ILLUSTRATOR MITJA BOKUN
Mitja
Bokun
Slovenian fashion illustrator and artist. Vivienne Westwood backstage. Shiseido China. Reserved Magazine. Helena Christensen. Mick Rock. Rose McGowan. Born 500 years too late.
"It was not until I turned 40 that I finally got the courage to do what I was born to do. I never took any formal education for art. I studied IT science and machinery. You only live once, and that reflects in my art."
Mitja Bokun is a Slovenian artist and fashion illustrator known for his portraits, jewellery drawings, cosmetics and commercial illustrations, and paintings of celebrities and fashion personalities. He works fast: he usually gets an idea or a vision in seconds. He has been commissioned to illustrate editorials for international magazines, television shows and some of the world's best-known brands. In 2013 he was chosen to illustrate the look backstage at Vivienne Westwood's show. In 2014 he illustrated visuals for Shiseido's Ultimune launch at the China market. He has given lectures at the School of Visual Arts in New York and Instituto Marangoni in Milan, designed the t-shirt for Diane Pernet's ASVOFF Tokyo and ASVOFF Balkan Fashion Week, and created artwork for Rose McGowan's Rose Army.
He is also co-owner and co-editor of Reserved Magazine, where he has collaborated with Helena Christensen, Bryan Adams, Brooke Shields, Nile Rodgers, Mick Rock, Milton Glaser, Rose McGowan, Richard Dupont, Jim Downey and Peter Max, among many others. He studied IT science and machinery. He never took any formal education for art. It was not until he turned 40 that he finally got the courage to do what he was born to do.
I work fast: usually I get an idea or a vision in seconds. In the beginning of my career I was often looking to see what other fashion illustrators were doing and how they behaved on social media, but then I realised that it does not matter. Every person is an individual with their own talent and it is just best to follow my heart and do what makes me feel good. I still love to follow old masters such as Mucha, Klimt, Rembrandt, Caravaggio and Da Vinci. I guess I was born 500 years too late.
Maybe the Shiseido Ultimune campaign, but not because of the importance of the project and how global it was, but mostly because I was between New York and China, sitting in the middle of timezones in Slovenia and communicating all over the world, chasing very short deadlines. I also worked on the visuals for Akrapovic, exhaust systems for motorcycles and cars, and that was technically very challenging: magazines, calendars, animations, an exhibition, events, and a fair stand with huge LCD panels. That was a lot of work.
I would love to work with Ralph Rucci on textile patterns or prints. I am a big fan of his design: his work is absolutely divine. I would also love to portray iconic people in fashion, maybe a book of masters at work, where I would follow them all day and draw what they are doing. A kind of storyboard of fashion masters, but not sketchy, only beautifully drawn.
"I was searching for myself for so many years. It was not until I turned 40 that I finally got the courage to do what I was born to do. Now wiser and open to the opportunities that have come to me, I just follow my heart."
Mitja BokunIllustration
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