Catalina Mihaela Encutu

How to design your fashion

collection
Just uploaded 3 new videos about How to design your fashion collection.
When starting sketching for a new collection, first of all you have to make your
research. This means you should carefully study all the aspects fo your source
of inspiration.
Articles, photo collages, images found on Pinterest, Google or books, photos
taken in trips or museums, they all should be placed in a fashion
journal because later on they will be part of the design process.
The design journal is a creative tool that can be accessed anytime. It is an
active source of inspiration for any designer and it serves as a creative kit. In
my 3 videos I described the process step by step and I am sure the creative
development of a fashion collection is now simplified. Research,
documentation, moodboards sketches, transpose of your drawings into A4
boards and then final work: the real garment.

How to create your own fashion

collection
In this third part of my article I will explain more about the Fashion
Sketchbook. After reading on my blog
aboutdocumentation and moodboards now is the moment to find out more
about Fashion sketchbook and fashion sketches.
After studying a new theme or collection you will find yourself in the moment
when you will have to create and develop a concept. You will start by doing some
sketches. Lets say you want to study Prehistoric art.
You will read about Altamira and Lascaux caves, you will gather some images
with cave paintings, you will find out that the color palette is quite narrow ( they
used only earth-tones like: brown, red, yellow, beige, white or black ). You
will find out about different Venus statues and their simplified, decorative and
almost geometric shapes. All these can inspire you to create a special fashion
collection. And for this you will need a sketchbook where you will draw your
fashion collection.
Maybe a draping will inspire you, or the color palette, or some cave
paintings that you will transform and integrated in your patterns. All these
sketches will be gathered in a folder or special book and my advice is that you
will have to keep these drawings and each time you will find more info on the
same topic, you should add another page on your book just in case you will
make another collection on the same topic, in the future.
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The drawings should have a simple line, they can be black and white but very
well explained so that you can access this information anytime. There is no need
in this phase to draw the human body the human body is just a pretext and a
support for your creations.
You could add pieces of materials gathered for your future collection, you could
add details and draping examples, you could use collage to add more juiciness
to your layout because at the end of the day, any line you draw should be a
piece of art.
As a final advice, once you found a concept, an idea that can be explored just
try to build on it and draw as many costumes as you can having the same idea

in mind. I will come back with a post about this soon.

How to create a fashion collection

in easy steps
After studying the history of art and the history of costume that goes in
parallel with the history of art start working on the moodboards: gather as
many information as you can and stick it to your workshops walls. You can find
images like: textures, colors, patterns, different draping techniques,
images with accessories, just name it.

For your inspiration regarding how a moodboard looks like, just search on
Google or Pinterest the word moodboard and put together in a folder the
results. Here are some of the images I found that you might find useful.
The images can be generic, just to give you the correct atmosphere or they can

be more fashion related, as you will soon see.

And here are the fashion moodboards. It is always better to get your
inspiration from things that are not directly related with fashion. Some
examples you could find on Behance, lets say: origami paper objects,
wildlife, dance, theater, you can find your inspiration in a book or in a movie,
it depends.
What is important to know is that the human brain functions on the input and
output principle. We are like sponges that absorb information: the bigger your
input is, the more creative and juicy will be your output: meaning your creations.
Just try to see how easy all these are if you follow my advices step by step.

How to draw fashion sketches in

pencil and markers
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I am sure the things go difficult and difficult for you. You learned the human
anatomy, you did the exercises about line, light and shadow, you
studied fashion illustrations and you learned all about the creative
process of how to get professional when it comes to fashion illustrations. But
how you start to add color to your sketches?
When I start to draw a fashion sketch to I do like this:
- first of all I start sketching the human body anatomy I think of a pose and
I start drawing with thin lines the axes, the primary shapes and then I finish the
drawing. choose a fashion pose.
- after this, I am adding the costume in graphite pencils and at the end I add
the color. Be careful: do not use thick lines in this part. Otherwise, you will have
to have even bolder lines to suggest the costume and you will ruin the drawing
- before finishing, I highlight the areas I am interested in, and put some contrast
and dark lines where I consider I should grab the attention

About the inspiration:

After you draw the human anatomy, it is time to study a bit the topic you are
interested in: the fashion costume. I will write later on some lessons
about where the inspirations come from and what can we steal and from
where if we want to have something juicy to start from.

About the color:

Do not overload the drawing with too many colors. One color should be the
queen and the others, the subordinates. Usually, a good recipe is to use the
pencil together with white, black markers, gold or silver and do add only a touch
of real color: orange, for example can be added as a highlight in some parts of
your drawing. If you want a more colorful drawing, do not add more than 3
different colors. Otherwise, the sketch will be a mess.
Use markers that allow you to add many layers: like Copic markers for
example. Fill a surface with a color and then add depth and shadows with the
same color, just by repeating the filling on a precise area of that surface this
will help you create the volume. Use watercolors for transparencies or ink for
bold colors, lovely hues and neon pigments.

How to paint an eye in 4 steps

You already know my friend Gary Tu, a fashion illustrator from Taiwan. These
days I will write some posts inspired by hisdrawings and fashion illustrations.
First of all, here are some stages that you must follow in order to paint the eyes.
It is important to guide your hand in these 3 directions suggested in the image
below. Go up, then oblique and then go down, like the arrows are pointing.
Then use the brush with a lot of water, just to make sure you will create the
shadow effect of the bottom par of the eye. There is no need to add color or
extra-black ink. All you have to do is to dilute the brush and simply leave marks
with the brush filled with water.
Then paint an almost dot/circle and make sure to leave an area where you will
add the black dot for the pupil. Do not fill the entire space of the diluted dot.
You will need that space in order to create the white, trans-lucid part of the eye,
the glitter of the eye.
And once again, at the end, after you will be used to paint the eye on these
stages you will be able to paint the eye using only 4 strokes: a rounded, upper
one, a rounded shape down, the almost dot and the black point that will create
the pupil of the painted eye.
Hope this will help you paint the eye and it will reply to your questions
regarding: how to paint an eye in watercolors?

