fashion illustration

Sketch Everyday 2

February 1, 2013 By Chie

Although I wrote in my last “Sketch Everyday” series post that I will be practicing sketching everyday, the reality is I didn’t. Sometimes the life gets in the way – There were 2 or 3 days in a row that I didn’t touch my notebook. But then there were a few days that I sat, drew and drew, unable to stop. I think I am beginning to figure out the fun of drawing. Like the last time, I am still copying the sketches from the Pattern Drafting book, but I also have a few that are my original 🙂 I’m so proud!

The dress on the left is something I am thinking of making for the Spring. Mix of plaid or tweed dress accented with solid black in shoulder and side. The sketch on the right is a diagram I was drawing to show how to take measurements. You can see I miss-spelled “measure”… :p

For coloring, I just borrow Kiko’s pens and coloring pencils. I recently found out that there are such things as “watercolor pens“. Those seems like a cool tool to use. I am not so advanced yet, but am considering the purchase in the future. It saves all the hassle of setting up the watercolor paints, brushes and all that.

The above two are not original. I imitated them from the book, Make Your Own Dress Patterns.

Novita mentioned that she draws using computer. Do any of you recommend fun apps or programs to use for drawing with computer?

Sketch Everyday

January 14, 2013 By Chie

What is your New Year’s resolution for 2013? Mine is to practice sketching everyday. I wanted to make a goal that I can work toward everyday. After working on the dancers’ costumes last year, I saw my desperate need for better sketching. When talking with the dancer it became increasing difficult to finalize the design, mostly because the lack of my drawing/sketching skills. I took art in high school and I liked it very much but once I went into the “real world” with jobs and what not I just didn’t have time to sit down and practice drawing.

As a starter, I decided to imitate the fashion drawing from the book, Dress Patterns by Adele P. Margolis. It was a gift from Andy’s grandmother last Christmas. It is an awesome book by the way, if you want to learn about pattern drafting and manipulation. The book includes a lot of illustrations, and I was attracted by the vintage feel of the drawings. So I’m spending 5-10 minutes everyday replicating drawings from the book. Hopefully over time, I will be able to draw on my own.

So here are my sketches from last week…

After a week of sketching, I definitely feel more comfortable than before. Sketching the fingers I found the most difficult. Also the face, with a tiny little bit of difference, a woman’s face can look really scary!!