DRAWING EXERCISES - the active experience of fashion drawing
When I enrolled in Parsons School of Design to become a fashion designer 30 years ago, I was accepted on a condition that I would take a summer program in drawing.
Because I COULD NOT DRAW.
I ended up in a 6 hour a day, five days a week, 5 week summer program in Model Drawing (not for fashion) that CHANGED MY LIFE.
I felt so at home. And I didn’t even know that that was what I WANTED or needed.
I didn’t even know then that I was an ARTIST! (I also remember that I was afraid -for a whole slew of reasons- to consider myself one, back then).
BUT I REALIZED that art could be a live, in-the-moment, active, improvisational, dynamic, emotional, intuitive, deeply personal, active- sport activity. Kind of like jamming with a band or dancing, or writing poetry.
I WAS OBSESSED from the beginning!
LIVE SKETCHING EXERCISES in a group atmosphere
Is the environment that I created today’s sketch examples in. All kinds of art supplies are welcomed and encouraged in my weekly hosted zoom sessions, but most of what I’m sharing today is based in pencils.
LIVE, ACTIVE fashion illustration and model drawing sessions are magical and powerful because they ACTIVATE EMBODIED EXPERIENCES that imprint immediately in a safe time and place.
The wave and current of the moment and community spontaneously catalyze transformation in your present-moment that reinforce concepts positively for you.
It is one thing to learn drawing processes and fashion illustration techniques by attending a lecture or reading a book or watching a video…. AND ANOTHER THING TO ACTIVELY PRACTICE WHAT YOU’VE JUST LEARNED about fashion drawing.
Timed drawing exercises help you engage in a total focus while you practice something, and then release it an move on! There is a wonderful fresh energy that comes from experiencing this style of quick, blitz sketching that helps reduce overthinking and falling down rabbit-holes. It helps you focus on the ESSENCE of what you are looking at and to practice capturing the most essential information first.
It change the way you SEE.
IT ALSO CHANGES THE WAY YOU SEE YOUR-SELF.
Because you will get to experience yourself in a space where you don’t have all the control, which is where you can make accidental discoveries and SURPRISE YOURSELF into deep self-trust over time.
DRAWING FACES FOR FASHION
IS a whole world unto itself, that becomes part of any whole fashion illustration.
Yet alone, it is a subject of study that can take us deeply into understanding our personal style and honing our fashion drawing and drafting skills. FACES ARE SO EMOTIONAL and EXPRESSIVE! This is why i created a whole course devoted to sharing everything I know about drawing faces, features, hairstyles for fashion illustration as well.
It’s grown to include fashion design sketching modules within the course, and a strong foundation for freehand fashion illustration on ipads and tablets. But at its core, it was all about faces and art apps to explore and enhance your fashion art creativity and confidence.
Another drawing exercise
that can free you up and inspire you energetically in your fashion drawing and illustration is by working with toned paper, smudged paper, wrinkled paper, or pre-painted or collaged paper, as you can see in the page below where I had painted a page, let it dry, and then drew on it later during fashion drawing sketch class.
BRING YOUR ART SUPPLIES FOR FASHION DRAWING
There aren’t any prerequisites beyond pure curiosity, passion and enthusiasm...
BUT
as you can see below, there is so much you can do with
- sketch paper
- gouache or watercolor palette box ( i linked my favorite for fashion design illustrations)
- palette if your box doesn’t have one
- water cup
- paper towels or rag
- soft graphite pencils (i recommend 9B-the softest possible!)
- soft artist colored pencils
- round, pointed watercolor brush
I’ll link each item above to a purchase link in case you want help to get started, because GETTING STARTED IS THE ” HARDEST PART!”
Once you start to engage with this art form, you’ll never want to stop.
However, my fashion sketching zoom live group is a monthly subscription that meets 4x per month and can be cancelled ANY time.
BIG PAPER for BIG RESULTS
Most of us draw in a cramped environment.
Watch this short video below to see why I encourage using large scale pages for fashion drawing exercises so that you can spread out and “draw with your whole body” while also moving to the flow of music.
WHEN WE FEEL FREE AND FLOWING in our creation, then it naturally follows that what we draw feels free and flowing.
ONE MORE FASHION DRAWING INSIGHT:
It’s amazing, this paradox. But it’s true and its comforting to learn that when we surrender control in fashion drawing, we learn to trust.
We learn that focus and flow are connected, and that control makes us wobble and tense up. It’s as if a work ethic gets turned on our heads, and that we are forced to fly with the feeling in the moment if we want to make something truly accurate and beautiful.
And interestingly, it feels better too!
Fashion Drawing exercises and tools mixed with live drawing practice is the best way to integrate these experiences for yourself.