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From human anatomy to fashion illustration

In this post you will learn how to draw fashion illustration starting
from human anatomy. First we studied together the 3 stages to sketch the
human anatomy: the axes, the primary shapes and the connection between
shapes in order to finish the drawing of the body.
Once all these are known by heart, you will start to forget them and take
another step. Well, the question is: How to draw a fashion illustration? There
are a few guidelines that might help you reduce the human body anatomy to its
essence.

My advices are below:

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- documentation: you will need as much visual input as possible: see David
Downtons site, Ren GRUAUs and Takeshi Ohgushi works and mines here
- carefully observe the lines used, the light and illumination, the details, the
colors and how they add refinement in their combination of hues, the pressure of
their lines, everything
- try to copy the drawings first because only by drawing you can realize what is it
to be done, how you should move your hand, how to add color and light to your
drawings
- learn how to draw the human head: do as much exercises as you can an study
this: how ti draw the ears, the nose, the lips, the eyes.
- after drawing the human anatomy you should start to make the transition to
the fashion sketches and fashion drawing: make your fashion models look
thinner. For this you should make their heads smaller ( usually we draw the
human head like being the 7th and 1/2 part of the human body but now you can
make it like being the 11th part of the body), prolong the size of their legs and
make them thinner.
- the muscles are not in prominence, the fashion models should look thin
- the second drawing is a fashion sketch or croquis ( with this drawing you can
go to a tailor and guided by you, he will be able to make a costume out of it) and
the last one is a fashion illustration ( when drawing a fashion illustration, the
anatomy and the details are not so important, the fashion model becomes now a
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support for the idea, for your imagination and artistic feeling. You can express as
you like, because you are free, and the fashion illustration is a form of art)
- for the phase 2 and 3, repeat the exercise with the flexible line below:

Modulated line
In my previous posts I talked about fashion poses and fashion
sketches: some simple steps that will teach you how to draw the human
anatomy. Lets start with the beginning: the most difficult thing when drawing
a fashion illustration is the line. You must study how many line types there are
and your sketches will become even more creative and expressive.
For the moment, try to do the following drawing exercise to train your hand:
the expressiveness of lines in movement. Use any pencil you want from 2B to 6B
( you will need black pencils because they are more greasy than the other: for
example HB or H, or F pencils that we use only for technical drawings).
Play with the pressure to leave marks: sometimes the line is smooth, then it goes
smoother and after that you can push hard and see the result: some nice thick
lines, very powerful.
This exercise will help you be flexible when drawing. Now that you got the
movement and the balet of the hand, try to change the angle of your curved
lines: verticals, horizontals, diagonals: ascendent and descendent diagonals.

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After this exercise, take in

consideration the following 3
main situations when we
use modulated line in
our fashion drawings.
1. When having in
consideration the light and
shadow: for example: if the
light comes from left upper
side, then all the lines that are
closer to left side are smoother
and thinner than the lines
traced on the right side of the drawing those are in shadow, and they will be
darker, heavier and bold.
2. When drawing the human body, we have to have in view the axes and the
position of the body. In the drawing below it is obvious that all the weight of the
model is sustained by the leg in the right ( meaning her left leg ). So this rule
says: the leg that supports all the weight of the body must be drawn bolder
than the other.
3. The last rule says that where angle changes, you must add more pressure
to your line. When line goes straight, it can be equal. When the line changes its
shape and direction you must underline this by using pressure. Do this exercise
and keep in mind the 3 situations. Enjoy my next post and observe how I used
the line.

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Learn how to draw fashion poses

Now that you learned how to find human poses, How to draw the human
body in 3 stages and how to draw fashion sketches in 3 steps, it is the
time to see some detail models and practice some fashion poses.
I draw some simple fashion poses that you can use in your fashion
illustrations. First drawing underlines the axes so that you can see them better.
I used red marker to underline the shoulder, hip and knee axes and also the line
of the muscles. Zoom on each of the drawings and start analyzing my drawings:
you already know about the stages, the steps and how to draw the human body.
But this time, please observe also the lines used. In the next post I will write
about how the lines change in 3 situations.

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Tips on how to find human poses

You did all the exercises already presented in my previous posts. And you will ask
yourself: Now, whats next? I did all the exercises and I have no poses left to
get inspiration from. Well this post is about this: how to find human poses. And
I will give you some examples in the following drawings that I just scanned:) Now
that you are aware of the 3 stages of how to draw the human body, here are
just some axes of the possible poses of the human body.
Start drawing fashion sketches after them and you will be more flexible when
thinking of a new position. To double the poses, just flip rotate them in a graphic
program and make some fashion drawings after.

In the next image I did like this: I took the same croquis and transformed it into
many other sketches. All the weight of the human body is sustained by the leg
from right side ( left leg if we thing of the models point of view). Change the
position of the hands, left side leg, the inclination and balance of the axes and
here they are: about 7 different positions.
Flip rotate them so that the weight is sustained now by the other leg and obtain
14 poses of the human body. Change the position of the axes like in the third
sketch ( where axes of the shoulder and hip are parallel) and also change the
position of the human parts to obtain even more positions. Got it?

