DRAWING FASHION

Now that you know how to create great poses, it’s time to add some fashion garments. In this chapter we explore the effects of fabric quality, body shape, pose and gravity upon clothes and show how to render them.

FORM AND LINE

This full empire-line dress shows how the body underneath affects the line of the garment. The dress hangs from under the bust so the seamline is the same as the shoulder angle. The dress wants to hang in same direction as the shoulders, but the hips move in the opposite direction and push against the skirt on the right side, causing it to buckle (shown in red).

Drapes and folds

Draw a basic draped top with a cowl neckline.

Draw the soft folds of the neckline hanging over the chest area. The folds also affect the shoulderline, creating folds here too. Add these in, together with a slight fold at the waist.

Fabric types

Drapes and folds fall into three distinct groups: straight lines (sometimes with a curve at one end); U-shaped lines (for soft fabrics such as silk); and short, broken, V-shaped lines (for crisp fabrics such as taffeta).

Draw your fabric lines.

Now add the tension lines and folds to suit the type of fabric you are using.

BLACK SUIT

Let’s start with this classic slim black suit. Drawing black clothing presents certain challenges. If you draw it in solid black it can deaden the image and all detail may be lost. Try to represent the true black in perhaps 50 per cent of your illustration, then use a lighter shade for the rest so that the linework is visible. It shouldn’t look too grey – practice will help you find the right combination.

You will need

* smooth paper

* HB pencil

* black ink and a round brush

* black watercolor paint or marker pen

* light grey pastel or chalk pencil

1 Draw the outline. If you are using a brush to draw the details of the jacket, don’t make the lines too thick. You need to leave space to create a margin in the next step.

2 Shade in the black with either marker pen or watercolor. Vary the depth of tone, and leave a margin of white at the edge so that detail isn’t lost on the collar and hemline.

3 Add highlights in a soft grey to points of interest – collar, zip, waistband and so on. Add highlights from just one side to show the source of light and give a three-dimensional effect.

SHIRTDRESS

Drawing a shirtdress is a great way to discover how the centre front works on top and bottom garments, especially since there is a placket (which is always down the centre front). The design is drawn showing a soft fabric, not a crisp cotton or denim. The folds and fabric create a floaty feel so not much of the figure underneath is visible. With the details of seams, placket, buttons, patch pockets, belt and collar, this can be a demanding subject to draw.

You will need

* smooth paper

* HB pencil

* eraser

* black ink and brush

1 Start by drawing the neckhole and armhole position. Mark the bust and hip angles. The centre line helps you place these markers. Add the waistline and hemline of the skirt, remembering that it will swing to the side of the high hip.

2 Draw in the basic shape of the shirtdress together with the seam lines (for example, the seam on the bust).

3 Now add the extra details for the dress, making sure the compression areas and folds give an idea of the type of fabric you wish to represent.

TROUSERS

Wide-leg pants

This is a great template for starting your trouser designs, showing the waist, centre line and legs.

1 Draw the basic shape of your wide-leg pants. Add a centre crease for the proportions. The bent leg hemline is slanted because the knee is pulling up that side.

2 Add creases (shown in blue). Draw creases radiating out from the crotch, mostly on the leg that is bent. The folds above the knee point down; the folds below point up.

3 Draw in the details using the previous image as your guide. The fabric on the hemline of the bent leg is pulled up, showing the back of the trouser leg and forming an ‘S’ or ‘?’ shape.

Capri pants

1 You can see the basic capri pant shape in blue. The bent leg hemline slants up, as before.

2 When you’ve drawn the basic shape, draw in the fold lines on the trousers. Add creases to the side profile of the bent leg and back of the knee.

3 Add the detail to the top of the capri pants. The bent leg hemline slants up and the high hip swings to the right.

Classic straight pants

1 Draw your basic shape, remembering to make the hemline on the bent leg slant upwards.

2 Add folds to your shape (shown in blue). Notice the extra creases at the back of the knee.

3 Add the waistband – it’s a dropped waist, so the curve is downwards. Add pocket details using the waistband as a guide.

Shorts

1 These shorts are loose and high-waisted. You can really see the hemline slant rising on the right (high hip).

2 Draw in the creases at the crotch. On the bent leg they extend all the way to the outline.

3 Add detail to the waist. I’ve also added turn-ups. The bent leg turn-up has an ‘S’ shape, which makes it look more three-dimensional.

SKIRTS

Here I’ve drawn three different types of skirt, showing how the pose, the body and gravity all affect the garments.

The four silhouette figures show where the garment reacts against the body and creates compression folds (shown as yellow circles). The second image shows a garment hanging from an unposed figure.

Short A-line skirt

Long skirt with pockets

Long gathered skirt

This pose forces the full skirt to swing out to the right.

