Vancouver Fashion eZine - Online Magazine

Dalyn Szilvassy has an Illustration instructor to thank for her current career. While studying Fashion Design, Lisa Gellert drew her aside and suggested she had the talent to go far in this field. 2 years later she is both a professional freelance illustrator and a teacher passing on her knowledge to a new group of students.

Although born in Vancouver she moved to the Yukon at a young age. Living in remote places and moving frequently (23 homes by the time she was 16), she "…was always jealous of the kids that knew each other from kindergarten, that lived in the same house their whole lives." Though the family finally settled in Kelowna, the strong-willed teenager felt the need to move on. She left at the age of 18 and spent 5 years in California followed by 3 years teaching English in Taiwan, but Canada kept calling her home. Feeling it was the right time to pursue an education she returned to enroll in the Fashion Design program at Blanche Macdonald. A self-driven learner, when the fabric for one of her garments was no longer available she purchased a bag of wool and taught herself how to dye, card and make felt so she could complete the project. Pattern drafting was a challenge but she excelled at illustration receiving an award at the end of her studies.

Fortunate to have the loving support of her husband, Zoltan, Szilvassy was able to spend the next 2 years working from home developing her skills in Illustration, Web Design, Photoshop, etc., while taking on freelance assignments. Focused and motivated she would start on the computer at 7 a.m., working until lat at night developing the skills she needed. A chameleon by nature, she can work with styles other than her own, learning from them, adding her own touch and creating something original. When facing a new project she tries to get a feel for the client, their likes and dislikes, things they enjoy, favorite colors, music, etc. ("I always ask about music, it tells a lot about a person"). Hours are spent doing related research and making a large collage of the information. To begin she must sort through this material and decide what to include, pencil drawing(s) are produced and scanned into her computer, and then the fun begins. She has created an arsenal of original watercolor brush strokes that have been imported into Photoshop. These are used to apply color and texture 1 layer at a time. A simple illustration can have up to 40 Photoshop layers, a complicated one over 100. Using different blending techniques for the layers, the final illustration has a translucent and textured watercolor effect. Recent works include a fashion illustration for Narcissist in the Winter 2008 issue of Vancouver Lifestyles Magazine and a 2-page tribute to Evel Knievel for an upcoming issue of Racer X Illustrated.

Variety is one reason Szilvassy continues to enjoy her chosen field. A freelance illustrator rarely just works in fashion. She creates original artwork for business cards, pamphlets, magazines, posters, etc. Vancouver Community College also gave her the opportunity to set curriculum and write manuals for the course she teaches 2 nights a week. You can see more of her work in future issues of VLM, in Racer X Illustrated due out soon and on her websites at www.bruiser.ca or http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalynspics/.