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How to draw the human body in 3

stages
Today I will describe in details the 3 important stages when drawing the human
body. You previously read more posts about how to draw
fashion sketches and poses here. Here they are, explained in one drawing.

First of all make sure you leave an invisible frame around the human poses. This
will help you center the 3 images and also it is a guideline that will tell you which
is the area where your human figures should appear. The frame should be one
finger thick and not more. Then, split the area in 3 equal parts and start to draw
the AXIS of the human body.

First drawing:
Draw the vertical line this is the center of the human body and
the symmetry line. Then add the two lines: theshoulder axis and the hip
axis. When one is up, the other one is down. When the hip axis goes down, the
knee axis follows it. In this first phase pf the drawing, all you will have to do is to
sketch the position of the human body through axes.

Second drawing:

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Once the axes are drawn, you will go to the next step: basic, primary
shapes around those axes youve just traced. Try to simplify the shapes
into primary shapes: spheres, cones, cubes, cylinders or secondary shapes.

Third drawing:
In this part, all you will have to do is to just smoothly connect the primary
shapes: imagine a surface that covers the whole body and connect all the
primary and secondary shapes.
I added 3 different poses, just to make sure you will have enough human
figures to draw.

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Hope my drawings from this post will help you easily draw the human body.

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Learn how to draw fashion sketches

in 3 steps_part 3
After going through the stages of how to draw fashion sketches in 3
steps Ive previously posted here and here, see some images that might help
you as well: female plastic mannequins that you can find here. Ive made
some boards with the images and presented them below.
Each time you draw, imagine the red lines that describe the curves of the body:
the lines of shoulders and hips. Also, if interested in more positions, all you will
have to do is to flip horizontally the image.
For the images below, I did this for you, in order to study freely after them. But
when you will dig for more positions, do this on your image editing program. Find
some more positions online, by searching female plastic mannequins. After
the exercise, please send me the drawings
at fashionteaching@gmail.com and I will reply to your questions. I will help
you with some advice that is meant to improve your sketches. Good luck!

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Learn how to draw fashion sketches

in 3 steps_part 2
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After working on the exercises I mentioned in my previous post, here are some
images that might help you make the transition between my sketches and
photos from fashion magazines. If you want to make this transition smoother,
all you have to do is have a model and ask them to stay in different positions.
Take some photos, make them black and white and try to figure out the main
axes of their body. Observe the tension of every line and simply memorize some
positions in order to use them later, when drawing fashion sketches. For the
moment, you can study from my photos.

Learn how to draw fashion sketches

in 3 steps_part 1
Today I will post some exercises regarding the construction of the human body.
Ive written previously about the 3 stages of a fashion
drawing here and here. Just to make this clear for all of us, here is the lesson is
short: Axes Primary shapes Connections.
This means that at the beginning you should sketch the human body in a few
lines, after that you should draw the basic primary shapes the body is
composed of and at the end, all you will have to do is to smooth these shapes
and to imagine a soft shape that covers the primary shapes: cones, cubes,
cylinders and spheres.

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This is the system you should use every time you want to draw fashion
sketches. Ive drawn sketches just for you in order to see the first stage I was
talking about: The axes.
First you have to think of a position. In short, the axes of the shoulders and hips
can be either parallel, or nonparallel. If they are not parallel, if the axis of the
shoulder is going up, the other one is going down, and vice-versa. See the
images here.
Tip: copy the image on your computer and mirror-rotate it to have even more
positions to study how to draw human body.

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There are a lot of positions that can be used and just to tell you a tip, here is
what I do: search for fashion magazines to inspire you. Carefully observe the
curves of the human body and imagine the lines behind the image. In the
following picture I underlined in red the main axes I was telling you about: the
line of shoulders and hips plus the line of the knees

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that must be parallel with the lines of the hips.

Basically, the two lines (shoulders and hips) must
balance the body. See the example in the image
below. Just zoom on the image and make a fashion
sketch after it.

After the basics, lets start the

fashion drawing
Long time no see. But finally Ive said I would make
some time to continue writing. Today, a post about how you should start a
fashion illustration. In fact, any draw you will do in the future.
Firstly, you sketch the AXES. There are a lot of positions in which the human
body can be represented but in short, you must see the lines of the shoulders
and hips. (In my drawing: segments AB and CD). The rule is simple: when AB is
up, CD goes down. See below the schematic representation of the parts of the
body.
Secondly, after drawing the AXES, you will draw the PRIMARY SHAPES: you
decompose the body into cylinders, spheres, cones, cubes and so on.
Thirdly, you will go into the ANATOMICAL DETAILS. You will imagine a skin
covering all the primary shape elements and cover them with smooth shapes.

