mother tongue
Other skills
Portraits, life drawing, sketches, painting, digital photography.
Reference
Olga Papadopoulos
Amaka showroom founder (olga@amaka.co.uk)
Robert Gunthorpe Course Director at Central Saint Martins College (bobbygunthorpe@me.com)
Conceptual Self-Portrait (2014) Central Saint Martins Graphic design portfolio course Tutors: Robert Gunthorpe
Brief:: The challenge was to create a self-portrait but rather than simply trying to achieve a visual likeness of myself, try to communicate in a more symbolic, abstract, illustrative, infographic or otherwise visually interesting way who I am and what makes me tick. I have started my research by writing three lists: first, the preferred mediums that are most applicable to the project, second, the list of all the things that inspire and affect me the most, and third, personal features. Then I found images, that would best visualise my lists. Next I chose the ones that
would describe me best, and proceeded to experimenting and sketching out various ideas, until I came up with the final concept. There are three main features or strands that are touched in this work: Checkered floor references to free masons, balance, and ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Blank Russian doll – a metaphor of uncertain identity for a Russian woman. A blue cloudy sky, - a state of mind that always hopes and craves bright future.
Inspiration reference. Mixed media
Self-portrait - Academic project 4
Term 2 - CSM graphic design portfolio course
Self-Portrait
Acrylic on canvas 60 x 50 cm Academic painting technique of light and shadows.
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Kenzo look book (2011) London College of Fashion BA (Hons) Fashion Illustration Tutors: Piers Atkinson, Sue Dray
Brief: Create a fashion look book of a preferred design brand by the means of illustration only. I chose the homage collection for Kenzo fashion house’s 40th anniversary in 2011. That was a very obvious choice for me, as the Orient enthusiast. The challenge was to create a set of illustrations to the existing fashion pieces created by Antonio Marras, which is a typical task for a fashion illustrator. The medium of drawing is often used to represent the feel and the mood of a fashion piece.
In this case I used motives of a traditional Japanese painting, although, substituting watercolour and ink for gash, for a more modern feel, and also as an homage to the European artists, inspired by Japanese paintings like Toulouse-Lautrec. Also, I was not just copying the position of the model but choosing a composition to match the iconic Japanese painting postures. I then created a photomontage placing all my illustrations into the book template.
Inspiration. model wearing a variation on design of a traditional Japanese dress, limited edition silk fabric bound books of kenzo , traditional japanese painting on the noble family celebrating in winter.
Kenzo - Academic project 6
Year 2 - LCF BA fashion illustration
Illustration. Watercolours, gouache, ink pen,pastels, paper 297 x 420 mm Technique inspired by traditional Japanese painting (Ukio-e) 7
Illustration. Watercolours, gouache, ink pen,pastels, paper 297 x 420 mm Technique inspired by traditional Japanese painting Kenzo - Academic project 8
Year 2 - LCF BA fashion illustration
Illustration. Watercolours, gouache, ink pen,pastels, paper 297 x 420 mm Technique inspired by traditional Japanese painting 9
Ghostly Japan (2012) London College of Fashion BA (Hons) Fashion Illustration Tutors: Piers Atkinson, Mark Wells, Sue Dray, Alun Davies
Brief: Create a set of fashion illustration images. Open theme. Thus, my artwork is themed with the traditional techniques of the time. The references for this project were: Japanese art, dioramas and traditional ghost tales. Then, the inspiration also came from coloured photos and geisha costumes. I was challenged and intrigued by the idea of placing a
contemporary dress in the historic setting. ( a theme that is often used in post modern fashion and advertisement photography.) I therefore, created a set of illustrations , based on the current catwalk designs, along with artful couture creations. The traditional techniques of diorama was incorporated to reproduce a sense of ghost stories.
Inspiration. Mixed media
Ghostly Japan - Academic project 10
Year 3 - LCF BA fashion illustration
Diorama (Above) 420 x 297 mm Technique of diorama & image layering
Watercolours A3 Sketches for diorama setting
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Bamboo painting
Ink on rice paper A3 Traditional technique of ink painting (Sumi-e)
Diorama (above and bottom right) A3 Technique of diorama & image layering
Ghostly Japan - Academic project 12
Year 3 - LCF BA fashion illustration
Sketch Lady in black Watercolours, pencils, paper, ink A3 Sketch, preparation for the main technique. Dress by Zuhair Murad 13
Dreams. Detached (2010) London College of Fashion BA (Hons) Fashion Illustration Tutors: Piers Atkinson, Sue Dray, Marese McGrane.
