by Lisha Vidler
How To Draw a Summer Dress. Every designer loves to draw pretty dresses of different shapes and colors. Today I want to share with you how you can draw a summer dress in your fashion sketches Read More ».
In this 'Fashion School with Nick Verreos' video, Nick shows you how to draw your very own Fashion Croquis. He gives you Tips & Tricks to help you draw your. What is a fashion croquis? Croquis means sketch in French; In fashion, this refers to a figurative fashion template. It is the drawing of a figure that can be used as a template over which you can trace and draw a design or garment. Reference: Basics of Fashion Design: Fashion Drawing by John Hopkins. The classic runway pose allows for large variety of clothes to be displayed at their best including formal dresses, wedding gowns and everyday outfits. Since it is a dynamic walking pose you will be able to show movement in the skirts while the bent arms will help you bring the attention to beautiful waist emphasis and interesting sleeves. Dec 9, 2019 - Explore soniya sureja's board 'Croquis design', followed by 160 people on Pinterest. See more ideas about fashion sketches, fashion illustration, fashion drawing.
Note: This article originally appeared at Your Wardrobe Unlock’d. It has been revised since then. All images can be enlarged by clicking.
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Are you familiar with fashion sketches? Pull out almost any sewing pattern and compare the images: on the front is a full-color sketch, perhaps alongside a photograph, and on the back is a basic outline of the garment. The simplified design is known as a flat, and is often used by pattern makers as a technical drawing, to show what details the pattern includes. What really sells the design, however, is the image on the front: the fashion sketch, or croquis.
Croquis (pronounced kro-kee) is French for “sketch.” Unlike the flat, a croquis can be creative and inspirational. It’s presented as three-dimensional and often in full color. Most importantly, it shows the garment as it looks on a model. If you want to design your own fashions, you’ll do well to learn how to make your own croquis. It isn’t as hard as it seems, but to really master the art will take practice.
Before you learn to draw garments, you’ll need a basic blank figure, a base upon which to draw your clothing. Let’s begin there.
Materials
You don’t need much to get started: just a sheet of paper and a pencil. Copier paper will do in a pinch, although high-quality sketching paper is always preferable. Eventually, you’ll want an array of sketch pencils, including at least one that’s soft (2B) and one that’s hard (2H).
In time, you’ll want to color your sketches. You can use artist-grade color pencils, watercolor pencils, or watercolor paints. Or you can scan your drawing and color it digitally. If you plan to scan your initial sketch, you might want to outline the edges with a pen, to make it easier for the scanner to see. I use a ballpoint pen with blank ink for this. (More on coloring later.)
Keep your pencils sharp. Any hand-held sharpener will work for this purpose. For erasing, a kneaded eraser works best. They are inexpensive and you can tear off small chunks to use, making it an investment that will last awhile.
Sharpener, Pencils, Kneaded Eraser
Now that you have your supplies, let’s get started.
8 or 9 Heads
First, you need to understand the concept of heads. The typical human body can be divided equally by the length of the head. Using the head as a reference when drawing will help ensure that your figure is proportioned accurately. A normal woman stands about 7 ½ or 8 heads high, but the exaggerated figure of a fashion model is taller and more slender, standing 9 or 10 heads high. I prefer a more natural croquis, so my models are all 8 heads tall.
The first head, naturally, is from the top of the head to the chin. The second head extends from the chin to about mid-bust. The third head reaches to the natural waist; the fourth almost to the bottom of the pelvis. The fifth head ends about mid-thigh, while the sixth reaches the knee. The seventh head extends to mid-calf, and the final, eighth head, stops at the bottom of the feet.
A woman’s shoulders are about 1 ½ heads across, and the tips of the fingers end about three-quarters into the fifth head.
To begin, we’re going to make a stick figure. Be sure and draw with a light touch, so you can easily erase any lines you’re not happy with. All of the guide lines will be erased when you’re finished, so they must be done lightly and with a soft pencil. Once you’ve had plenty of practice, you’ll be able to draw your figure without the guide lines.
Draw an oval that represents the head. No need for features or details yet—just a blank oval. Make a straight line down from the center of the head to represent the body. Now, take a scrap of paper and line it up next to your head. Draw two short horizontal lines that match up with the top and bottom of the head. Employ this as a ruler to check your proportions. Use it now to determine the height of your figure—draw light marks along the line to show each of the 8 heads.
Preliminary Drawing
Posing Your Figure
The next step is to determine what pose you want your figure to hold. Many fashion sketches show a woman in a spirited position, such as with the hips tilted, one leg stuck out, and a hand on the hips. These are more complicated however, so for this first figure, we’re going to stick with a basic, straight pose.
