When bringing fashion forms to life, the trick is in the detail. It doesn’t have to be complex; movement in fashion illustration can be illustrated in a subtle fold of fabric or in the curve of a heel. Follow fashion illustrator Scott Mason’s video tutorials to guide you in mapping out fabric patterns, depicting flowing fabric and achieving the right angles, curves and expression in your designs.
Creating fabric patterns
One of the most prevalent fabric patterns is florals. Combine rough flower shapes with a bold background, and then add final detail with pencils to achieve a floral pattern that can be used to decorate any fashion design. Feel free to mix up the colour choices to achieve your own unique look.
Start by drawing rough flower shapes in a light colour with Promarker with the chisel nib – use different angles of the nib to produce varying thickness in marks on the page. Then select a darker colour and use Promarker with the brush nib to add floral details within the shape. Detail green leaves to the piece.
Next, use a Promarker to fill in the background spaces within the flowers design. Then add final texture to the print with Studio Colour Pencils.
Illustrating flowing fabric
Capturing the way that clothes fall in illustration is about visualising the creases, folds and bunches to effectively illustrate the flow of the material.
Start with a completed sketch of a form and dress. Use Promarker with the chisel nib to apply a colour outline of the dress just along the sketched lines. Colour thicker lines where the fabric would crease on the body.
Next, focus on the bottom of the dress; map out the fabric folds right at the bottom, making sure it’s not a straight line – start from the top and use looped lines to illustrate the bunched fabric. Finally, fill in the body of the dress with the chisel nib, colouring from where the fabric gathers.
Illustrating hands and feet
Getting hands and shoes just right can be tricky. Learn how to master drawing these finishing touches to your fashion illustration by focusing on achieving the right angles.
Use a 2B Graphite Pencil to sketch out the hand to angling fingers differently is a good a way to add expression to the piece. When sketching a shoe, it’s best to start with the foot – begin with a ball for the heel and shape the shoe from there.
To finish, use a 0.1mm nib Fineliner to ink the hands and shoes. If the shoes are heeled, mark out an elongated ‘n’ shape to dictate the curvature of the heel.