Brief: The project was about exploring an interconnection and a dialogue between the mediums of illustration and photography. The challenge was to create a set of images combining the stated mediums with the given inspiration - a list of three artists. The artists I got were a film director Federico Fellini, a photographer Sarah Moon, and an illustrator Ruben Toledo. Since all of them share a certain degree of dreaminess and fantasy in their work, I was determined to mix and recreate that hazy atmosphere in my project.
The key theme is dreams and how uncontrollable and bizarre they are. Fellini himself interpreted his dreams as ’ psychic manifestations of the unconscious ‘ To archive the detached, distorted reality feel in my works, I used one of my favourite techniques of diorama, that lets me play with the light and shadows, as well as volume and illusion of depth on two-dimensional surface. To make the images even more original, I made a preparative photo shoot, dressing my model in eccentric costumes.
Inspiration. Photography. From left to right: Ruben Toledo illustrations for Nordstrom, Sarah Moon, film still from Fellini’s 8 1/2.
Dreams. Detached. - Academic project 14
Year 1- LCF BA fashion illustration
Diorama Mixed media A3 Technique of diorama & image layering 15
Barbican (2014) Central Saint Martins Graphic design portfolio course Tutors: Robert Gunthorpe. Brief: Create a series of personal visual collections of things discovered at the Barbican. To collect information and visual materials is a natural starting point for all design projects. Without any direction one will naturally focus on the things that appeal to them. The challenge is initially then collect the first things noticed, to ‘get them out of the way’ and focus on ‘seeing’ the environment and stories that unfold within it in greater detail Inspiration: after a lasting exploration of the Barbican complex, and elimination of the first impressions, I eventually I got interested in 1. The lights of barbican: their shapes, patterns and colours. Round angled squares, orange, purple and blue hues.
2. The windows. Barbican created a voyeuristic urge to peak through great many ones there are; each holding its story, its secrets. My idea was to merge this two themes in one image. How could it be done best? How could I communicate the rich clusters of otherwise grim brutalist structure of the Barbican? How do I convey the sneaky act of peeping trough the little windows? The answer was silk screen printing. It’s physical act of layering images and colours corresponds perfectly with my initial idea. The screen prints represent precisely my view and ephemeral web of emotions and memories of the Barbican. Creating a set of screen prints was good way of telling a story in an original manner, rather than just using with the photographs.
Research photography
Canon 5D Mark II, 4pm Exploration of Barbican complex inside out.
Barbican - Academic project 16
Term 2 - CSM graphic design portfolio course
Blue & Orange On Purple
Screen print A3 Technique of screen printing. Inspired by Barbican
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Anatomy Philately (2013) Central Saint Martins Graphic design portfolio course Tutors: Robert Gunthorpe, Suky Best. Brief: Create drawings of the human body from diverse cultures throughout every period of human history, from objects in the British museum. The drawings will form the basis of a print making workshop, which will form the basis of a digital design workshop. The ultimate task is to create a set of four stamps, celebrating human form. The inspiration was the wooden carved figures from Australia and Africa, which possessed a certain charm and a lot of character in their unrealistic features and proportions. The second inspiration, was, of course, the stamps themselves, bursting with colours and shapes. The idea was to create the stamps using a handicraft lino cut technique. I
kept the designs simple and minimal, representing the wooden statues. The colour overlays are loose and organic in its style of application. The colours themselves are like those from some old stamps. To add a contemporary feel to the designs, I manipulated the images in Photoshop, multiplying and colouring the figurines, eventually getting a dynamic, pattern-esque result. The project was a great opportunity to explore and manipulate my most favourite elements – colour and culture. And the use of lino cut technique, produced fresh looking and original illustrations.
Drawings Paper, pencils. 148 x 210 Made on a visit to the British Museum
Old Stamp. Inspiration.
Stamp designs
Envelope
Linocut, Photoshop A4 Designs created with the use of original lino cut prints
Photomontage A4 Mock -up of an envelope with the designed stamp
Anatomy Philately - Academic project 18
Term 1 - CSM graphic design portfolio course
Stamp designs
Linocut, Photoshop A4 Designs created with the use of original lino cut prints
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Graphic Design Exercises (2014) Central Saint Martins Graphic design portfolio course Tutors: Robert Gunthorpe, Ana Cintra, Ant Pearce
Brief 1: Experiment with a wide variety of mark making and materials. One can use straightforward tools and practices, such as painting or drawing, but also attempt original and uncommon approaches. Consider adapting them to create marks capable of expressing words like calm, fear, strong, etc. One may use any materials as long as they are black, white or grey.
The idea of the exercise is to experiment widely and develop your own appreciation of forms processes, randomness, materials and textures. Brief 2: Colour and Emotion. Develop a series representing one’s own interpretations of different emotions, using mark making, space, form and colour.
Technique exercise. Paint, coloured paper 420 x 594 mm Each square represents an experiment with materials and visual language
Graphic design exercises - Academic project 20
Term 1 - CSM graphic design portfolio course
Colour exercise.
