When we are drawing fashion design, what is our goal? Brush tip markers bring a rich drama to the page when we are aiming for mood, texture, expressiveness, and definition.
TOMBOW is a water-soluble brush tip marker, so you can’t paint over it when drawing fashion unless you’re planning on it running like a tie-dye effect. Also known as “wet-on-wet” or “bleed”.
Some people use a paintbrush on purpose to create watercolor washes with their markers but I wanted crisp bright lines in this session.
THAT’S WHY i used a green pastel tDerwent Graphite Blocks) to smudge the color onto the dress drawing below – I knew I needed something dry and sheer over the Tombow.
SUPER EXPRESSIVE LINE QUALITY
The wide range of expressions that com out of a single brush pen can be just what you needed to emphasize layers and folds, pleats, gathers, ruffles, overlaps, or crisp shadows under hems.
Brush pens speak the very language of fashion with their ripply magic.
Drawing Fashion Design
is what my Fashion Sketch Group (live on zoom weekly) and courses are ALL ABOUT! This week in sketch group I decided to commit to using my brush tip marker for the entire two hours. That’s what I’ve decided to share with you today.
First of all, what was my tool of choice? I love PITT pens brush tip markers in black waterproof ink for art that I can paint over without any bleeding of the ink into my paint color Because I knew I was working with dry media only this day (pastels), I decided to use a TOMBOW brush (“dual-tip”) without any worry.
WATER-BASED ART MARKERS
TOMBOW is a water-soluble brush tip marker, so you can’t paint over it when drawing fashion unless you’re planning on it running like a tie-dye effect. Also known as “wet-on-wet” or “bleed”.
Some people use a paintbrush on purpose to create watercolor washes with their markers but I wanted crisp bright lines in this session.
Now as I look at the fashion portrait below, I’m tempted to take a wet brush and add some smokey soft edges to the illustration. BUT I CANNOT because I used marker paper and it will wrinkle up like CRAZY if I wet it because it’s so thin.
GOUACHE WASH (BELOW)
In contrast, for the sketch below I used sketch paper for the study, and a black Tombow.
I laid in the color and pattern using gouache afterward, but did this with some care: if I just blindly swabbed my brush all over the brush pen drawing, the folds, gathers and seams that I had careully drawn may have lost too much of their definition in the bleed.
DEPTH AND FLOW
I took advantage of that capability to create deep shadow in the underarm area.
If you peek closely, you will definietly see white areas next to many of the black lines. that was me avoiding the lines enough to keep them crisp and clean.
I’m pretty sure I kept most of my strokes parallel to my lines so I wouldn’t “scrub” them with my brush tip.
Above, Sketch paper.
The only thick marker-designated paper I know of that is thick like card-stock isSTRATHMORE 400 Marker Paper.
***PRO TIP: USE MARKER PAPER for your brush tip marker fashion drawings
I used two kinds of marker paper during today’s session of Fashion Sketch Group: both were bright white and sheer.
One was Strathmore “smooth” 100 percent COTTON 500 marker paper **WHICH THEY HAVE DISCONTINUTED**
Even though it says “smooth”, it actually had a gorgeous texture to it that felt sensitive and “deep” like a fine organic silk organza!
The other paper I used today was Canson’s marker paper which was MUCH smoother and more opaque bright-white.
COTTON PAPERS ARE AMAZING
I find that the Strathmore and other cotton marker layout papers (Bienfang used to make one) I have used are MUCH RICHER quality-feeliing.
INDULGE YOURSELF IF YOU CAN
because the paper itself evokes an emotion and well…. quality, period!
You want your fashion design drawing to communicate quality, right???
ULTRA LIGHT STROKES
ABOVE, By the way, just for fun I used a dark grey brush pen marker instead of a black one. NOTICE how the brush pen can express everything from laying down large areas of deep shadow and graphic shapes, to framing the page composotion and then for fine lines like gathers, polka dots, ruffles, and cuffs! it’s super for sharpening crisp shadows that make your fashion design drawings POP.
Why do I even use marker paper?
It lets your markers glide without skipping or drying up
Marker paper isn’t as porous as other papers and resists over-absorption and bleed-through which is infinitely more of a problem with design/art markers based with alcohol. Like Sharpie (which i love in various thicknesses for sketching flats, along with Micron pens), chemical markers can pass straight through other papers.
FOLLOW YOUR NOSE
Tombow brush pen (watercolor, watersoluble) and Pitt (indelible ink) don’t bleed through paper much anyway, thankfully, and they are fume free.
COLORED PENCIL OVERLAYS
What can you do?
Get a generous brush tip marker like a Tombow, and experiment drawing fashion with it.
How does it sketch with a light touch on the tip, or a bold stroke in the side of the tip- and everything in- between! A wide wide range of dynamics from fine and thin to loud and dark.
Tell dynamic stories about fashion, beauty, style, culture, and design.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
Love, Laura
This post sponsored by my signature FASHION SKETCH GROUP!