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Backstage exercises introducing

1st exercise: Fixed line
Each time we start drawing we need some exercises
to warm-up. I will start with the simple one and finish
with the most difficult. It is important to do these
exercises in chronological order. You dont need a
special paper for these exercises: an A4, normal page
is ok to start the trainings.
You will have to repeat these exercises each day and
each time you start drawing something. First, you
should care about the quantity of work, then about
the qualityand after all, about the speed of your drawings.
Tip: if you need one hour to finish a draw, you will need double time to finish it in
colors or just for black and white shading. In short, guide yourself helped by the
following formula: draw= x, filling= 2x ( in hours)

Exercise nr.1. Fixed Line

- all exercises from now on must be done in 4 different angles: vertical (v),
horizontal (h), ascending diagonal (lets call it diagonal 2 or d2)
and descending diagonal (lets call it diagonal 1 or d1)
- in short, we have these directions:
v, h, d1, d2.
How do we do this?
- we trace a line in one of these
directions and then we try to overlap as
many lines as we can on the same initial
line.
- the most important is to maintain the
initial line and not to surpass it by more
than 2-3 mm.
Why do we do this exercise?
- to trace the outline of different objects
- to underline some parts of the objects using thick lines we can make the
shadows of the objects.
- in time, we could even try curled lines like here:
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About what my hands can do

About the previous exercise, we can also try other lines (not just the V, H, d1,
d2 and curled lines) like: 45 degrees, 30, 15 and so on. In fact, we are only
interested in warming up our right hand and sometimes, ourleft hand:) Most
of the artists I know are left handed, and due to my experience, they are even
more creative than the rest of us:). In fact, no matter the hand, most of the
times, it is more important to work a lot than to have talent and not a
little bit of sweat to reveal it.
Those exercises I proposed (and still continue in the next posts) are especially
created to tame your hand. Sometimes we realize that our drawing is not so
good (our brain realizes that) but when we draw, we observe that sometimes
the hand has a will of its own that leads the pencil on the paper.
So the exercises will succeed in making the hand be in a real relation with
your brain, and obeying your orders:)
So, these are the 5 exercises I recommend each day.
Each time you start drawing.
These exercises will warm up your hand and discipline it a little.:)
This is just the difficult part of the drawing.
I can assure you that once youve done it, we will do nicer things together.

Exercise no. 2 : Perpendicular lines

We keep the directions we are used to: v, h, d1, d2 and do the followings:
- we trace 2 parallel lines and between them, at exactly 90 degrees, we trace
perpendicular lines.
- we do this exercise at least 4 times, on all our 4 directions we know.
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- lets be careful not to leave empty spaces and also, not to exceed the lines like
here:

Why is this good?

It is an exercise that has in view the future shading.
Dos and donts
- we have to keep the 90 degrees and not other inclination.

Exercise no. 3 : Ellipses

Ellipse
- the ellipse is a circle in space.
- in plan, meaning 2D (bi-dimensional) we have the circle inscribed in the square.
- in space, meaning 3D (tri-dimensional) we have the ellipse inscribed in each
sides of the cube.
Why do we do this exercise?
- because we will need this later to create the rotation corps.
- in fact, we will see that all objects could be de-constructed in primary objects
like: sphere, cube, cylinder, cone, parallelepiped, pyramid.

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How do I start?
- first you have to draw a small dot
- then you help yourself with a fine line in a shape of a circle it will be a guide
for you in your next step
- then we start from the center of the circle in any direction (you could try both of
them later) and we draw the ellipses.

- lets try to make the ellipse as symmetrical as possible, not like here:

- ellipses should be symmetrical on both axes: OX and OY- vertical and horizontal.
The upper part of it should be the mirror of the lower and the left side, the mirror
of the right side.

- after some exercises, you could start doing the ellipses with no guidelines: just
start from the middle point the center and choose a direction for your ellipses.

Another exercise that you could do is try drawing ellipses in all directions,
following a path like here:
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Exercise no. 4: The cube

First we have to make the distinction between MONO-lines andMULTIPLElines. I recommend using Mono-lines because this is thecorrect way of drawing,
more accurate and faster. We should be able to draw a cube only from some soft
lines and not overlap more lines todefine the shape of the cube.

How do we build the cube?

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a)

we have two perpendicular lines, AB and CD.

Draw AB longer than CD (so dont draw
them of the same size).
b) we trace
the lines between the following points: B
and
C, B and D, D and A, A and C and we will
form a rhomboid shape.
c) we prolong the BD line untill it
intersects the AX line. And we do exactly
the
same with lines CD and BZ.
d) we intersect
points X, Y and Z and we have the cube.
(AD is parallel with XY and YZ is parallel with DB)
Now we have the cube that can be inscribed in a sphere (like we all know
that the circle can be inscribed in a square)
D point becomes the O point the center of the sphere
Sides AX, XY, YZ, ZB, BC, CA are the sides of the hexagon named ACBZYX
(all sides are equal in size)

Today, lets play playful part.

We will take a break today. I know the first exercises are difficult and boring:),
thats why today we will play a little bit with the lines in fashion drawing. This
is an exercise for your hand and skills in order to have a plastic, modulated,
artistic line.
All kind of lines:
Modulated line: it results from different pressures of the line in drawing.

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See here some exercises that use modulated line, zig-zags, interrupted line,
curled line.

Today, lets play theoretic part.

Lines theoretic part
In fashion drawing we will need all the tools to express ourselves. The more
the drawing is more sensitive, having a plastic, modulated curled
line, the more it is more expressive and vibrating.
If you ever wondered how many elements do we have in our tool box, here you
have the answer:
We have:
Dots/ Lines/ Surfaces
as our tools. Nothing more:). And these 3 tools are called elements of visual
communication.
A set of lines can suggest movement, expressing a state. Depending on
the form, purpose or position, expression lines can have different
meanings:
Continue line : precision, accuracy
Interrupted line: indecision, search, uncertainty
Straight line: rigor, logic, reason
Broken line: rigor, vitality
Curved line: emotion, tenderness, delicacy
Horizontal line: calm, rest

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Vertical line: aspiration, elevation

