Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/911416
24 The Costume Designer Fall 2017 Eduardo Castro When I was starting in this industry, part of how I viewed being a designer was the ability to communicate through drawing—even if it's not perfect. Orry-Kelly and Adrian's illustrations had a little whimsy to them, a human quality, and we don't want to lose that. We want to promote that kind of artistry. My costume sketches are road maps, depending on my relationship with the costume makers. Some require more detailed drawings, yet some "looser" pieces work very well with me to convey the feeling. It's all about how some people communicate with directors, and how directors see things. If the director is artistic and can understand a loose drawing, the sketch is like a springboard. But the magic trans- forms it when you are in the workroom or when you do the fitting. The garment may end up completely different, so we start with a drawing and then things change. My drawings, when I do them, are progressions and sometimes I don't even do a drawing. I've got to the point that I communicate so easily with my workroom. Sometimes my drawings are more like visual "emotions" such as the watercolor sketches I did for Emma on Once Upon a Time. Many times they are only drawings that are never colored. Sometimes they can be rather graphic like the illustrations I did for Cruella De Vil. How you work with the artists who are the costume makers is vital. Certain have to add more detail, like where the seams are. They were more impressionistic. There is more of the feeling of what I want, as opposed to this is exactly what you're going to get, which is important also (particularly if you're doing things like superhero costumes, which are very time-consuming to make, and you don't want to have a mistake). I use dif- ferent types of sketches for different purposes. When I was working with a director who needed to be impressed on a small-budget movie, I had Christian sketch for two weeks. Finished illustrations are impressive and sometimes you need to impress people. I think drawing is good because it helps me to think about what I am designing, so I can make changes. It makes it a lot easier to get it on paper and to see it and manipulate it. It is important to be able to get the idea out of your head and put it on paper because then you can see exactly what needs to be explained to all of the millions of people who are going to be working on it in the workroom: the dyers, the painters, and the people shopping for fabric. I think it's really not hard. It's just a skill you learn to do, and there are a lot of tools in Photoshop and Illustrator that can help make the process easier. I would encourage all young designers to learn how to draw just for themselves to help them design. ones don't understand unless the sketch is sort of graphic. Then there are others that react to emotion. The real magic happens in the workroom when the costume comes to life through artistic collaboration with my assistants and costume builders. However, I do look forward to the day when I get a big assignment where I would have to use a great illustrator. Eduardo Castro, Emma as a barmaid, Once Upon a Time.