We recently connected with Bil Donovan and have shared our conversation below.

Bil, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I love drawing. From an early age, I found magic in a pencil, paper and a box of crayons. I also loved fashion and the mystique of glamour through Hollywood movies. I grew up in South Philadelphia, a tight knit blue-collar working-class community, not Hollywood, or an environment to nurture a boy’s passion for drawing fashion. I kept that passion to myself and eventually moved to New York to attend art school and pursue my dream.

Fashion illustration is the art of communicating the trends of fashion through drawing of the figure. It is akin to fashion photography, but rather than a camera lens, the artist visually captures the figure through line, shape and flair. I attended the Fashion Institute of Technology, followed by six years of study at the School of Visual Arts, with additional classes at the Arts Student League, and Parsons School of Art and Design. After living and working in Milan and Paris for six years I returned to SVA to earn a BFA in fine arts in 2001.

Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process?

I learned early on that this was going to be a long, long journey. My passion drove a desire to perfect my skills and a determination to be the best. I was obsessed with expanding my visual vocabulary and enrolled in Continuing Ed classes studying anything and everything about illustration. I studied watercolor, oil painting, graphics, general illustration and always a drawing class. From my perspective your evolution in art is organic and being open to possibilities will accentuate your growth in that evolution, but there isn’t a time frame. The experience of living and working in Europe majorly influenced my thinking, seeing, personal style and work.

What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Finances, I was the archetypical struggling artist in New York city, doing anything and everything I could to make rent but also to afford classes. Doubt, and uncertainty about my choice to be a fashion illustrator, at times, would cloud my optimism, but my passion drove my desire to continue and eventually flourish.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have always gravitated towards the allure of high fashion, beauty, glamour and elegance.
Whether illustrating couture, cocktails, portraits or narratives for a book, I incorporate those characteristics though selectivity and a play of positive and negative shapes. Utilizing a less is more ideal to create a piece that suggests the essence of the brand rather than a literal interpretation. I nurture accident and chance, allowing the natural drips and blooms that enhance the nature of the watercolor with an abstract sensibility.

I was named the first artist-in-residence with Christian Dior Beauty in 2009, a role I continue to serve in through personal appearances at Saks, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcos creating watercolor portraits of select clientele. I always have the client leaving with a smile and a deep connection to Dior. I also have an ongoing work relationship with the St. Regis creating illustrations of their signature cocktail, as well as a painting for the Christian Dior Suite, and recently illustrations for a menu and cover for a book on the NYC hotel. I created art for an animation for L’Occitane and was commissioned by Barnes and Noble press to use my sensibility to illustrate a favorite book, Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for Barnes and Noble press. I was approached by Conde Nast Global to illustrate a series of 12 couture designs, from Armani to Valentino for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work was published in a book celebrating the curator Harold Koda and are now part of the permanent collection of the MET’s Costume Institute.

What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc.

I am proud that I’m able to share the invaluable information imparted to me from my teachers as well as my artistic journey through my textbook, Advanced Fashion Drawing, Lifestyle Illustration, Lawrence King Ltd Publishing. I love challenging artists to think differently and present the ideas and exercises of the book through masterclasses and presentations.
I have facilitated classes in Melbourne, London, Shanghai, Drexel University, Society of Illustrators, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recently, this year have been invited to share my journey with the Victoria and Albert Museum, and facilitate a master class at the London Fine Art Studios. U.K. and a class with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in June in collaboration with the exhibition “Sargent and Paris”

I love my work and hold myself to a very high standard of making the work. My intent is to always please the client, that is foremost and one of the reasons I have retained amazing clients. Respect and relationship are key to being successful. After reading a brief, I do extensive research related to the brief, which I really enjoy and allows for a flow of ideas. I then present more concepts than required to give the client many choices and to narrow down the direction. Respecting the brand and my reputation is very important to me, I will not submit a finish, (the final artwork), until I am satisfied that I have achieved the best result. The final art is based on my personal vision, intuition and capricious nature of the medium. Although seemingly simple in form, transitions occur on many pieces of paper until the work shines to seduce the viewer and entertain the eye.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think that everyone has some form of creativity, but artists see, hear and feel things differently. Pursuing art is not an easy route. It is as unpredictable as is my medium, and nothing is guaranteed, work, success or financial security. Yet we persevere. We didn’t choose this path, it chooses us. Walking in the city, I might be more interested in the shadows of the buildings than the architecture, or a reflection of the sky seen in a puddle, or perhaps the pattern of fallen leaves on a sidewalk.
This is a gift, one meant to be nurtured and shared; presenting new ways of seeing and experience the world.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have many but one that is instrumental in nurturing my development occurred early in my journey. During my first semester at FIT, a professor pulled me aside and gave me a failure warning, she told me that I did not have what it took to be a fashion illustrator. I could not draw the figure from life, I had no skill. I told her that this is my dream and my passion. She saw my earnestness and said, “OK, if you want this then you will have to work very very hard, you need to draw every day in your sketchbook from life, everyday!” I did, a sketchbook was attached to my hip daily recording everything I encountered. I began to slowly improve, and seeing the progress I attended any drawing classes during breaks and after my classes. This was the genesis for my thirst for knowledge. During my senior year I had improved to the point that this professor applauded my progress and apologized. I thanked her for giving me the best advice ever and she shared my story to inspire her students, as do I.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.illustrationdivision.com/bil-donovan
• Instagram: bildonovan
• Facebook: Bil Donovan
• Linkedin: William Bil Donovan
• Youtube: Bil Donovan
• Other: https://www.bildonovanlimited.com

Image Credits

Photo by Darren Gerrish

St. Regis NYC
South Coast Plaza
Metropolitian Museum of Art
Dior Beauty
Pride and Prejudice Union Square Publisher