Pen & Paper: Claire Duport

With no formal training and a little over two years of experience under her belt, the story of Claire Duport‘s foray into the art world is an inspiring tale of following one’s passion. Born in the French countryside, Duport channeled an education in fashion design into a job in Paris, where she worked for six years as a stylist and journalist at WAD Magazine. Bravely, she left the fashion industry to pursue “drawing,” though to view Duport’s art through one lens is to do her work a disservice – highly-detailed, her black and white renderings draw from interests as diverse as poetry and African voodoo and explore “the fields of density, gradient, light, shade and resonance between both tones.” Now a full-time illustrator, Duport works with numerous fashion brands, music bands, press editorials and independent publishing companies, while still finding enough time to maintain her own site. Click through the images above to experience firsthand Claire Duport’s intricate work in our latest installment of Pen & Paper and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.