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”
A Wnelir Liw Nos a
Welir Liw Dydd/What
is Done by Night Shall
be Seen by Day (Welsh
Proverb) ¹This was one of
the Årst installments of a
large collection of pieces I
created while researching
my Welsh roots,º explains
Pilkington. ¹This piece was
the catalyst in moving my
research forward; it got such
a positive response that I just
had to keep going.º
“
Lower East Side, New York, USA
Niki Pilkington describes her work as playful, detailed portraits of fashion and the girls
who wear it. She is known for her pencil portraits and the sculptural elements she adds,
something not often seen in fashion illustration. ¹I like to include three-dimensional
elements in my work because the added dimension gives my pieces an extra something
that you don’t come across very often.º
She enjoys the hands-on, crafty part of putting her work together and likes coming up
with new ideas. ¹I’m a sucker for diٺerent papers, glues, and tapes. Craft work is always
a nice relief from my detailed, slow pace style of drawing. And it’s a bonus that I love
the Ånal outcome—the shapes and shadows they create on the Ånished illustrations are
always diٺerent and always a challenge.º
Pilkington starts her pieces by consulting a notebook of ideas, a place where she scribbles
down everything from images to words, themes, and colors. ¹From there I will draw a
rough sketch, adding lots of text and I usually make lots of changes once I see the lay-
out.º There is always strong color in her work and she is fond of neon colors. She almost
always renders the faces and detailed sections of the illustration in pencil, preferring to
express the rest of the image in color, pattern, and texture. When she is ready to work on
the Ånal piece, she always begins with a fresh piece of paper. ¹I don’t like working over
roughs because they’re always so messy.º
Not everyone will like what you
do, and to be honest, it would be
a boring world if everyone did!
A CONNECTION TO HER FANS:
NIKI PILKINGTON
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THE ART OF FASHION ILLUSTRATION | PART 1: THE EMERGING MASTERS
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