Expressiveness and meaning of lines also depend on how they are

grouped:
Vertical lines divided into equal intervals: balance, sensitivity;
Horizontal lines: stability, peace;
Curved lines, slightly wavy: grace, smooth motion
Spiral curves, on the contrary directions: speed, kneading
Lines the same thickness: simplicity
Lines of different thicknesses: complexity
Parallel lines (horizontal, vertical, oblique): order, harmony
The lines may suggest the idea of form, space and even color.
Exercise no. 5: Ellipse + cube = love

In our last post we said that we should do the exercises in chronological order.
So, for this 5th exercise we need to train a little bit and make sure that we did
correctly all the other exercises because otherwise, this 5th exercise wont be
possible.
- first, draw the cube as we learned previously.
- then do the followings:
- trace the diagonals of each side of the cube and then the half of each segment
- trace the arches MP and NO
- where the MP arch intersects the diagonals we name the point with a
- trace a parallel segment ab and ac
- trace the arches PCO and NbM, so that we could have an ellipse.
- build ellipses on all sides of the cube
- all ellipses form now a sphere.
- if the cube is not well drawn, the ellipses are badly done, so the sphere will not
be possible.

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Perspective

Perspective is a graphic method which helps to represent spatial depth on a

flat surface.The draw below explains the basic principles, such as the horizon
line, the viewpoint and the vanishing points.
See here the draw from Portraits. Faces. and. Figures by Giovanni
Civardi and the two special views: the frog view and the bird view.

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Primary shapes- primary objects/2D>3D

Primary shapes in the following order:

- cube, parallelepiped
- cylinder, cone
- sphere, pyramid
Shading I 45 degrees

We try to transpose on a paper what we see around us, the

multidimensional into a bi-dimensional drawing. For that we need
shading and effects. Today we will learn about shading. There are a lot
of drawing shading techniques, but we will learn the most important
ones.The 45 degree technique
We can create shading by using the 45 degree inclination of the hatching.

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We can create the light and the shadow through:

a) the intensity of the shading line
b) the distance between the shading lines
c) the thickness of lines
or
the combination between these techniques. Like here:

Sometimes, the 45 degree shading can be also used in the mirror. Some
examples from the history of art like Leonardo
da Vincis drawings you can see below. Dont
forget to click on them for large sizes.

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Gradient shading technique: you can use it in your fashion

illustration because its a fine gradient (named sometimes dgrador
passage) from black to white or from one color to another. We insist upon the
figure we want to shade and we come again and again with grades of gray
because

the most important in this technique is not to leave marks of pencil. Everything
must be compact,like printed.
See shadings from white to black in gradient technique here:

It is very important how we keep the pencil in

our hand (the inclination of the pencil), the
hardness of the pencil and the paper
quality itself also.
Some paper brands I recommend: Canson,
Fabriano, Tiziano
Each paper sheet has two different
sides. One is good for drawing (its the smoother
side), and the other is better at watercolor or
charcoal compositions (being a little bit textured,
granulated).
We could use grading at 45 degrees, vertical or horizontal like here:

See here how smooth the gradient should be:

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Shading III Line intersections

For Line intersection technique we use the lines that we already know
fromExercise no. 2 : Perpendicular lines the v, h, d1, d2 lines. We create shadow
by intersecting more lines that have different angles.

Shading IV Raster
Raster technique is not such a used shading
technique but it is spectacular and it could be
very interesting if we have the patience to work
on it.
So these 4 are the most common shading
techniques. Of course, we can try different other
shadings too or the combination of these 4.

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Shading and objects generators

In order to transpose something that we

perceive in real life as being 3D into
something 2D, we will have to apply some
rules of shading: the shading created on
the objects generator lines. The arrows
show the direction of shading of each primary
object.
For every object we shade, first we must make
a delimitation of shading areas like here:
- lighted area named L, light gray area
gray1
- dark gray area gray2, black area b and
reflex R

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For example, lets say we have this light source named L projected upon this
cube. Then we will have the top of the cube (1) shaded with light gray, the side 2
of the cube, shaded with dark gray and the third side (3) will be black. The Rs are
the reflex between the sides of the cube. All objects have R (reflex) areas,
because in real life objects have smooth passages between light and darkness.

See here an example of how to shade a cube, using the scheme we have just
learned.

We will observe that we have 2 kinds

of shades:
- the cast shadow
- the own shadow

Chapter 6: Textures and how to shade them I Cylinders

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Cylinders
- first you draw, as we learned, the cylinders
- you shade them from dark to white
- you could try different distances, thickness,
even curled lines
- you could use this texture to give the
impression of leather folds, drapery,
relief surfaces, jewelry
In fashion drawing this will help you a lot to
folding and making different textures. This is
the main trick to know: decomposing
everything in primary shapes and then
knowing how to shade them. After this,
anything is possible. Just try:) Once again, Im waiting for your comments and
questions related to these posts of texturing.