Keeping with the stick figure idea, draw a line for the torso and two connected lines for each arm and leg. Small circles will represent the joints: shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles. Once you’re happy with the position of your figure, add a neck, outline the torso with a circle, and let a rounded triangle stand for the hips. Draw wedges for the feet and hands. Don’t worry, you’ll come back later to make the figure more realistic.
Shape
You can determine what sort of figure your model has. Remember—she doesn’t have to be straight and slender like most fashion models. Feel free to give her some curves!
Croquis Dress Sketch
If you’re drawing fashions that you’ll sew for yourself, try to sketch your own body. To determine your shape, have someone take your photograph while you’re wearing a bathing suit, or a snug camisole and leggings. Trace the outline of your body with a marker to make it easy to see your contours.
Measure the length of your head and use this to determine your personal proportions. Unless you are unusually short or tall, your body should be somewhere between 7 and 8 heads tall. Your shoulders and hips might vary from the average width, depending on your body shape.
Your croquis doesn’t have to be exact, but give it a suggestion of your shape, especially if you’re going to use it to design clothes for yourself.
Determine Your Proportions
Once you’ve determined your shape and proportions, begin to outline your figure. Limbs should be curved, not straight.
Adding Detail to the Figure (Click to See Full Image)
Dynamic Posing
If you want to get adventurous, you can pose your model. Draw a line across the top of the hips and the shoulders. To have a dynamic or interesting pose, these lines should angle away from each other. If one leg is stuck out and the hip is dropped on that side, the shoulders will often tilt the opposite direction. Stand in front of the mirror and see for yourself.
If you’ll be doing a lot of fashion sketching, buy a wooden artist’s mannequin. These stand about ten inches tall and are fully articulated, so you can pose them any way you like. They come in male or female versions, and are fairly inexpensive. They make excellent references for drawing fashion sketches. Just keep in mind that their proportions aren’t always accurate. Mine, for example, has extremely long arms. In real life, no one’s hands hang down to just above their knees!
Wooden Model
Once you’ve decided on a position for the body, figure out what you want to do with your model’s arms. It always looks good to have one hand hanging at the model’s side and the other arm bent, with the hand posed in front of the body. You can change the exact positions for variety. Pull out a sheet of paper and draw several different poses in miniature. See which one you like best and then draw a full size version of it.
Adding Detail: Features
It’s up to you whether or not to add features to your face. Some fashion sketches just have a blank head and they can look just fine. Others include vague, half-formed features, and still others are nearly portrait-like. The best croquis are the ones where the artist has developed his or her own unique style. These are the ones you can recognize with a glance and say, “Ah! That’s a sketch by So-and-So.”
If you would like to add features, begin by drawing a line across the oval of your face about halfway down. This is where the eyes go. Draw a second line slightly more than a third of the way between the chin and your eye line—this is for the nose. The mouth will go halfway between the nose and chin.
If your head is turned at all, the back of the skull will protrude beyond the egg shape of the face.
Placing the Features
Eyes are generally small ovals, though you can stylize them into narrow rectangles, or diamonds, or any interesting shape that conveys an expression. How far apart do you make the eyes? This can vary for stylistic purposes, but for a realistic proportion, set your eyes with the width of one eye between them.
Eyes seen from the side are a completely different shape, more of a sideways V notch with a curve on the front.
If you want to add detail, add the fold of the upper eyelid, and the little section on the sides where the tear ducts are. Note that the lower lashes don’t attach directly to the bottom of the eye, but to the lower lid.
You can keep the nose simple—just a line to indicate the bridge of the nose and a few curves for nostrils. Or you can add shadow and depth to portray a fully formed nose. From the side view, the nose projects from the face. Don’t forget the dip between the eyes, or the shadow that forms at the edges of the nostrils. If drawing a profile, bear in mind that noses come in different shapes. Depending on the ethnicity of your model, you can draw a short button nose, a long, straight Roman nose, a slightly hooked nose, or something in between.
Detail of Noses
Ears stick out from the sides of the head. Generally speaking, they reach from the level of the eyes to the level of the lips. They can be rounded or a have a bit of a point to them; they can be curved or squared. Depending on how the head is angled, you may see more of one ear and less of the other. For a closeup, use shadow and highlights to portray the unique contours of the ear.
Lips must have shadow and highlights to make them look three-dimensional instead of flat. First establish the shape. Is the mouth open or closed? If open, teeth might show. Generally, the lower lip is fuller and shorter than the top lip. Because of cast shadow on the upper lip, the lower lip is often lighter, with a highlight to indicate the outward curve.
