Over 210 illustrations for the major fashion houses

Oriana Fenwick has illustrated the most iconic products from major fashion houses such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermès for an international book series published by teNeues. She produced over 210 illustrations in just a few months. Three of the books are available in Germany, whilst eight further titles are due to be published in the US in September. In this interview, Oriana explains how she approaches a project of this scale, why time management was just as important as the quality of her work, and what it means to her to create illustrations for a book.

Over 210 illustrations for a book series – how did this project come about and what exactly was your role?

For each book, the aim was to depict the 15 to 20 most iconic products from the major fashion houses – ranging from bags and perfumes to clothing, jewellery and make-up. For each item, I was usually given a reference image that I was asked to capture in my realistic coloured-pencil style.

It was important to emphasise the elegance and grandeur of the items whilst at the same time giving them a handcrafted feel. If garments weren’t shown being worn in the reference images, I was to depict them as if they were being worn – essentially drawing them on a model. Otherwise, the drawing process was relatively straightforward.

Was war dabei die größte Herausforderung?

Schlicht und ergreifend die Menge der Illustrationen und die damit verbundene zeitliche Einspannung. Dabei war es mir sehr wichtig, dass Qualität und „Fleiß“ Hand in Hand gehen und sich ausbalancieren.

Eine weitere Herausforderung waren Objekte mit vielen Mustern. Gerade die Louis Vuitton Taschen mit ihren filigranen, flächigen Mustern waren deutlich zeitintensiver als schlichtere Objekte. Gleichzeitig hat es aber auch Spaß gemacht, mich in diese Muster hineinzufuchsen.

How do you even go about tackling a project of this scale?

Over time, I became extremely good at time management. Sometimes I timed myself for each illustration to maintain a certain workload and meet the deadline.

Having a tidy workspace was also very important to me. For example, after finishing each illustration, I’d put all the coloured pencils away and start afresh. So I always began the process of selecting coloured pencils for each new illustration with a ‘clean slate’. That way, there wasn’t too much clutter on the table and I was able to keep track of everything and stay focused.

What does it mean to you personally to be able to work on such a major book project?

It’s a very special feeling for me to be able to work on illustrations for books. The illustrations that result from this have a slightly different significance for me, because they become part of an object that you can hold in your hands and experience first-hand – illustrations with a tactile quality, so to speak.

I find this particularly lovely and valuable, especially in our increasingly digital world.

At the same time, it makes me very happy when a client trusts me and my way of working so much that they entrust me with an entire book project and, with it, a large number of illustrations.

Creating over 210 hand-drawn, photorealistic illustrations is an extraordinary project.

For us at Kombinatrotweiss, it is also a wonderful example of just how much can be achieved through illustration.

Are you planning a book project yourself? We’d love to hear about your idea.