Textures and how to shade them II Squares

Squares
- first, you should draw the squares
like being a net
- you shade from black to white
- you establish where comes the light
from, the gloss of the texture and its
color.
- you insist with the black shading at
the base of the squares and one of the
sides: in my drawings its the right
side.
- you could use this texture on
quilted materials, leather,
accessories, scales
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Reminder:
- from lightness to darkness we have the following, in this order: Light / Gray 1
(light gray) / Gray 2 (dark gray)/ Black / Reflex

extures and how to shade them III Spheres

Spheres
- we will use the spheres when creating accesories in
fashion illustration
- first we draw some circles
- you will establish the light source
- shade the circles as if they were some spheres (see
the generator of the sphere shape)
- at the end you could shade the background, so that the spheres will look
brighter and they will have more relief
leave the Reflex zone around each sphere for more volume
- we could use any size and color for the pearls, and any color for the
background: try different variants, depending on what effect you would want to
obtain from your fashion illustration

Textures and how to shade them IV Fur

Fur
- you start from a point and drag a straight or a curved line, from the most darker
color to the lightest (remember degrade technique of shading)
- you draw multiple lines like this, from left to right, in one straight line.
- then, underneath, another line of multiple yarns
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- the yarns above have a strong contrast and those beneath are lighter, to give
the impression of volume.
About textures:
- you could make combinations of all these basic principles
- if you know how to correctly shade these ones, you could invent others
- a good exercise for homework is to study as much texture as you can
from fashion magazines
- try to realize and be conscious of how to shade and to create the volume and
the impression of tridimensionality
- you could make studies on wooden, metal, plastic, paper textures

Textures and how to shade them V Photo textures

As I said in the previous post, I will just

add some photos of textures for you. You can find a lot in the fashion
magazines. If you think its easier for you, just make them black and white and
then try to draw after. It is very important to exercises as many as you can and
to observe their principles of shading. Then you can draw no matter what.
Here is your homework for today. Scan orphotograph your drawings and send
them to me so that you could receive an feed-back:

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Basics in human anatomy

This post will help you to have a quick view upon the sizes of the segments of the
body. Print this post and put it next to you when you start drawing human
anatomy. Here are some measurements of the human body.
First you draw the vertical, symmetry line of the body. It is a straight line from up
to down, in the center of the paper sheet.

The head is as large as a coin or as big as your finger tip.

The axes of the shoulder should have the double size of the human head and it is
symmetric to the vertical line. Then you draw the hips line that should be
opposed to the line of shoulders. If one goes up, the other one is balancing the
body and it goes down.
From the right side leg you will start to draw a line until it reaches the symmetry
line. On this leg lays all the weight of the body. The other leg can be drawn in any
position and even hold in the air because the weight of the body is already
assured by the other leg.
After this, draw the thoracic box, in shape of a fortune cookie, establish the
shoulders and draw the hands. They should have the same size and the hands
should be no longer than the middle of the distance between hips and knees.
Draw the pelvis bones stylized in a trapeze shape. This are just the axes but after
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this you will start drawing the primary shapes that cover the
axes: cylinders, cones, spheres.
The last step is all about covering the primary shape with that
skin and make the shapes smoother. Dont forget to use
modulated line and add some accents like described on how to
add the light tutorial. Be careful and underline the sartorious
muscle the biggest muscle in the human body. It is a long,
narrow muscle running obliquely across the front of each thigh
from the hip bone to the inside of the leg below the knee. The
name Sartorius comes from Latin sartor tailor (because the
muscle is used when adopting a cross-legged position, earlier
associated with a tailors sewing posture).
Usual, the head of the human body is the 7th or 7th and a half part from the
whole body but having in view that we are drawing fashion illustrations here, you
can stretch the anatomy and draw longer legs. Still, the muscles can respect the
basic anatomy, so make sure to draw the gastrocnemius muscles. They can be
found in the back part of the lower leg. It runs from its two heads just above the
knee to the heel, and is involved in standing, walking, running and jumping.
At the end, if you want, you can add some details to the human face by
underlining the axes of the eyes or lips and the ears.

Human anatomy

First, you should know some basic

bones and muscles of the human body. And for this, my advice is to study
anatomy after Gottfried Bammes drawings. There is no use for me to teach
you this. Ive learned in school that the most important is to know where to find
your information when you need it the most. So this time, its Bammes. I studied
after him and I recommend his books. You can learn anatomyand all about
muscles andbones. You can also study Barcsay. I will post about him later. But
for the moment, here you will find some excellent Bammes studies to learn from:

Gottfried Bammes books are:

Die Gestalt des Menschen

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Die neue groe Zeichenschule

Menschen zeichnen

Der nackte Mensch

Figrliches Gestalten

Tiere zeichnen

Knstleranatomie und bildnerischer Ausdruck

Krper und Gewand

Studien zur Gestalt des Menschen

Image: Gottfried Bammes

Human anatomy the head I

As we learned in the Perspective post about the horizon line and the
vanishing points, we will apply this knowledge on the human figure. The
drawing below will remind you of the basic principles of perspective. If you
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imagine the head within a cube whose edges touch its most protruding points,
you will find it easy to put in perspective the details of the face.

We should know some sizes and proportions before

starting the human face drawing:
- the head is split in 3 parts: one part is the length of the nose
- between the 2 eyes there is a space where you could fill in another eye
if we project a vertical line from the nostril, we reach the interior of the eyes.
the distance between the lower part of the nose and the chin, if we split it in 2
equal parts, we will have the exact placement of the mouth
if we rotate the vertical size of the head leftward and then rightward, we will
obtain the size of the shoulders: this means their size is the double size of the
head

See here some proportions:

Human anatomy the head II

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Here are some exercises that will help you understand the human face and its
transformations in movement:
Tip: you imagine the head as being deconstructed in basic, simple forms
like: spheres, cylinders and cubes: follow the same principles and it will be
easy for you to understand and then to easily draw from your imagination
any portrait in any position. Anyway, first you should trace the axes, then we
try to figure out the primary forms that could help us represent the head and
then we will step into the details. Lets pay attention to the 3 positions in which
every object can be observed. We have the aerial view also named the bird
view, the frog view (in these 2 cases, the axes are like ellipses) and the view
when all the axes are parallel lines this means the model is at the height of our
eyes.

