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| Sketching Styles Blog® |
It is a strong passion and dream that drive the aspiration to become a fashion illustrator and it all comes down to understanding some fundamental basics that will act as a foundation that will help drive your passion to yield results and help make a flourishing career in fashion illustration. These fundamental basics are not absolute but will guide you on your journey as a fashion illustrator.
1. Understand the Principles and Elements of fashion/fashion illustration.
The principles and elements of fashion illustration are the rudiments to understanding how to make appealing illustrations and designs. The principles and elements are "RULES" and "TOOLS" that can be used to create functional and appealing designs/illustrations. The principles are rules that aid us in using the elements which are the tools for design.
The principles are; Proportion, Balance, Rhythm, Emphasis and Harmony.
2. Understand fabric movement.
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Fabric movement (also known as draping) is a very important property of fabrics. Drapes are folds that are formed when fabrics sit on a body form. The texture and type of fabric determine the quality of drapes a fabric forms. Also, the kind of fabric you want to work with determines the outcome of your sketch and in turn your design. Some fabrics form heavier folds than others due to the components of what was used to manufacture them. Studying how these folds form is important when rendering a fashion sketch.
3. Choose a preferred art medium to express yourself.
Choosing an art medium you want to work with can be tricky as there are many art mediums to choose from. Mediums such as coloured pencils, charcoal pencils, Pastels, oil paint, watercolour, and Computer-aided programs such as adobe illustrator among many others can be chosen. Picking more than one medium to work with is also possible, the goal is to choose what works for you and what helps you express your art better.
4. Observe to define your style.
Picking mentors to observe and learn from is important. Closely observing them and learning how their illustrations evolved helps tremendously in creating your style of illustration. There are so many fashion illustrators to learn from on social media. Recreating their illustrations during your practice time and putting changes to areas where you think you want something different can make a big difference, that is not to say that you should directly copy as this can make your illustrations not stand out.
5. Practice, Practice, Practice!!!
Lastly, Putting all you learn to practice frequently is necessary, be it learning with already-made templates or drawing from scratch. Consistency is all that matters.
6. Invest in books and resources.
Investing in books and resources can help improve your skill and keep you up to date in the fashion illustration industry.
