The Sketchbook

The Sketchbook

For an update of my life: I have just recently finished all of my exams for high school and I am officially done with my 13 years of schooling. The feeling is great, but there's a sense of emptiness. Perhaps, it's the fact that there's nothing else that I can really do. My mornings used to be so occupied with having to force myself to wake up early to go to school. Now it's waking up in the afternoon and reducing my productivity.

I decided I'd steer clear from that sort of black hole that could be the end of me. I haven't been constant with updating this blog or my other blog due to the busy month I had because of exams. So, I want to slide back into my routine or schedule to post every Friday. That allows me to get out of bed early at least once a week to create fashion sketches or illustrations to post here.

The Sketchbook

The Sketchbook

I thought I'd share some quick sketches of designs that I've just recently created. I figured since I wouldn't be able to turn every design I come up with into a fashion illustration, I might as well keep them nice and simple in a sketchbook.

I'm a bit worried though that people will steal these designs. That's probably the only downside of the internet. Nothing's completely safe. 

However, I still wanted to share this with you guys because it's an informal illustration - just raw ideas coming out of my head. There are no facial features or intricate details. There's just the pencil on paper that accurately captures the movement of my hands and my thinking process. These are simple shapes that create the starting point of a fashion design.

Philippine Culture

Philippine Culture

Media: Faber-Castell pencils, Pilot G-TEC 0.3mm black fineliner and Quill white A4 Multiboard

Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

For my Visual Communication and Design class, we were told to create two folios and it was completely up to us what we wanted to design in each folio. I chose fashion design for folio 1 and architecture in folio 2. It was a fun project, but I wish I had more time to make my folio better. It's sad to say that the fun only really lasted a while. Once the teacher confirmed the date of our submission, it was a tragic journey from there on.
This is one of the three designs I created. It was inspired by the Philippine culture with the Santo Niño festivals and celebrations. I was influenced by the costumes that the dancers wore which reflected the religious beliefs of most Filipinos. I've been in love with the combination of red and yellow/gold for a while now, and I couldn't resist not using the combination as the colour palette of this design.
I also added some current fashion trends that I am in love with at the moment such as the black stiletto heels with ankle straps, as well as the milkmaid braids. I would definitely love to see this design come to life.

Stained Glass Collection - Design 3

Stained Glass Collection

Media: Copic Markers, Faber-Castell pencils, Pilot G-TEC black fineliner and Quill white A4 Multiboard

Time: 2 hours

This is by far the longest time I have ever taken to draw a complete fashion illustration. I guess it's been a while and I lacked practice.
The collection hasn't been completely abandoned, although finishing it is taking longer than expected. It was in early May this year when I started, and I swore I'd finish it in like a month.
I'm determined to finish this collection since there were a few ones that I abandoned, for example, the Queen Couture Collection. I still like to tell myself from time to time that I just took a break from it - a long break - and I'm going to finish it in the future. However, it's an undeniable fact that there's no way I'm really going to complete that collection. The idea was great at that moment, and I still think it has potential, but none of the dresses I designed fit what I had initially imagined the collection to look like. (That's a whole different story though) For this one, I'm working my way through to completing it, and it might be taking more time than necessary, but as long as I finish it.

Art Materials

Art Materials

It seems that I get quite a few questions on what art materials I use: from pencil all the way to my different colouring supplies. If you're anything like me, it's possible that you also like collecting pencils, pens, erasers and all kinds of supplies. 

I remember in 4th Grade, I had Lyra watercolour pencils that my dad bought for me. I used it in school and a girl asked me, "Why do you have so much pencils?"

"She want to have all the art materials in the world" my friend replied to the girl, then she looked at me for affirmation. I nodded.

It was exactly my dream when I was 10 years old. It seemed like a simple dream, but now that I think about it, there's possible a small chance that I'm going to own every single art materials out there in the world.