Paint, coloured paper 420 x 594 mm Each square represents an emotion.
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Portraits (2013-2014) Heatherley’s School of Fine Art Portraiture course Tutors: Daniel Shadbolt, Paul Gildea, Allan Ramsay, Danny Cuming, Mina Stevens, Claudia Carr
These paintings were created on a portraiture course. The open studio poses were supervised by tutors that changed every 3-4 weeks. During that time I had a unique opportunity to study the subject with the help of many different, talented
painters-tutors, who all shared their knowledge and views, along with tips and advice, that enabled me to fearlessly push myself further and try harder.
Portraits
Oil on canvas 297 x 420 mm Academic painting
Portraits - Academic project 22
Sept-Apr, 2013-14 - Heatherley’s school of fine art, portraiture course
Portrait of a woman.
Oil on canvas 420 x 297 mm
Academic painting
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Life drawing Heatherley’s School of Fine Art Life drawing classes Tutors: Tony Mott, George Levantis, Atul Vohora
The life drawing sessions were a part of my portraiture studies. Drawing in general, is an essential practice to obtain the crucial skills of observation, that are much needed in all of the creative areas, from painting to advertising. I was learning to identify shapes, to depict what is there,
Life drawings.
rather than what I believe should be there. I also had a chance to experiment with colours, and to play with the line, discovering, in its expressiveness and diversity, how greatly useful it is for visual communication.
Charcoal, pastels, paper 594 x 841
Academic drawing.
Life drawing - Academic project 24
Sept-Apr, 2013-14 - Heatherley’s school of fine art
Life drawings.
Charcoal, pastels, paper 594 x 841
Academic drawing.
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Fashion Collage (2014) Central Saint Martins Fashion communication summer school (3 weeks) Tutors: Julian Seaman, Harriet Worsley.
As a part of three weeks course, this was a project about communicating by the means of collage. The challenge was to create a set of images using only a pile of magazines, scissors and glue stick. Despite having very limited materials, collage is a wonderful tool of manipulating the images, in the ways otherwise
unthought of: like separating the body parts, mix-andmatching them, changing scale and proportions. I tried to be more daring in this image-making technique, as well as carefree and humorous with my creative flow. As the result I could see vivid characters in my collages, showing attitude along with clothes.
Untitled
3 paper collages 210 x 297 mm Communication moods and concepts via collages from magazine cutouts
Fashion collages - Academic project 26
Jul 2013. CSM fashion communication summer course
Untitled
Paper collage 210 x 297 mm Communication moods and concepts via collages from magazine cutouts
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Fashion Design (2009) London College of Fashion Fashion portfolio course ( 1 year) Tutors: Natalie Brown, Meg Osborne
Brief: Create a costume from scratch, taking inspiration from the organic world. My inspirations came from repetitive objects like pebbles, sea grass and tortoise scales. There is a fine game between the solidity of the patterns as a whole and the uniqueness of its elements: no two pebbles are the same, yet and on a seashore they create a unified harmony. The challenge was to represent that game in my designs.
As a metaphor to the nature’s richness, I picked textured fabrics like wool and velvet. The colours are calm and organic, a complement to the materials. The whole costume has a soft, watery shape, mirroring circles in every detail, like rounded shoulders, and cut-out elements. The garment is almost of couture quality, as all the elements on the jacket and trousers were cut stitched by hand.
Design sketches Watercolours, pencil, fabric A3 Concept illustrations for fashion design
Fashion design- Academic project 28
Term 3 - LCF fashion portfolio course
Garment 1
Velvet, wool, polyester, felt Finished design on an end of course catwalk show.
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Fashion Textile Design (2009) London College of Fashion Fashion portfolio course ( 1 year) Tutors: Natalie Brown, Meg Osborne
Brief: come up with original textile design samples. I was challenged by hidden textures only visible enough, to suggest that they exist. A lot of inspiration came (as with the previous project) from organic elements like: Scars - that hold stories and memories, Worms - that are tiny but sophisticated biological units,
playing a vital role in nature’s functioning, Organic structures like veins, skeleton, insect wings. – for their sophisticated beauty, sometimes concealed but always curious. In the end, I’ve got textile pieces, that look gentle and elegant from afar, but are conveying a deeper layer at a closer look.
Textile designs
Fabric on a mannequin A4 Exploration of hidden texture for textiles
Fashion textiles design- Academic project 30
Term 3 - LCF fashion portfolio course
Textile designs
Fabric on a mannequin A4 Exploration of hidden texture for textiles
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NATALIA LEYCHENKO ILLUSTRATOR & FASHION CONSULTANT 0447598920955 natalia.ley@gmail.com
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