In the fashion world, new designs are presented in the form of hand-drawn sketches before they're actually cut and sewn. First, draw a croquis, the model-shaped figure that serves as the base of the sketch. The point is not to draw a realistic-looking figure, but a blank canvas of sorts on which to display illustrations of dresses, skirts, blouses, accessories, and the rest of the creations. Adding color and details like ruffles, seams, and buttons helps to bring ideas to life.
Fashion Illustration is the communication of fashion that originates with illustration, drawing, and painting. It is usually commissioned for reproduction in fashion magazines as one part of an editorial feature or for the purpose of advertising and promoting fashion makers, fashion boutiques, and department stores. In this article, readers can take a deep dive into fashion illustration courses.
Understanding illustration
In fashion illustration courses typical female fashion figure is illustrated as slender with square shoulders, heads drawn smaller, and necks, and legs longer than in the classical life drawing. In the average female's body, the head is about seven to eight times smaller than that of the total height of the entire figure.
Scope and need of fashion illustration
- Composition and well-planned layout
The positioning of the drawing on the page and the relationship of one drawing to another are all important because they help create a design image. Relate the sketch to the space and other sketches around it so as to create an interesting, stimulating, and harmonious total effect. Individually, sketches can look flat and uninteresting but if all the right ingredients are grouped together in a well-planned layout, the theme will be strong and extremely successful.
- Right Purpose
The drawing should consider the purpose and objective of the presentation; it may be for a fashion prediction board or fashion design board displaying fashion trends. It could also be for a fashion presentation board, forecasting drawing, promotional fashion illustration, or advertisement for magazines. The drawing should be created depending on the target market, project brief, and the purpose of the drawing board.
- Understanding construction and from
A design drawing is often an interpretation of a three-dimensional form in a two-dimensional way. It is important that the structure of the three-dimensional form is clearly expressed and defined by the use of tone and texture.
- Awareness of body perspective and proportion
Good drawings need not be photographically accurate. It is still essential to show how scale and proportion are observed and re-create such factors in drawings. Understanding body perspective will also help to draw the correct proportion of the figure in various poses.
- Rhythm of Line
The mood and shape of the design are developed by the thickness of the lines. Drawing figures using one continuous line, avoid the messy broken lines.
- Effective use of paper and media
Drawings should not only be done in pencil, the use of various media should be explored given that these media help to make the ideas more explicit. Work on different colored papers, use various colors for outlines and experiment with all media and combinations.
- Evidence of observation
Design drawing should show the ability to observe how a basic garment looks, showing many details and embellishments are observed such as how a collar forms part of the neckline, how a conventional garment looks, its zipper fastening, and the proportion of the collar or cuffs to the rest of the garment.
- Evidence of enquiry
Drawing is a form of exploration and how to explore and record ideas, forms, shapes, and emotions.
In Summary
Fashion Illustration courses are the art of communicating fashion ideas in a visual form that originates with illustration, drawing, and painting and is also known as Fashion sketching. It is mainly used by fashion designers to brainstorm their ideas on paper or digitally.