So here's a list of the basic art materials I own and love:

- Pentel Techniclick 0.5mm mechanical pencil

- Pentel AIN 0.5mm pencil lead (both in HB and 2B)

- Faber-Castell PVC-Free Space Eraser

- Pilot G-TEC C4 0.4mm black fineliner

- Pilot G-TEC C3 0.3mm black fineliner

- Reflex 80 gsm white bond paper

- Quill XL Multiboard 210 gsm white paper

- Copic Ciao Markers (both 72 set A and B)

- Copic Various Refills 

- Faber-Castell 48 Classic Colour colour pencils

- Uni-pin Fine Line set of 5 black fineliners

- Uni-ball Signo Broadopaque white fineliner

- Glitter pens

- Derwent 36 Studio colour pencils

My art materials are not the most well known or most expensive brands out there. Some professional artists might not recommend these brands, especially the ones I buy from the dollar stores (and trust me, I buy a lot of art materials from there). For me, I'd start with inexpensive art materials because I am a beginner and a self-taught artist, therefore most of the art that I produce is experimental. I don't want to be buying expensive art materials and produce artworks when I know I have so much more to improve on. Perhaps in the future, when I take up some art classes, and find a stable job, I might use the artist quality and brands as my art materials. However, for now, I'm satisfied with the ones I have. I think: It's not whether you own a lot, it's more about what you can do with what you have.

Colouring with Copics

Colouring with Copic Markers

Copic markers are one of the most well known and recommended brand for graphic markers by artists. However, it does cost a fair bit of money, as well as the other brands of graphic alcohol-based markers. If you're not of the rich side, it's most likely that you buy one marker after the other, and that's a hard thing to do - choosing which colours to buy first.

How I would've approached this situation is that I'd buy two shades of each colour (red, yellow, blue, skin, grey ect). I'd emphasise getting a dark grey colour such as C-7 since it's useful when it comes to shading. Then I'd buy a black and a colorless blender marker. Overall I'd most likely have 20 Copic Markers. From there, you can build up with by buying more shades of the colours you mostly use.

The image below is a comparison of how I coloured with only 5 Copic Markers and the other one with 9. The image on the left is where I used the grey colour to shade and I only had two shades of brown for the skin colour. The image on the right, I have 5 shades of skin colour and didn't use a grey since I had a dark brown to sue for the shadows.

Hair

Drawing Hair

There are a few guides to consider when drawing the hair. First off, know the direction of the hair. It naturally falls downwards, however, it's possible to create artistic hairstyles which a lot of fashion designers definitely incorporate to their runway collections. Always take note of gravity and other forces that act on the hair. For example, it might be pinned to one side, or you might choose a simple ponytail hairstyle.

The three main guides are:

Point, which is also called the growth point. It makes it easier to draw strands of hair that start from that point. This is useful for drawing the fringe or when hair is secured by a hair tie.

Parting is self explanatory. Different from what I said before, hair doesn't actually grow on one area or point on the head.

Hairline, which is the transition of the hair to the skin. This area of the head should not be a harsh line but a smooth blend, so it's best to use flicking motions.

Facial Proportions

Facial Proportions for Fashion Illustration

Fashion illustration captures the ideal facial proportions of women as well as men. Some may argue that there's absolutely no need for the face because the main focus is the garment design. To an extent I agree that you want the focus to be on the clothing itself, however if I was to emphasise the face, I would've drawn a portrait instead of a full body. Fashion illustration, in my opinion, depicts the entire body: the movement, expression, attitude and clothing. 

So if you want, take the time to know the ideal facial structure. The eyes are located halfway from the top of the head to the chin. A quarter down from the eyeline is where the nose is usually placed. An eighth down from the noseline is where the mouth is. Note that the distance between each eye is the length of an eye.

Ideal beauty is all about the right facial proportions.

Creases and Folds on Clothing

Creases and Folds on Clothing

Creating a representation of garments can be quite difficult as it is easily overdone and sometimes underdone. To get you started with drawing creases on clothes, the basic lines are:

Curves, which are used almost everywhere. A simple flick of the pen provides a natural look to the illustration.

Straight, which represents the effect of gravity and other forces (extension) on the garment.

V or Hooks, which are commonly used for the joint areas in the body, such as the elbows, knees, under the arms, waist and even under the bust area.

TIP: Observational drawing is always a great learning tool. Practice drawing from real life. And don't be scared to combine these basic lines together. Experiment a little or maybe a lot. This allows 

Flower Crown

Self Portrait 1940

Flower Crown

Media: Copic Ciao Markers, Touch Twin Markers, Faber-Castell pencils,
Pilot G-TEC 0.3mm black fineliner and Quill white A4 Multiboard

Time: 1 hour and 50 minutes








I love the look of flower crowns, not so much wearing it on a casual days. There's something elegant yet a little playful with having flowers in your hair. So I decided to create a fashion portrait that celebrates the beauty of flower crowns on women. An inspiration for this was Frida Kahlo, an artist I completely adore. Her life wasn't quite a fairytale and her works conveyed that properly which is always entrancing to look at, and at times I have to admit, quite disturbing. Nonetheless, I love the symbolism she used to capture a meaning and a story in her paintings that only she can truly understand.

