Fashion Template

Fashion Template

I have to be honest: I use a fashion template for my fashion illustrations. It's been a recent thing for me since for the longest time, I've been using my old illustrations as a guide for the height of my new illustrations. I don't know about you, but having to rule 10 lines down a page gets a little bit too tedious. So I drew myself a template which I put under the paper that I make my sketches on. From this, I can create different standing poses while maintaining the proportions of the body. 

I am currently teaching myself how to sew my own designs, and the torso has a few lines that help me add details to my design that will also help me when I construct garments.

In case some of you guys might need a little help, feel free to print this out and use it as a guide for some of your fashion illustrations. Please don't claim this as your own. And please respect my rights to this template. I'd appreciate that. Thanks.

Figure in Motion

Drawing Figure Poses

Drawing the fashion figure is one thing; making different poses is another.

When it comes to drawing the figure in motion, there are a few guidelines that are very helpful to create a balanced and realistic pose.

These lines are called action lines (red) which I have divided into two groups. (1) The broken lines are the shoulder action line and the apex action line. (2) The solid lines are the waist action line and the hip action line. When the figure moves, the very common S-curve is formed. If you study photos of models, a normal pose is a contrapposto which is another name for the S-curve. This represents the relaxed positing of a figure.

To achieve an S-curve (orange in the second photo) , the two sets of action lines must intersect at one point, thus creating a curve in the torso where one side is stretched while the other is compressed. This is shown in the second photo with the action lines in blue.

Another guideline is the balance line (blue) which divides the body in half - when in front view - always starting in between the collar bones.

Another guide is the shaded leg which is shown in the second photo. This leg is where most of the body weight is on which means this must always be closer to the balance line. The bottom curve of the letter S should also fall on the shaded leg which is also on the same side as the intersection point of the action lines. While this is called the support leg, the non-shaded leg is called the play leg. There is much more freedom in drawing the play leg since it has not particular use when drawing a balanced figure.

I tend to draw my figures as a representation of the human body, only elongated, therefore I learned how to properly draw the body that looks realistic, balanced and possible.

Drawing the Figure for Fashion Illustration

The 9 Head Technique

After sourcing inspiration, it's time to get started with drawing the fashion illustration. This is not directly the step after gathering inspiration, there should be at least a few preliminary sketches. Once the final design (sketch) has been decided, then that's the time to start drawing the figure.

I didn't come up with this technique, however this is somewhat my version or my understanding of the nine-head technique and how I apply it to my usual fashion illustrations. There are so many versions of this technique that it gets a little complicated, specially when knowing which one is the right one. But I've come to a conclusion that the technique is just a general guide in drawing a croquis. Everyone is different from the person next to them with very similar proportions but at the same time slightly different. I found this to be the simplest to follow considering that I kind of modified it to my preference.

The image on the left, is quite self explanatory with the nine identical heads vertically down and lines between each head indicating what body part it represents.

This image is from my Tumblr page.