Human anatomy the nose I

The nose is

difficult to represent because it sticks

out of the face volume and therefore
its
appearance depends on the viewpoint.
Observe these sketches and practice
by
drawing the nose in various
positions. Its easier to make some
photos and draw after them. I will make
thiseasier for you in the next post where I
will
add some pictures from different angles.
Try
not to shade all volume of the nose. Its
enough to highlight the shadows at the
base of the nose and then to put those
special lights on the tip of it light that I
will call the blitz from now on. Like in the previous case, you will find here
the primary shapes that will decompose the nose, so that it will be easier for
you to draw it. Hope you will know nowhow to draw the nose.

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Human anatomy the ear

55

The ears are a cartilage arranged in circumvolutions that recall a seashell and
are
fairly similar in both sexes. Ears are
expressive and their precise position
on the side of the head creates the
character of the human being.In
the fashion drawing, even if
sometimes we dont draw all the details
but just suggest them, it is important to
know the right construction, to know the
exact
proportions and sizes and the stylized drawing will
appear natural.
Do

some more sketches after these

drawings and learn how to draw the ear.

Human anatomy the mouth

The mouth when drawing the lips make sure that you draw the line which
separates them it lies on the semi-cylindrical surface of the jaw bones and
follows the rules of perspective stated below. The upper lip is usually thinner then
the lower. There are 3 groups of muscles, one on the upper lip and other 2 on
the lower one. First construct them and then put the shading following the form.
Usually, we shade the upper lip and we put the shadow under the lower lip. Add
some light or dont put color on the middle part of the lower lip. Add some
accents of dark shades in the corner of the lips and between the lips.

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Human anatomy the eye

57

The eye - is the most expressive human part and therefore you should be
more careful when drawing it. Its essential to draw it in the correct position
and having the exact sphere shape. The white section of the eyeball is not pure
white but changes its color due to the shadow. Be careful that the eyeballs and
the pupils have the same axes.

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59

Studying the portrait I

For today, a helping hand in studying the human portrait. It is better to help
yourself with one of these, gradually increasing the difficulty:
- use a draw to study the human face: it is the easiest because you can
understand better how the construction of the portrait is made, how to put
shadows and accents.
- use a photo of a human face: its like having a draw already. The photo is flat
2D and you wont have the problems in knowing how to express the
tridimensionality
- use a sculpture like below: the stone, the marble or the wood have very good
defined surfaces because of their materiality
- draw after a real human portrait: the last step, the most difficult because you
will have to understand the anatomy, to understand the plans of the face in order
to shade them correctly, to see how to express the skin materiality (carnation),
how to put accents, how to make your draw look like the model
- I added a computer rendered portrait to understand the stages of drawings:
from the construction lines, through the construction plans, up to the shading
and materiality.
These should be the stages of any drawing. We have to analyze the plans,
to understand them, and then we will see that it is easy to draw even without
having the model in front of our eyes.
Once we understand the principles of drawing, everything will be easier. Even
to draw things that we imagine. If we know the plans and the construction, we
will know also how to shade them correctly.
P.S: The rendering is an image that I saved long time ago in my computer, and I
cannot find the credits anymore. Please write me and I will post it asap. Thank
you.

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Studying the human body I

The human body anatomy: I will add some images concerning the human
proportions. I recommend studying anatomy after Bammes drawings. Ive
learned to draw anatomy and construction after his sketches.For the first step, a
strong, good constructed draw is necessary. Then I will upload you my works and
teach you the fashion drawing. Dont forget to contact me by email or write
comments here and I will reply.
Some basic rules that you can find here:
- the head enters 7 1/2 times the body (in fashion we could have other
proportions, like: 8 to 11 times)
- the palm of your hand is as big as your face
- two times the height of your face, rotated horizontally, is the length of the
shoulders
- two times the height of your face is the breast line
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- the arms, including the palms of the hands are situated at half distance
between knees and hips
- the knees are half distance between hip and ankle
- the waist is at half distance between head an ankle
- the hip has the same size as the shoulders

Studying the human body II

Here are some measurements and proportions of the human body at
different stages in life. See how they change as the time goes by.

Composition

The composition is the arrangement of all elements which make up an image

we want to represent. There are no strict rules but rather principles related to the
visual perception like: unity, contrast, balance.
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In the following example, there are some sketches of what to do and not do to
compose a portrait on a page:
1. In a full face portrait you should not place the head right at the geometric
center of the page, but a little bit higher, leaving the equal space at both sides.
Make sure that the top of the head does not get too close to the edge of the
page.
2. In a three-quarter portrait its better to leave more room between the front
of the face and the edge of the page, rather than at the back
3. A profile portrait looks better if you leave lots of space in front of the face.
Avoid cutting the heads back shape. Make it fit to the page.