What Is A Fashion Croquis
Detail of Lips
If the mouth is open, indicate teeth—but use discretion. Teeth should never be drawn individually. You only want the suggestion of teeth. Any more than that and your model will look like a cartoon.
Add all of the features together to create a proper face. If your sketch is small, you won’t be able to add as much detail. If it’s difficult for you to draw small sketches, you might create a large, detailed sketch, then scan it and shrink it digitally, using a program such as Photoshop, or even Window’s Paint.
Putting It All Together
Adding Detail: Hands & Feet
Drawing hands and feet can be complicated. Some new artists get nervous and try to obscure the hands and feet, but this diminishes the impact of your fashion sketch. Keep them simple, if you like, but don’t hide them. A well done pair of hands and feet can make an otherwise dull sketch come to life. If you prefer, you can outline them without adding detail, but take care to get the shapes right.
Bare feet are wedge shaped, wider at the base of the toes, then narrower at the end. Toes are longer than you’d think. In women, toes—especially the big toe—typically angle inward due to years of wearing too-narrow shoes. You’ll find a curve underneath the foot, at the arch, and don’t forget that the heel curves, too. When drawing the ankle, keep in mind that the ankle bone is higher on the inside of the leg and lower on the outside.
Shoes can be almost as difficult to draw as bare feet. If not done accurately, your whole drawing will look off, so practice sketching them. Pull a few pairs of shoes out of your closet and place them on a flat surface. Study how they look at different angles and use them as a model to draw from. If you’re a woman, try on a pair of heeled shoes and sit on the ground in front of a mirror, to see your feet close up. Notice how the top of your foot arches?
Rarely does a model stand with both feet flat on the ground, facing forward, so try drawing one foot bent on its toes, or perhaps angled away from the other foot.
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Detail of Shoes
Hands are trickier. A woman’s hands must look elegant, so keep the fingers long and slender—but not too slender—and be sure to capture the shape of the wrist. Look at your own hands for guidance. When in doubt, keep your drawing simple.
Fingers are tapered, not round, and they curve between joints. The base of the thumb is thicker and padded, and sits at an angle to the rest of the hand. If the fingers are spread, a slight amount of webbing should be visible. Don’t forget the bump of the wrist bone and the bumps of the knuckles.
Coming Up. . . .
In the second half of this article, we’ll examine how to draw hair, including curls and braids. We’ll learn the tricks of adding shadows and highlights for a three-dimensional drawing. We’ll look at several do’s and don’ts for drawing clothing and fabric, and we’ll add color to our finished croquis for a fashion sketch that is both polished and sophisticated.
Note: For more detailed drawing tutorials, please visit our deviantART account.
Are you interested in fashion design? Do you want to learn how to create amazing dress designing sketches? If so, you’re in the right place.
Developing the Right Skills for Fashion Design
One of the most important skills to develop for this is the ability to sketch well. In addition to fashion design classes, you will also need to master the art of sketching.
A popular method used for dress sketching today is grid suits. This allows you to add a professional structure to any type of fashion sketch you create. The grid suit is essentially a grid placed on your fashion figure that lets you outline the dimensions of the body you want to draw your garment on.
Skills to Acquire
While creating a fashion design portfolio will be the end goal for anyone who is interested in this industry, the first step is to learn the basics. Some of the things you need that you need to learn, and master are listed here.
- Sketching poses and the garment. Take some time to learn how garments and poses interact with one another when creating a fashion illustration.
- Sketching the poses and creating a grid suit. Learn how to sketch your fashion figure and then apply the grid suit (mentioned before to showcase the form of the figure.
- Using the grid suit to sketch garments. Learn how to draw your designs/garments on the figure.
- Finalizing your sketch. The last step is to finalize your sketch and render it using lighting.
Getting Started with Your Fashion Sketching Efforts
Before diving in and thinking you can instantly become the next “big thing” in the world of fashion design, you will have to create your own, personal fashion design toolkit. Keep in mind, the ideas here are generic, but you can customize options based on your personal needs and preferences.
Believe it or not, if you don’t have the right tools, then you will never create a perfect sketch. Learn about the must-have elements for succeeding at your fashion design classes and creating your fashion design portfolio here.
The Sketchbook
The sketchbook you choose will significantly impact the dress designing sketches you are able to create. There are some sketchbooks that have been custom-made specifically for fashion designers. These types of sketchbooks have convenient features, such as paper panels with figure templates included for kids, women’s and men’s designs.
You may even find some sketchbooks that include specialized tape measurers and other accessories to make the entire sketching process easier and more successful.
