ARTIST OF THE MONTH: Milan Artist Sara Ligari creates dreams with her fashion illustrations

This month, the spotlight is on Sara Ligari, a Milan-based illustration artist who has charmed us with her delectable watercolour drawings.

Delving greatly into the glamour and realistic side of fashion, her illustrations are composed of strokes of fashion that resemble a juxtapose of immaculate renditions of fashion, from leggy models to infusions of patterns, prints and even statement-making elements that will capture your attention like never before.

And also, as we all know that a good piece of art is one that speaks and tell tales that others can’t; one that reveals emotions to the viewers. And Sara’s illustration does exactly just that!

Depicting a credible stance of emotions, her refined linework and drawings showcase a tangible portrayal of happiness, surprise, contentment, and relaxation and seduction, amongst many feelings. It is almost as if no matter how diversified her subject matter may be, even if it’s of a very young girl or even a blazing woman in her twenties, we would still be able to relate to and maybe, even see ourselves in those illustrations of hers.

Thus, like the famous quote by Jackson Pollock, “Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is”, we took the opportunity to interview Sara Ligari herself to find out about the stories behind her poster-perfect fashion illustrations that we adore very much:

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Tell us about yourself.

SARA: I’m a fashion illustrator and designer, I come frome a small town in the Alps and now I live in Milan and I’m currently attending a postgraduate degree in Fashion Design at Politecnico di Milano.

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How did you come about doing fashion illustration and design?

SARA: I have loved to drawing people since I was young, but I always used to draw just for myself, for a kind of catharsis. My father was an artist and, although he never taught me directly to paint- he preferred sculpture-, I learnt concentration and the processto turn ideas in to something material. It must have helped me gain a facility at drawing.

I started to show my drawing and creating a personal style recently, just two years ago, during a boring summer.. Since than Ispend a lot of time in this. My degree in fashion design was a very technical degree, focused on materials and technology, so it didn’t help me very much improving my illustrator skills.

I created a blog where to show my illustrations and draw some banners or illustrations for other small blogs for free. Then the first assignment comes!

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Where do you get your inspirations from?

SARA: My inspirations come mainly from fashion photography and graphics: Browsing throw fashion and design blog always help me.

I have this folder on my desktop called “Inspiration” filled with images I check from time to time to get ideas.More recently I getinspiration also from few Italian comics. I do find a lot of inspiration in nature. I have a big illustrated book about animals and nature, and I find it very useful when I lack of inspiration!

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You live in Milan, one of the four top fashion capitals in the world. Tell us about how being exposed to fashion at a high octane level has influenced your illustrations.

SARA: Milano is a great city to study fashion design. However it’s very aggressive and competitive, you should never relax if you want to find your place! This is positive but sometimes it’s hard to focus and, although Milano gives me a lot, when I finish my study I would like to move to somewhere else.

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Some people says that an artist paint a dream, what do you aspire to create with your illustrations?

SARA: It’s hard to say.If an artist paint his own dream, an illustrator paint the dreams of people. Illustration is always connected wit the spirit of times. I try to filter this trends through my eyes.

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La Mode Outre x Sara Ligari in the illustration of Yoshie

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In your illustrations, you use both traditional artistic mediums (ink pens, paper etc) and digital rendering (eg. Photoshop) in your works, how do you maintain a balance between both mediums yet relate to your work as a piece of art?

SARA: I don’t consider my work art but illustration. I start all my drawing by hand and I try to make them very impulsive and fresh. I try to use less line as possible but every one of them should have a kind of personality. Then I scan it into Photoshop. The digital part it’s totally different because you can press ctrl+z and do it again and again, try different possibilities and select them in a different moment. I try to not lose the freshness of the ink draw, but add something to it digitally.

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Of all your illustrations, which one in particular is your favourite? 

SARA: That’s a real toss-up. First of all parents aren’t supposed to have favorites! And actually favorite work is always the one I’m working on. The day after I finish it I don’t like it anymore!

Besides this, to name one, I’m really proud of one of first illustration I did, the girl with the chameleon. I think it express a very natural kind of beauty.

Animals series by Sara Ligari

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What makes an interesting fashion subject?

SARA: A great fashion subject should somehow convey a contemporary attitude.

Sometimes there is something in a cloth or in a model, or in a match of colours, that charming me. Often love to draw little defects. Moles, not-straight noses or eye circles.

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Name your favourite model of the moment.

SARA: Tiiu Kuik

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Japanese Laces by Saras Ligari

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If you could illustrate one person, who would that be?

SARA: Pirina Dhzupanova, a model and a friend, indeed I often illustrate her!

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To date, what was the most memorable project that you have done?

SARA: The creation of my line of t-shirts Sherie Blues . This gave me the opportunity to create my own brand that reflects my style.

An illustrated tee from her Sherie Blues collection

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How does your own personal fashion style relate to your illustration?

SARA: My illustrations totally reflect my taste. I express my idea of beauty and style in the girls I draw, and that’s pretty the same thing a person do when dress itself. The difference is that you can create whatever you like, dress a model with a splash of colour or a storm of colorful birds.

In real life you can just choose from boring clothes! I definitely put more care choosing clothing and style in my drawing that in my real life!

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Your works also feature illustrations on street style. What is your opinion on today’s fashion, particularly on the fashion in your home country Italy?

SARA: Fashion made in Italy has a big history and a good know-how, but I think today it lacks of creativity and innovation. That can be related to the situation of the country in which it’s not easy for young designers to come out.

What I think about fashion in general? Too much money and not enough art!

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If you were to describe your works with a quote, what would that be?

SARA: Beauty will save the world!

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Any upcoming projects that you are embarking at the moment?

Few projects involving Sherie Blues. In February I will launch the second collection of my t-shirts. My main project remain to better define my style and turn my passion into a future career.

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Thanks alot to Sara for the great interview! We can’t wait to see more from her.

To check out more of her splendid illustrations, visit SARALIGARI.NET