Other rules:
- a bowed head can express a depressed mood
- a full-face portrait can radiate strength and self-confidence
- an image seen from below can make the face look fierce and the attitude
authoritarian. It is not recommended for a portrait
- an unusual and evocative effect can be achieved by having the face take up the
whole page

Lighting

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Lighting:
- when drawing a portrait it is very important to consider the direction, quality
and intensity of the light falling on the model.
- when drawing a portrait it is better to use natural light and to have only one
source of lighting
- good lighting must highlight the physio-gnomic characteristics of the subject
- dont use light source that are too close to the subject and therefore, too
intense: its better to use diffuse light that does not create dark
shadows, especially under the nose, lips and eyes.
- to make the light more diffuse you can place a frosted glass in front of the
source or use one of the well-knownphotographic devices
- in the examples below (Photo by Giovanni Civardi) you will see how light
influences the subjects characteristics:
From left to right and up tot down:

1. Top lighting
- it is effective but be careful with the shadows under the nose, eyes and lips
- this light can exaggerate the reliefs, depressions and the wrinkles of the skin

2. Side/back lighting
- it distorts the view on the shape of the face
- it can be used when the head is in profile: the dark part of the head is
silhouetted against the light background and the light part against the dark
background

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3. Lighting from below

- it is dramatic
- it distorts the characteristics of the face

4. Front lighting
- it flattens the details of the face
- it is suitable for decorative portraits

5. Side lighting
- its not ok to use it because it divides the face into two sides: dark and light and
they will have a strong contrast
- the good part is that it can create a strong relief

6. Almost back lighting

- it makes the figure hardly recognizable
- it can work for a portrait where the face is in profile

7 and 8. Angled lighting from above, midway between

front and side
- its the type of lighting most widely used in portraiture because its the best
lighting
- its a plastic light, effective and puts in value the characteristics of the face
- the two photos vary slightly in the distance and inclination of the light source

Tools and basic info for starting

Today a new basic post about what we need to

start. You already know pencils and all grades (for fashion drawing you will need
only the B pencils: from B to 8B or 9B, depending on the country that produces
them.) Pencil brands that we would recommend are: Koh-i-noor, Staedtler,
Faber Castell, Toison dOr.
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Paper formats:
- landscape
- portrait
All the time we give the dimensions following this rule: WIDTH x HEIGHT. So if
you receive a brief when doing a collection and the dimensions are 210 x 297
mm (meaning 21 x 29.7 cm), it is for sure a portrait format. If you receive the
following dimensions : 297 x 210 mm, this mean the format is landscape. A 4
formats: Many paper size standards and conventions have existed at different
times and in different countries, but today there is one widespread
international ISO standard (including A4, B3, C4, etc.), versus a localized
standard used in North America (with: letter, legal, ledger, etc). The paper
sizes affect writing paper, stationery, cards, or some printed documents. The
standards also have related sizes for the envelopes.
A 4 is 210 x 297 mm
A 3 is 420 x 297 mm
See the connection between them? So 2 x A4 is A3 and so on.
Each time we double the small side and then we can find the right dimensions of
paper. Be careful at the name of the paper sizes: A4 is smaller than A3, even the
number itself (4) its bigger than the other one (3). Please see the following
sketch, print it and have it near for the future exercises. There is no need to learn
it by heart. All you have to know is how you obtain all dimensions starting from
the A4 page size.

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The contrast of warm and cool

We already know that The contrast of warm and cool is the contrast formed
by the juxtaposition of hues considered warm or cool.
We have 3 warm colors: Red, Yellow and Orange and 3 cool colors:Blue,
Green, Violet.
The warmest color is: Orange (because it is made out of 2 other warm colors:
Red and Yellow)
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The coolest color is: Blue (because, unlike the other two colors: Green (made
of yellow and Blue) and Violet (made of Red and Blue), is a pure and a primary
color)
So, the most dramatic complementary contrast of colors is the contrast
between these 2 colors: Orange and Blue.

Some works

These are some pencil drawings weve made. It was an exercise to see the
expressive ways of this technique. Use pencils starting from 6B to 8B. In some
countries there are 9B pencils also. So, a new lesson today: pencils have
different grades, like below. The use of these different pencils will help you
create different effects.

If you want to have more intense shades, use pencils B. If you want to write with
them, simply use the HB pencils.
For technical drawing you will use the H meaning Hard pencils that will allow
you to have a sharper line and a less greasy pencil. But in our studies, we will
use only B to 8B pencils because they are soft and provide strength in line and
dark contrasts.
- HB is for writing
- H is for technical drawings (H = hard)
- B is for for free drawing and fashion (B = black = the softest pencils).
- F = fine point (writing pencil)

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How to add accents in fashion

illustration
I will use today one illustration - remarkably done by Gary Tu, my fashion
illustrator friend from Taipei. I just wanted to underline the importance of working
on layers, as David Downton does. Here are some stages of this watercolor. I
found Garys illustration and tried to de-composed it into elements. What if
there is no color at all?

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Well, you can add contrast and play with the following elements: either you have
colors, or the contrast between black and white and color, or contrast
between the shapes, between the forms, between the line strokes, pressure.
But anyhow you will need a contrast, you will need to add accents to your
fashion illustration. The first image looks boring. By adding color you add
contrast and you de-balance the image to one side. Then, at the last image, the
weight of the image is now contra-balanced by the touch of black shapes. The
lines are sometimes smooth, sometimes strong and bold. The areas of color or
gray grading are either strong and bold, or fluid and transparent ( you can see
the layers beneath).
Hope this helped you to understand the necessity of adding accents in any
composition of fashion illustration you are working on. Do not hesitate to
send me your drawings so that we can talk about them, here, on Fashion

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teaching.

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Fashion illustration is art

I wanted to complete something to my previous post regarding the fashion
illustration I did. Take a look at the crops below. They are all details of
the illustration below and each of them can be printed on large formats and
consideredabstract art. They can be paintings too.

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When every part of your fashion illustration is as interesting as the image itself,
your painting is a success. The images that compose your illustration should be

entertaining too, they have to say something, they have to live.Try it yourself!
Make a rectangle shape in the middle of a white page and start moving it along
the illustration you finished. Check if there are corners or areas that are not as
interesting as the whole itself and improve your skills for the next illustration.

Example of rule of the thirds in

fashion illustration
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