by John Hopkins
Contents
Introduction 6
How to get the most out of this book 8
Drawing to communicate your ideas 10
A brief history 12
Art supplies for drawing 20
The fashion sketch 24
Working drawings 30
Sketchbooks 36
Interviews Elmaz Hüseyin 42
Lovisa Burfitt 44
The fashion figure 48
Understanding fashion proportions 50
Drawing from life 52
Creating poses 56
Fashion heads, faces and hair 60
Arms, hands, legs and feet 66
Drawing men 70
Interview Howard Tangye 74
Technical drawings 78
Understanding garments 80
Drawing fashion flats 84
Drawing technical specifications 88
Vector graphics and bitmaps 90
Interview Tomek Sowacki 94
Colouring and rendering 96
Colour for fashion 98
Fabric rendering 104
Collage and mixed media 110
Digital colouring and rendering 112
Interview Petra Börner 116
Presentation formats 120
Fashion illustration 122
Presentation boards 126
Digital presentations 134
Interviews Cecilia Carlstedt 136
Luis Tinoco 140
Sandra Suy 144
Fashion portfolios 148
What is a fashion portfolio? 150
Digital portfolios 154
Interview Stephanie Finnan 156
Conclusion 160
Templates 162
Further resources 166
Acknowledgements and picture credits 168
Working with ethics 169
Introduction
Drawing may be described as an evolutionary process that is fundamental to communicating ideas. This is also true of fashion drawing, with its distinctive nuances and associations with style. The exciting breadth and diversity of what constitutes fashion drawing today is testimony to the creative vision of fashion designers and fashion illustrators alike. It reflects the range and scope of media now available, from a simple graphite pencil to sophisticated CAD programs.
Basics Fashion Design: Fashion Drawing provides a visually orientated introduction to the different drawing styles, techniques and approaches that are taught at colleges and used extensively in the fashion industry. The first part of the book addresses the basic principles of good fashion drawing, including the importance of the ubiquitous fashion sketch in communicating an idea. Understanding fashion proportions in relation to the anatomy of the standing figure is considered in chapter two. The following chapter introduces the distinctive nature and purpose of fashion ‘flats’ and the linear drawing processes of individual garments. The role of computers to support and enhance the drawing process is also considered and compared to more traditional hand-rendering techniques. The second part of the book covers drawing enhancements, including colour rendering as an important aspect of fashion artwork, collage and mixed media techniques. Finally, fashion drawings for presentation formats and fashion portfolios are explained and visually illustrated.
Perhaps the most defining characteristic of the fashion drawing process, and particularly the fashion sketch, is that it should enable the designer or illustrator to express him or herself. It should give rise to a personal drawing style, much like we have our own handwriting styles. Drawing can take time to establish and a lifetime to perfect. However, it’s worth perfecting and it does get better with practice!