For a minimum donation of $1,000 to Denman Green, we invite people sign up to have their portraits drawn by internationally renowned fashion illustrator and Denman Island resident, Gladys Perint Palmer (known as GPP in the industry).
The first step is to book a photo session with GPP by calling Pam Willis at 250-335-9016 or email willis.pamela@gmail.com. GPP will then work from the photo to create an original, unique portrait expressing each person’s distinct character as seen by GPP.
The portraits will be drawn on paper using whatever drawing tools she feels is right for each person’s unique character. Finished drawings are 12 1/2″ x 18 3/4″.
https://www.instagram.com/gladysperintpalmer/
“Gladys Perint Palmer is an extraordinary artist who is recognised as one of the most significant and talented fashion illustrators of her generation.”
With an acutely observant eye that has travelled the length of the most famous fashion runways since the late 1960s, GPP enriches each of her artworks with a vitality, an energy – as if the model were walking and talking her way across the page. Her bold, incisive line captures beauty and reality in equal measure. In the words of Valentino “…what makes a difference between Gladys’ work and most of the others is that she does not draw a still subject, but her drawings have life because they capture a moment, a situation…”.
And it was Jean-Paul Gaultier who said “when she sketches some of my clothes, or other designers’ clothes, but especially mine, I say, now I have to produce the clothes in the way that she did it. She interprets with her own personality”. These two great designers are of course correct. But more, GPP also imbues her work with the personality of her subject, capturing a moment in fashion each time she puts pen to paper and even influencing the great designers themselves. Indeed, there are few designers, editors or fashion royalty whom GPP has not known personally and for whom she has not been invited to create. From Karl Lagerfeld, who would only ever call her Madame Palmer out of respect, to Rosita Missoni whom she has a special relationship, to Anna Piaggi, the legendary editor of Italian Vogue who gave her a solo exhibition during Milan Fashion Week in 1989 and Gianni Versace who commissioned her to illustrate his book Do Not Disturb. They and anyone of note in fashion recognise her unquestionable talent. That in her work is indeed the nexus of fine art and fashion illustration.
Interestingly, before the arrival of GPP very few of the great 20th century fashion illustrators were women. Previously the world of fashion illustration had been dominated by such names as Carl Erickson, René Bouché, René Gruau and Antonio. It was these important artists who had dominated the fashion pages and front covers of magazines and newspapers in both Europe and America.
Fashion was worn by women but drawn by men. Things began to change with the youth quake generation in the 1960s and this is exactly when GPP entered the field of fashion. Perfect timing. In fact, GPP has a knack for timing. She has inevitably been in the right place at the right time from the very start of her career.
GPP’s fashion education commenced long before her formal schooling. In her birth country of Hungry, it was her elegant mother who first encouraged her to draw. And when she attended Saint Martin’s School of Art in London her tutors Muriel Pemberton and Elizabeth Suter both instilled in her the key elements of how to draw fashion with flair, encouraging her to find her own style. The lessons learnt from these remarkable women have stayed with her and have been the foundation of her life in fashion.
GPP is also known for her creative wit, equally evident in her writing. A talent that was recognised early in her career, leading to columns in Italian Vogue, Grazia (Italy) and as fashion editor of the San Francisco Examiner among others and of course a number of commissioned books. Historically fashion illustrators had been actively encouraged not to sign their names or caption their work. But GPP broke the rules, and it is rare to see a published illustration without her distinctive signature and a few witty words to accompany the drawing.
With such a long and distinguished career, GPP’s work is now held in the permanent collections of museums and institutions around the world – a testament to her unique talent. A talent that continues to be as relevant today and as remarkable as her first Vogue cover over fifty years ago, when she first burst onto the scene bringing an energetic, perceptive, critical eye and confident line to the intriguing world of fashion illustration.” by Connie Gray MCA
Minimum $1,000 donation.
All proceeds to Denman Green.
Contact Pam at
250 335 9016
willis.pamela@gmail.com
to book your session
“My drawings reflect the personality, the character of the people I draw, they suggest the art supplies I use” – Gladys
“She has a special eye for capturing the humour and whimsy as well as the beauty in fashion” – Issey Miyake