Drawing Pencils
If you love fashion and sketching, you probably already have a huge collection of drawing pencils. However, you may also buy new ones every chance you get. Various pencils have different purposes. Some of the must-haves for your fashion design collection include 4B, 2B, HB and H pencils. These are ideal for creating basic outlines. You will find there are a number of brands that offer quality drawing pencils, and in some cases, you may have to use a bit of trail and error to find the ones that best suit your needs.
Erasers and Pencil Sharpeners
More essential tools for creating dress designing sketches is erasers and pencil sharpeners. It is crucial you are able to create fine lines when drawing dresses and other fashions. As a result, you have to keep your pencil as sharp as possible. You also need quality erasers. You don’t want any lead marks left behind. This can ruin the entire look of the fashion sketch you create.
Fine Black Pens
While most of your initial sketching will be done with the pencils mentioned above, you will also need some fine black pens on hand at all times. These are the ideal took for adding details and fine-tuning your sketches. Be sure to find a high-quality pen that won’t smudge or fade.
Watercolor Set
Once you have created your sketch, you’ll need to add color to your designs. A quality way to do this is with a watercolor set. There are many sets that are designed to travel easily, too. Since you aren’t going to be coloring in large areas with your watercolors, you can opt for tubs.
After you have sketched with your pencils, you can apply your watercolors to the designs you have created. To get the paint from your pan, all you have to do is use one of your brushes to choose a color. Then put the chosen color on your palette and mix it with the colors necessary to get what you want. Always make sure to wash your brushes well before you choose another color. After all, your pan may become contaminated with other colors if you aren’t careful.
Markers
Purchasing fashion design markers is a must. These are designed to combine well with other types of media you use, such as ink pens, graphite and pencils. Try to find options that offer both fine and broad tip ends. This allows you to have exactly what you need, without having to carry around too many markers.
The Process of Drawing Fashion Sketches
In the world of fashion, there are new designs presented as a simple, yet elegant hand-drawn sketch prior to ever being cut or sewn into life.
The first step is to draw the croquis. This is the actual figure, or model, that is the base of the sketch. The point isn’t to draw figure with the most realistic features, but to create an essential “canvas” for you to add your dresses or fashions to. You can also add color and various details, such as buttons, seams and ruffles to help really bring your fashion ideas to life.
Once you have gathered your supplies (which are highlighted above), it will be time to determine the pose for your croquis. The croquis is actually the model for your design. The goal here is to draw it in the post that will help to show off your designs best.
You have the option to draw the model bending, sitting, walking or in any other type of position. When you are a beginner, you may want to with a common pose, which will be the runway sketch that shows your model striding or standing on the typical runway. This is the easiest one to draw and it will allow you to illustrate your designs, so they can be fully seen.
- The goal is to illustrate your designs in a manner that helps them to appear professional, as well as appealing. This means you need to model them on your croquis in a way that they are well-drawn and properly proportioned.
- There are some fashion designers who have practiced drawing on hundreds of different croquis until they have perfected their ability to sketch a wide array of poses.
Optional Methods to Create Your Croquis
Because the croquis is the foundation or base of your design, having various ways to create it can be beneficial. While being able to draw your own croquis is nice, and it allows you to get the precise proportions that you really want, it may not always be a feasible option. Also, you may not want to spend the time doing this. The good news is, there are a few shortcuts that you can take.
- You can create a croquis by tracing a model’s outline from an ad or some other picture. All you will need is tracing paper to put over the model that you like and then create a light outline.
- Print a croquis from an online source. When you do this, you will discover they are available in a wide array of sizes and shapes. For example, you can find croquis options ready to download in the shapes of a busty woman, large man, petite woman, child, baby and more.
Using the shortcuts mentioned here will help you save time if you are in a hurry to get your design created, or if you just don’t want to waste time drawing your own croquis.
What to Remember When Creating Fashion Sketches
When you are creating your fashion sketches, you need to remember that everyone – even the greatest fashion designers in the world – had to start somewhere. The more you practice and perfect your skills, the better you will become. Don’t try to “rush” it. It may take you thousands of hours to reach your goals.
The good news is, there are courses and tips out there to help you along the way. The use of a class or course can be invaluable if there is a certain skill you want to get better at. Be sure to find out more about this if you are ready to increase your ability and take your fashion designs to the next level.
Being a fashion designer isn’t easy, but it is a career that will allow you to be creative and show off your creativity by clothing the world. Using the information here, and finding tutorials that help you along the way can be the perfect way to become the amazing fashion designer you have always dreamed of being.
Looking for something to spice up your online designer resume? Try learning animation to add into unique videos all about your work. Find animation tutorials on skillshare today