The TSC Guide to Female Fashion Sketching

My machine is still a bit wobbly due to the lack of appropriate bobbins I have to my name (fortunately they're in the post somewhere!) so today I'm not sewing, I'm designing. If you have me on Facebook then you know last week I went to my favourite fabric shop in Sheffield for the first time in a year or so and got plenty of material to keep me sewing. After all the alterations I have to do, of course!

Anyway, back to the post. I'm on a costumers course next year and half of it will be designing, half of it making. Because of this I need to get back into the headspace of drawing out my designs before i make them as opposed to just making it straight off like I usually do. So for the next however long I have before I go to university, I am going to design my clothing before I start making them.

Before you start designing, you need to draw yourself a croquis. A croquis is a body shape you sketch onto. But it's not a normally proportioned person, let me say that first. Oh no.

Being an art student, I know that roughly a real person of average height is about eight heads high. They are normally slight differences between the male body and the female; the male's shoulders are wider and the navel higher.

However in fashion, the limbs are elongated by illustrators, and stand at anything from 8 heads to 11 heads high, depending on the designer. As you can probably tell by looking at fashion sketches they're very good at showing the look and feel of the garment in question, but also completely out of proportion and they're not lifelike. 

So, how do you draw a croquis? Grab yourself a pencil, rubber and a pad and I will show you.

I draw mine nine heads high.

The crotch is at line 5, the knees halfway between that and the ankles at line 0.

The waist and elbows are at line 6, with the bottom of the breasts half a space up.

I guess in comparison to the realistic proportions the limbs are the only difference, but the neck is also longer. Everyone draws their croquis differently, so draw some that are realistic, copy off other designers and then hone your own!

Always start with drawing the person straight on to start with. Then you can progress to having the weight moved onto one leg or the arms in different positions. To help with this, there's something called the S curve, and the balance lines. The S curve is the curve you draw first, to give yourself an idea to the shape the figure is making. 

Then draw the head and the balance lines. These are the shoulder and hip lines and normally tilt in opposite directions, so the figure balances. If you yourself tilt your shoulders to the left then you notice that your hips tilt to the right, unless something is seriously wrong!

I always make sure it's right in pencil before I ink in. Hands, feet and faces are all things I struggle with, so I normally draw my hands in with a series of lines instead of individual fingers and I normally leave the facial details out!

As I start the new figure, I always measure heads, then put the S line and balance lines in, before anything else.

So there's three examples for you. Trace them if you like, it'll get you used to drawing the female form if you're inexperienced. Just don't copy the knees, they have to be one of my worst examples! When you're drawing under pressure it's hard!

Now I normally add the clothes before I ink in. 

I seem to ink the clothes in before I do the body, too. Some designers use other materials to 'ink in' so use whatever feels comfortable. I've seen pens, pencils, pastels (very messy) and watercolour, which I would use all the time, if I could actually paint!

Hair is also not my best point. It's normally stylised and blocky, and definitely a thing I need to improve on. 

But that's it, just about. Some illustrators will add labels, some don't. I always do just because it helps me think about making the garment, which a lot of illustrators don't do. They send it off to another person to start the making process, but that's a different post altogether!

Get drawing, I'd love to see some of your poses. If you have any difficulty just google 'croquis' and examples will be there for you to copy.

Toni

(Another note: I also found life drawing very useful. Now I'm not saying go and find yourself a class because some people don't have the time. But just look at people. On the bus, at work (don't stare, that's rude!) see which way their hips sway when they have their weight on one leg, or when they're walking. It will also give you information on how certain fabrics move and stretch. Observation is key to any drawing style. It'll come in handy. Promise.)