Fusing a love for fashion with a talent for painting, rising artist Natasha Joseph has garnered a variety of high profile clients thanks to her whimsical and bright illustrations. After growing up in Mumbai and migrating to New Zealand in 2008, Joseph is now based in London where she continues to work as a freelance fashion illustrator and live portrait artist.
When perusing her portfolio you’ll find a mix of iconic landscapes from the likes of New York and Paris and portrayals of some of the fashion world’s most memorable figures, including Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly. “I love portraying women who are strong and chic with a bold sense of style,” says Joseph. “I feel inspired by a variety of iconic muses from Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly to Janelle Monaé. I love mixing bright colours to create fashion illustrations which portray a certain sense of playfulness but also have a strong pose or expression.”
While Joseph has her own unique artistic style, she is no stranger to looking at fellow fashion illustrators for inspiration. “My fascination for fashion illustration grew when I stumbled upon the works of Rene Gruau and Malika Favre in my favourite fashion magazines,” she says. “This led me to invest in fashion illustration and figure drawing books and I spent my weekends sketching and practising different techniques.”
Citing Masters of Fashion Illustration by David Downton as one of her biggest sources of inspiration, Joseph developed a penchant for her chosen mediums. “[Masters of Fashion Illustration] helped me to build a strong foundation and develop my own unique style,” she says. “My favourite mediums are ink, watercolour, and acrylic paint. I love experimenting with different mediums to create my own fashion interpretations from editorials and high fashion photographs.”
Although she never attended art school, Joseph was always drawn to the world of art and fashion. As a self-taught artist, it wasn’t until she started posting her creations and gaining attention on Instagram that she realised that fashion illustration was a viable career path without a Bachelor of Fine Arts. “I started posting my artwork on Instagram a few years ago whilst I was still in Auckland and began to receive art commissions and bookings for live sketching from various brands,” explains Joseph. One of the first major clients to approach the artist was CosmoGirl, who reached out after seeing a post of Joseph’s work. “The team sent me a direct message on Instagram. I was so excited and couldn’t believe they actually noticed my work. I didn’t care about the short turnaround time and I was happy to be up all night working on the feature,” she says. She has since gone on to collaborate with Forbes, Dior, Givenchy and Prada, to name only a few.
For Joseph, a career highlight came during a holiday with her husband to Hawaii. Seeing the trip as a potential opportunity to host a live sketching event, the artist reached out to several brands and fashion houses with locations in Honolulu. “[My husband] casually suggested I should live sketch in Hawaii and I thought, wouldn’t that be incredible? I quickly started to contact various brands and fashion houses that were based in Honolulu. I was super excited when Saks and Diane von Furstenburg got back to me and both events were a huge success!” says Joseph.
While she has had the privilege of working with many major brands, Joseph’s dream collaboration is still on her ‘to-do’ list. “I would love to collaborate with Alice + Olivia,” shares the artist. “I admire Stacey Bendet’s style and vision for the fashion house. It would be a dream come true to create custom fashion illustrations for a capsule collection! It’s a pretty huge dream but I have learned that if you persevere and work hard, anything is possible!”
Looking ahead, the artist continues to manage her busy event schedule. “I’m busy prepping for upcoming events where I will be drawing live fashion portraits for guests. I take 10-12 minutes to create each live fashion portrait so it’s really face paced and fun to exercise my drawing muscles,” says Joseph. The best part of her job? Interacting with guests and fellow creatives. “I not only get to interact with so many talented individuals from different industries but also enjoy watching how thrilled guests are when they watch a custom fashion portrait of themselves come to life during the event!”
Quickfire Questions:
Three items I would take to a desert island…
- La Roche Posay Anthelios Sun Cream. I can’t live without this and would definitely be handy on a desert island.
- YSL M94 Sunglasses. Perfect pair of stylish sunglasses for all seasons!
- My sketchbook to capture all the fashionable desert island looks.
I would describe my style as… Classic but also edgy! I love mixing black, white and neutrals with a leather jacket/trousers and some statement accessories.
A book that changed my life is… Contemporary Fashion Illustration Techniques by Naoki Watanabe. I would highly recommend this book for illustrators at any skill level. I love revisiting this book every year and it has helped me tremendously to keep my art fresh and push boundaries.
The last item I bought for my wardrobe was… An off-white/ecru contrast trim cardigan from Mango.
The three beauty products I can’t live without…
- Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser
- L’Oreal Paris Double Extension Mascara
- Pillow Talk matte lipstick by Charlotte Tilbury
My favourite place to visit… Paris! Parisian women are so chic and have such an iconic sense of style that I love. The city has so much art and culture to offer! The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris is definitely worth visiting for those who love high fashion. For me, it’s an abundant source of YSL’s legendary couture designs fashion illustrations and film.
This season I’m splurging on… There’s a few high end art supplies currently on my radar so that’s what I’ll be splurging on this season.
Last TV show I binged… I just finished watching Succession! So many key fashion moments in the show but my favourite looks were those of Naomi Pierce played by Annabelle Dexter Jones in Season three. I’m a sucker for a good black and white colour palette. It’s so chic and never goes out of style!
