While hanging out on Instagram, I came across fashion illustrator Natasha Joseph. Natasha is a self taught artist who grew up in Mumbai and migrated to New Zealand in 2008. I had the privilege of chatting with her over email to learn a bit about her foray into fashion illustration.
Natasha focuses on live fashion illustrations. Fashion houses that work for her find this as a great way to entertain guests. Her sketches make great personalised souvenirs. “Having an artist on site to draw live portraits is a unique creative experience, says Natasha. In the past, Natasha has sketched for different types of functions including in-store events, PR launches, derby events and more! Now she has a little store on Etsy called Shop a Paper Wish where she customises art prints, stationery, coffee mugs and more.
Since she was a child, Natasha loved to draw character sketches, inspired by her favourite comic and story books. She stumbled into fashion drawing when she discovered David Downtown’s illustrations in a magazine. Her favourite tools to create illustrations include Copic sketch markers, Sakura Pigma Micron pens and Prismacolor pencils. For digital portraits, she uses the iPad Pro with an Apple pencil (stylus) and the Procreate application.
If there is a designer that inspires her, it has to be Kate Spade! Red carpet looks also inspire her and in her free time, she has sketched designers like Vera Wang and Alia Bhatt.
Some of the fashion brands that she has worked with include Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue, Benefit Cosmetics and the like. She also did a live sketch for Louis Vuitton in Mumbai. Her project included doing live sketches for clients who came to the store between 12 and 8pm. She has another Mumbai trip coming up soon. Hope to see you then!
Check out her Instagram page @bynatashajoseph