Toronto Fashion Illustrator - Wendy Ding

Nature Inspired Apparel Designs

By Wendy | Published: April 29, 2013

For my latest designs, I drew inspiration from nature! Tribal feel, woodsy ephemera and the great outdoors all came into play. A great precursor to summer! Click each image to get it as a print, tshirt, iPhone accessories etc. | Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator

Tribal Mushroom | Buy print and more

Tribal Deer | Buy shirt and more

Camping | Buy shirt and more

Mountains | Buy shirt and more

True North | Buy shirt and more

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Digital Drawing and Painting Course

By Wendy | Published: April 26, 2013

I’ve teamed up with Humber College in Toronto, Canada to teach an 8-week class on Digital Drawing and Painting with a Tablet. The course focuses on using a tablet and stylus pen to create fun images in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop (my tools of the trade). Beginners will enjoy the ease of use of the tablet and experienced artists will become more familiar and possibly replace the mouse with a tablet for everyday use.

Classes run Saturdays 9am – 12pm from May 11 – June 29, 2013 at the Lakeshore campus. See the curriculum and sign up!

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Toronto Fashion Week FW13: My 5 Fave Looks

By Wendy | Published: April 1, 2013

The Toronto Fashion Week Fall / Winter 2013 collection took place two weeks ago and it did not disappoint! Last year, I was invited to two shows and did live runway sketching. This year, instead of live sketching I chose five of my favourite looks and illustrated them after. This was partially due to having standing-room only in the audience (I had a seat last year which made it easier to sketch) and also because I can render the drawings better after the fact.

It was no easy feat picking just five looks from all the amazing creations. I’m very proud of the talent presented by Canadian fashion designers and these looks were my fave five:

Look 1: Pink Tartan. Love the headband, strong brows, pink fur and frock! | Adobe Photoshop
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Look 2: Caitlin Power. Modern lines in a deep berry / coffee hue. | Adobe Photoshop
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Look 3: Pavoni. Little black dress with beautiful lace accent. | Adobe Photoshop
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Look 4: Lucian Matis. Long dress with abstract earth tone pattern. | Adobe Photoshop
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Look 5: Joe Fresh. Ruffles and rhinestone embellished pants – say no more! | Adobe Photoshop
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Lana Del Rey

By Wendy | Published: March 18, 2013

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Whenever I listen to Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die” album, my mind is painted over with the retro imagery and tense mood evoked in her lyrics. The themes are sweet with a dark undertone and her life sounds like a constant struggle between romance and danger. This presented a fun artistic challenge as my work is usually bright and cheery, so I wanted to try a more melancholy emotion with this illustration. I captured her as a sad songstress in a world of heartbreak as reflected by the themes, motifs and lyrics from her album. And it doesn’t hurt that her style is pin-up / vintage, something we both agree with! | Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop

Above: close-up of the details.

Above: the pattern items are based on lyrics from her “Born to Die” album. Can you spot them all? “Summertime sadness”, “Bambi eyes”, “got my hair up real big beauty queen style”, “fall like dominoes”, “do you think you’ll buy me lots of diamonds?”, “open up a beer…play a video game”, “drinkin’ cherry schnapps”, “dark paradise”, “born to die”, “facing time again at Riker’s Island”, “put your red dress on, put your lipstick on”, “eating soft ice cream…liquor’s top shelf”, “on the radio”, “perfume”, “baby put on heart shaped sunglasses”, “put my favorite record on”, “kiss me hard before you go”.

Above: pencil rough of how I envisioned the illustration. Not all items made it into the final pattern. The pattern started as a geometric tile repeat but looked too rigid so I went with an organic and flowing mixture.

Above: pencil rough of Lana’s cry-face.

Above: I went through many compositional changes and this is a chronology of Lana vs heart position. Initially, I planned to have her centered but eventually decided she “sat” better with the heart on an angle and more to one side. | View more progress

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Lana Del Rey: Background Progress

By Wendy | Published: March 4, 2013

More progress on my Lana Del Rey illustration! I’ve been having fun making a pattern background using elements and motifs from her “Born To Die” album. Can you guess the lyrical reference for each item?

Above: The pattern within the broken heart. I may tweak it further for the final; time will tell.

Above: Close up of pattern in its original colours. Can you guess the lyrical reference for each item?

Above: The pattern was initially a grid format but felt too geometric and confined. Plus, each item was relatively the same scale, which made it hard to highlight certain items.

Above: Rough renditions of items that didn’t make the final cut – cherry pie, baby doll dress, racing flags (for “Off to the Races”, but a friend said it doesn’t imply horse-racing in the context of the song), roses, American flag, radio (a much nicer looking retro radio DID make the final), and lightning.

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Print Giveaway: Sad Songstress

By Wendy | Published: February 18, 2013

***UPDATE:*** The winners for the print giveaway have been chosen! The correct answer to who this sad songstress is…*drumroll*…Lana Del Rey! I’ll be in touch with the winners when the illustration is completed.

**I’m giving away prints of this completed illustration to the FIRST FIVE people who correctly guess this mystery songstress! To find out how you can score a free print, visit my Facebook page. Good luck!**

This is a first look at my new in-the-works illustration inspired by a mystery sad songstress. Can you guess who she is? Her last album was about heartbreak, being a hot mess, drinking, and last but not least, Blue Jeans. Her aesthetic is old-school glamour girl and in her own words she’s a “gansta Nancy Sinatra”.

I went with heartbreak as a theme and captured her in her signature look perched on a broken heart. A melange of themes and motifs based on her songs fill up the broken heart. Usually I employ a full spectrum of colour but this time, I chose a limited palette of red and black as an extra challenge and also because it reflects the heartbroken and melancholy mood. Stay tuned for updates!

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Fashion Prints and Patterns

By Wendy | Published: January 27, 2013

For a short while last year, I was an apparel graphic designer at a clothing company in northern Toronto. This was a fun contract as I got to design patterns and graphics for FW13 ladieswear, sleepwear, missy and childrens outerwear. The days were very colourful as I came up with designs in various trends – paisley, skulls, plaids, etc. Below are some of my favourite designs. | Adobe Illustrator

Above: proposed red sublimation print for ladies tops. Inspired by boho-chic and the 70′s!