Fashion Illustration I – SS2 Fashion and Garment Making Lesson Note (Third Term)

Fashion illustration is the art of drawing clothes and the human body to show a design idea. Unlike fine art, it shows how fabric moves, how a sleeve hangs and how a dress fits. Illustrators use simple tools and draw outfits on a croquis, a rough figure sketch built on the stretched 9-head proportion.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

• explain what fashion illustration is and give reasons why designers illustrate;
• name the basic tools used in fashion illustration and state the use of each;
• describe the 9-head figure and divide it into its main body parts;
• draw a basic croquis step by step;
• add the outline, folds and details of an outfit to a croquis.

What is fashion illustration?

Fashion illustration is the art of drawing clothes and the human body in a way that shows a design idea. It differs from fine art because it shows more than a person. It shows how a fabric moves, how a sleeve hangs and how a dress fits.

Why do we illustrate?

1. Communication: To show a tailor or a customer exactly what the finished outfit will look like.
2. Testing ideas: It is cheaper to change a design on paper with an eraser than to waste expensive Ankara or silk fabric.
3. Record keeping: Designers keep “lookbooks” of their sketches so they do not forget their best ideas.

What is the “Designer’s Eye”?

As an illustrator, you must start looking at clothes differently. When you look at a shirt, notice where the seams are, how many buttons it has, and where the collar sits on the neck.

What tools do you need for fashion illustration?

You do not need a computer to be a great illustrator. Some of the world’s best designs started with just a pencil and a scrap of paper.

• Pencils (H and B): Use H (hard) pencils for light, thin “guide lines” that you can erase easily. Use B (soft, black) pencils for the final dark outlines.
• Eraser: A good quality “kneaded” eraser is best because it does not smudge the lead or tear the paper.
• Fine-liner pens: Once your pencil sketch is perfect, use a black fine-liner (0.1 or 0.5) to “ink” the lines.
• Tracing paper: You can draw a body once, put tracing paper over it, and draw ten different outfits on the same body.
• Coloured pencils or markers: These show the colour and texture of the fabric.

What is the “9-head” canon?

In fashion drawing, we do not draw people with “normal” body proportions. To make clothes look more elegant and dramatic, we use the 9-head figure.

Imagine the height of a person’s head as a unit of measurement. In a normal person, the body is about 7 or 7.5 “heads” tall. In fashion, we stretch the legs to make the figure 9 heads tall.

The basic breakdown

• Head 1: The actual head.
• Head 2 to 3: The torso (shoulders to waist).
• Head 4: The hips and pelvic area.
• Head 5 to 9: The legs and feet (this is where the “stretch” happens).

Pro tip: Always start with a “balance line” (a straight vertical line from the neck to the floor). This ensures your model does not look like they are falling over.

How do you draw a croquis?

A croquis (pronounced kro-kee) is a quick, rough sketch of a fashion figure. It is the “template” you draw your clothes on.

Steps to draw a basic croquis

1. The spine: Draw your vertical balance line.
2. The shoulders and hips: Draw two horizontal lines. Hint: In a fashion figure, the shoulders are usually wider than the hips.
3. The joints: Draw small circles for the shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles. This helps you “pose” the figure.
4. The “meat”: Connect the circles with soft, curved lines to create the arms and legs.

How do you show movement?

If you tilt the shoulder line to the left, tilt the hip line to the right. This creates a “natural” pose that makes the clothes look more realistic.

How do you add clothes to the croquis?

Now that you have your croquis, it is time to “dress” the figure. This is where you become a designer.

1. Draw the outline of the outfit: Do not draw every tiny detail yet. Start with the big shapes. Is it a flared skirt? A tight bodice? Puff sleeves? Draw these lightly over your croquis.
2. Gravity and folds: Fabric is heavy. It sags at the armpits and wrinkles at the elbows and knees. Draw small “U” or “V” shaped lines where the fabric bunches up. This makes your drawing look “human” and real.
3. Details: Now add the buttons, the zippers, the pockets and the top-stitching. These small details tell the tailor how to sew the garment.

Evaluation

1. What is fashion illustration?
2. State three reasons why designers illustrate.
3. What is the difference between an H pencil and a B pencil?
4. How many heads tall is a fashion figure, and which part of the body is stretched?
5. List the four steps for drawing a basic croquis.

Assignment

Take your pencil and draw a straight vertical line. Divide it into 9 equal parts using the “head” measurement. Practise drawing just the basic frame of the 9-head figure five times.