FASHION DRAWING IN REAL TIME
Since my first experience in a live fashion drawing model session with timed poses, I was HOOKED!
Today, as every week for over 20 years, (online only for 6) I hosted one of my beloved figure drawing sessions for fashion.
EXPLORE YOUR ART SUPPLIES
Fashion Drawing sessions are powerful as they set a time for exploration, discovery, practice and experimentation.
I never quite know what I will use any certain day-
I LOVE THE SENSE of FREEDOM that comes from spontaneous, improvised, curious and playful exploration of fashion garments , figures, and fashion drawing.
I (almost) ALWAYS begin a fashion drawing session with leotards/ swimwear/ yogawear so that we can practice WARMING UP to the drawing space and reacquainting ourselves with the figure.
PROPORTION, gesture, balance, anatomy, etc.
It is through these 5-20 minute drawings that we build our vocabulary of textures, shadows, line quality, silhouettes, poses, and detailing in fashion illustrations!
IN TODAY’S SESSION
I decided to explore my markers, which is funny as I have been avoiding my markers for quite some time.
I was inspired because I recently purchased Fabriano’s SUPER heavyweight “tracing” pad at Hobby Lobby.
It reminded me of a pad of papaer i had about 30 years ago of VELLUM that was super heavy but sheer and had a delicious quality to it.
Fashion Illustration with Markers
has its own unique look and feel.
ESPECIALLY on this heavyweight trace vellum . I don’t use it for tracing, but because it’s 100percent bleed-proof so MARKERS just LOVE to glide across the surface in the most statisfying way.
FASHION ILLUSTRATION: PAIRS
FASHION ILLUSTRATION WTIH MARKERS
It’s hard to tell I used the trace vellum because I put a sheet of white sketch paper behind for photographing.
However for the fashion illustration study above,
I started my drawing by sketching one figure at a time using a soft, sheer Copic marker first to map out the figure.
Drawing PAIRS can be challenging! But so satisfying because of the relationships that are created on the page.
Also, believe it or not, having to relate the two figures to one another proportionally can actually help you draw better!
BELOW, I love how my drawing went over the seam of the pad’s binding… to create the composition balanced just the way I wanted. (really this happened because I wanted to draw her hand and fingers ) .
I added a flat block of yellow where she was wearing this yellow Dior dress.
FASHION ILLUSTRATON: PAIRS AND COLOR BLOCKING, MOVEMENT and INTERACTION
In this fashion illustration I was really in the flow!
these two ensembles from the same design collection were color blocked with colors and then a single plaid. I loved how the markers were overlapping, dancing, interaction and twisting.
HOW DYNAMIC!
I continued to use alcohol markers with an Ultra Fine Tips Sharpie felt tip marker pen for all the black lines.
HEAVYWEIGHT MARKER PAPER
ABOVE- I finished the last sketch of the day using smaller, heavier-weight marker paper.
Strathmore had sent me a sample of their 400 series marker paper and I decided to give it a try.
Again, I started this fashion illustration wtih soft marker colors to map out the drawing.
As I become more certain of the size and placement of things, I came in with a crisp. soft colored pencil for definition and drop shadows.
I added the fine polka dots, captured the hemline’s pleats and textures wtih that sensitive pencil.
I couldn’t have been more excited by the unexpected effect of overlapping pages of fashion drawings ovelapping one another in the tracing paper sketchbook.
Page after page revealed unexpected realtionships and interactions throught the entire live fashion illustration session.
It’s moments like this that take my breath away.