STRIPED DRESSES

These horizontal and vertical striped dresses illustrate how the body, tension and gravity affect the fabric through compression and stretch.

You will need

* smooth paper

* HB pencil

* black fine-tipped pen

* marker pens in an assortment of colors

Horizontal stripes

1 Using the basic template as your guide, draw horizontal lines in pencil. Vary the angles of the stripes by following those of the shoulder, waist and hip.

2 Now draw in and color the stripes, adding a curve to each to reflect the body’s curves, and showing how the fabric (cotton jersey) wraps around the figure.

Vertical stripes

1 Here you can see the basic shape of the dress on the template pose of the high-hip walking woman. The skirt of the dress swings in the direction of the high hip. Because the body ‘crunches’ on the left and stretches on the right, the left profile of the dress will buckle and fold (see orange arrows).

2 Draw the design of the dress and add the vertical stripes. These will follow the body’s curves and the fabric’s reaction to the pose, as shown on the left side of the waist.

3 Add in the color and show where the stripes expand, following the body’s shape and movement.

PATTERNED DRESSES

Color and pattern make a huge difference to the feel of your images. If you don’t know what colors to use, take your inspiration from nature – see how green makes pinks and reds really ‘sing’. If in doubt about pattern, use your black linework to hold the image together.

You will need

* smooth paper

* HB pencil

* gouache paints in your chosen colors

* black fine-tip marker

Sleeveless

1 This is a simple, effective way of rendering a two-color pattern. Draw in the unclothed parts of the figure.

2 Add the first colorway pattern.

3 Add the second color in the white spaces of the fabric. Use a contrasting color for the shoes.

Tiered

1 Use this basic template for your busy, patterned dress.

2 The dress has lots of tiers. The angle of these will alter according to the pose, so map them out first so that you make your figure realistic.

3 Draw the print of your dress in greater detail in line.

4 Now paint in the chosen colors using the linework as your guide.

UNDERWEAR AND SWIMWEAR

Look through your references for swimwear or underwear photos. Three-quarter poses are great for showing off the body and are often more interesting than the full frontal pose. The guide shown here is good for any design showing the torso, with the key areas marked.

You will need

* smooth paper

* HB pencil

* fine-tip marker pens in red and black

* range of gouache paints in your chosen colors

1 Draw a three-quarter pose, above the knee only. I’ve chosen an image with a great ‘up-do’, which will work with a range of garments.

2 Draw a red dot at the pit of the neck, on the sternum, belly button and crotch. Join the dots to make your centre line. Add angles for breasts and high

3 Now add the other essential guidelines – neck, shoulder and leg holes. Also add the top of the breast line, as though you are drawing a fitted corset.

Two-piece swimsuit

1 For your swimwear design, draw the basic shape of garment you want, taking care to follow the guidelines. Use my basic shape (shown in red) as a starting point or create your own design. You can see from the guides that the bikini bottoms are high in the leg.

2 Add more design detail, color and shading.

Underwear

1 Using the drawn-up guidelines will come in very handy when designing underwear. They help you to work out where to place seams and ensure you draw enough fabric to cover the important bits!

2 The top has panelling insets. Design your own version, using the guidelines.

DENIM

Drawing denim presents a challenge. A lot of the seams on denim garments are topstitched. The shadows created by this, together with the color of the stitching, make the seams a major feature of the drawing.

You will need

* HB pencil

* watercolor paints

* round brush

* colored pencils

* chalk or pastel pencils

1 As my starting point, I have taken the catwalk swimwear pose from pages 88-9 and scaled it up using the fashion template measurements.

2 Draw in the linework. I’ve drawn the creases in red where the body bends, at the elbow, waist, crotch and knee, and in folds at the bottom of the jeans.

3 The creases can affect the outline of the garment. Crinkle the silhouette where the folds are drawn; remember that denim is thick, so use rounded bumps (shown in red). Give the figure a wash of light color for the flesh and the mid-tone of the denims (I’m showing two different denim colors here).

4 Add shadow to the arms and legs. It should be shaded on the sides of the arms and legs to show the fabric wrapping around the body. This helps to portray a three-dimensional image.

5 Take some colored pencils in grey/dark blue and white, and draw in the texture of the denim, trying to keep the lines flowing in the same direction, whether slanted or vertical. Use the darker colors for shadow areas and white for the highlighted areas. Jeans often have highlights (whiskering) on the crotch and knee areas.

6 Add extra detail to the figure with more shading, and draw in the buttons. Draw the topstitch detail on the denim seams – you can use chalk or pastel pencils which will give you fine detail. You will also be able to smudge certain areas to break up the fine detail.

An obvious way to represent the character of denim is to draw the topstitch in orange (the perfect complementary color for blue). I’ve used chalk pencils, which give a nice, fine, controlled broken line. You could also paint it on with gouache using a small, fine, pointed brush.