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.

Formal Dress

Formal Dress

Media: Faber-Castell pencils, Pilot G-TEC 0.3mm black fineliner and Quill white A4 Multiboard

Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

My friend asked me to make her formal dress since I've made my own (which I will post on here soon enough). This is the illustration of the dress that we agreed on, yet we made a few changes.
This is a style of fashion illustration that I'd normally never explore since it requires more time and effort put into drawing two figures and colouring two fashion illustrations. I've done this before, but swore never to do it again, yet here I am with this illustration.
As expected, I'm not completely satisfied with the outcome. I got tired towards the end which ruined the colour of the second dress (left). So, with that said, I will never return to this style, but if I do, it would only be for a great reason.

Jumpsuit

Jumpsuit

Media: Faber-Castell pencils, Pilot G-TEC 0.3mm black fineliner and Quill white A4 Multiboard

Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

The materials you use do not necessarily determine your skills. An artist who has been practicing for many years can use a cheap medium and still create a beautiful painting/drawing. They utilise the materials they have.
I wasn't born with a million dollars in my pocket. I'm not rich nor am I spoilt. I was, however, fortunate enough to earn money through a commission which I used to by my Copic markers. Aside from that expensive brand of graphic markers, I like to buy cheap art materials that can be found in the dollar store. My local dollar store has a wide variety of mart materials from colouring pencils, charcoal to acrylic and oil paints. Since I still consider myself a beginner, I don't like to buy expensive mediums if I know I'm only going to experiment with it, unlike Copic markers which I know I'm going to use all the time.
With that said, I did this simple illustration using Faber-Castell 48 Classic Colour set which I bought from a school and office supply store. It cost me about $18 which is considerably inexpensive compared to other brands such as Prismacolor and even Faber-Castell Polychromos.

Stained Glass Collection - Design 2

Stained Glass Collection

Media: Copic Markers, Faber-Castell pencils, Pilot G-TEC black fineliner and Quill white A4 Multiboard

Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes

I am only on the second design of the collection and so far, it's been going great. It saddens me, however, that it's taking me what seems to be like forever to complete a single illustration. With the end of the first semester coming up, things need to be handed in and assessed. That means, exams.
I usually don't like to talk about exams and school on any of my social media accounts since it's such a cliché excuse when I haven't been able to update anything. I've used it so many times, even I don't want to hear about it any more, but things have been very hectic and stressful lately that I figured a short rant might just be able to calm me down.
I could wish for more time, however, I honestly just can't wait to finish the year.  In fact, I want time to go faster than the speed of light. The end of the year would mean the end of my high school life and a chance to start anew - to start fresh. Who knows what I'm going to be in the future, but I just know I won't ever be the same person I am today.

Stained Glass Collection - Design 1

Stained Glass Collection

Media: Copic Markers, Faber-Castell pencils, Pilot G-TEC black fineliner and Quill white A4 Multiboard

Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

I am currently working on a mini collection that I hopefully would expand into a bigger collection, but that depends on my progress. To be honest, I feel like a hipster saying that I used church windows and stained glass in a few of my old designs. I'm not saying that I invented this trend because I didn't. I guess people tend to find inspiration in the same places.
For this collection, I plan to use mosaic as the main print or pattern for the dresses. It's a different take on the Baroque trend since I feel like I've used the gold detailing on red or blue or black fabric too much that I don't feel so inspired by it, instead, I start to hate the trend. So I decided to take a different route with the Baroque prints. On the more high end side of fashion, this trend is very elegant that plays with simplistic patterns, however, in retail stores at my local mall that targets teenager girls, this trend contains very busy prints. I combined both of those characteristics in this design. Church windows as the print adds pops of colour to the dress but at the same time keeping it simplistic and minimal.
I'm not quite sold with the shoe design. I tried to steer away from my usual black platform heels, so I used a burgundy colour that works the colour blocking trend with bright yellow laces.

Have a nice day :)