Patrick Nagel's Ivory Women

My love of fashion began at a young age. I was about four years old when my parents hung these amazing illustrations of these strong and feminine women. I unfortunately couldn't find the or illustrations the currently hang in my parents home. He had such a strong clean use of color and and shape. Every drawing is so visually striking. I could honestly spend at least a day just admiring his work. Vector Illustrators strive to look a elegant and meticulious as Nagel. His line quality and application of color closely resembles that of Japanese Wood block. I think what sets his women apart from other fashion illustrators is that he uses resembles that of art deco He has a modern yet romantic quality to his work. Nothing is exaggerated but rather accentuated.

Karl Bornstein of Mirage Editions described Patrick Nagel as "an elegant, stylish man with the weirdest sense of humor I had ever encountered."

Elena Millie, who heads the Library of Congress poster collection,said that Nagel "handled colors with rare originality and freedom"and that he "created on of the most successful paintings and graphics series to appear in the last two decades."




One Illustrator that comes close is Jason Brooks, the illustrator for Hed Kandi.I do enjoy Brook's work but I feel that in a comparison, Brooks' work would still look vulgar next to even the most revealing Playboy illustration Nagel contributed. Please do not misunderstand. Brooks works is still incredibly beautiful and modern. What may contribute to my preference to Nagel is probably in the fact that Brooks uses current proportions that have become the recent standards of the fashion industry. His figures are very lean and taunt. There's very little curvature in his figures with the exception of certain features and are naturally exclusive to women.
Another aspect that stands out is the personality of the each illustrator. Brook's women feel more naive, jovial, and have a personality that is larger then life it seems. Its no wonder that he has been the most present illustrator in all of Hed Kandi promotions.

Nagel women carry themselves in a completely different manner. The are soft yet strong and confident women. They have an air of sophistication in even the most scandalous moments of undress. Her eyes have a certain prowess to them. She knows what she wants, She certainly is not afraid to take it, but knows she does not have to work hard for it . She is knows who she is.