I am quite happy with the outcome of this shoot and think it came out quite close to how I envisioned. I found the right artificial sky colour to use as my backdrop, however I wish I created larger clouds to give a more dramatic look overall. I styled my model in three different looks as I wanted to have enough material to use as my illustration inspiration. The first look was a black velvet co-ord set which looked really nice against the busy background, and grounded the model to the landscape. The second look had a pink theme- the top was a bardot, mesh pink rushed top which is quite on trend and reminds me of a renaissance style. I paired it with light pink snake print jeans to add to the natural imagery and themes. The third look was heavily inspired by both the Kylie Jenner issue for Playboy + Kali Uchis’s music video for Solita- both wore long draping dresses/material that was soaked through to see the shape of the bodies. I put the model in a black mesh dress with embroided flowers and basic black underwear underneath, so it did not take away from the general look. I wet the dress as well as sprayed the model with water so you could see the droplets on her skin running down. I really loved all three looks and thought they all worked well with my concept. I kept the hair and make up base both quite natural as I did not want to overpower the shoot or make it feel too artificial. However the main make up look was inspired by the trend of beading and pearls that I read were coming back on WGSN. I placed a mixture of different sized pearls on the models face, focusing around the nose and cheeks- creative quite a playful and innocent look. The colour of the pearls also complimented the concept of the clouds nicely- I think it all got tied together quite well. I think I have got quite a few good shots to base my illustrations off. I am still considering mixing photography and illustration, but I am not totally confident with the decision yet. I am planning to use these images to illustrate the ‘special’ cards; the King, Queen and Jack, as I want the rest of the cards to be quite close up to the subjects but the more powerful suits to be more full bodied.
