How to Draw a Fashion Figure in 10 Steps?

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What is fashion drawing?

Why are fashion illustrations important?

What is a croquis?

What do you need for fashion drawing?

Learn to draw a fashion figure in 10 steps

What is fashion drawing?

Fashion designing starts with fashion drawing. Fashion drawings are a blueprint of a design, and can vary in style and amount of detail.

A flat sketch is commonly used to outline the shape and silhouette of a garment.
Fashion illustrations can also be three-dimensional fashion figures with movement lines for texture, shading, and fabric draping.
Fashion illustration is a more detailed type of fashion drawing that may include color and accessories – and the fashion figure may have a detailed face or hairstyle to show the look from head to toe.

Why are fashion illustrations important?

Fashion drawings help a pattern maker communicate the technical elements of a design, such as length and fit.

Fashion illustrations can also serve as a mood board, reflecting the emotional language of a design.Fashion designers can use drawing to express their style through a variety of poses or drawing tools.
For example, fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld's fashion sketches are distinctive because of the designer's use of pencil and crayon.
Fashion illustrations at Atelier Dolce & Gabbana include embellishment details, such as individual sequins on clothing.

What is a croquis?

The first step in fashion figure drawing is to be create a fashion croquis.Croquis is a quick sketch outlining the proportions of a fashion figure.A croquise is almost like a paper doll – it is a template and can be placed under a piece of paper to create clothing drawings.If you are making a figure drawing for the first time, try drawing the croquis on a pre-made fashion croquis template.

What do you need for fashion drawing?

If you want to try your hand at making your own croquis, or fashion figure template, here's what you'll need:

An 8.5x11 inch paper
A hard pencil
A ruler
An eraser

Learn to draw a fashion figure in 10 steps

The body proportions of a fashion figure are not be a proportional to the human body.Generally, a fashion figure follows the industry standard of "nine heads" length: this means that the length of a fashion figure is approximately nine times the size of the drawing's head.These long fashion shapes help to showcase garments, especially dresses and skirts.

Here's a step-by-step guide to completing a fashion drawing:

Draw a vertical line down the center of the paper.This line, which extends from head to toe, will be the center of balance of the fashion figure.
Separate the paper into nine equal sections. The nine sections will be include the fashion figure's head, bust, waist, hips, thighs, calves, ankles and the feet.You can draw horizontal lines, about an inch and one-eighth apart, to separate the nine sections.
Draw a picture of the pelvic area. In the middle of the balance line, draw a square for the pelvis of the fashion figure.It can be bent in different directions to create different poses.
Draw the torso and shoulders. Draw two lines upward from the top of the pelvis square to create the torso.The lines curve inwards and outwards again to form the waist.The shoulders should be approximately as wide as the pelvis, but the shoulder lines can be angled to create a more rounded posture.
Draw the neck and head. The neck should be one-third the width of the shoulders and half the length of the head.Draw a circle for the head in proportion to the body.
Draw the legs. The figure's legs should be about four times the length of the drawn head.The legs are divided into two parts: the thighs and the calves.The upper part of the thighs should be of the same length as the head.Thin the line to the knee and then to the ankle so that the ankles are about a quarter of the size of the head.
Draw the arms. Draw the arms with thin lines up to the elbow and then up to the wrist.The arms can be placed along the body of the figure, or placed on the hips. Finish with hands and fingers.
Draw the legs. The legs should be approximately equal to the length of the head.
Create your own fashion design. Now that the sketch of the fashion shape is complete, you can begin creating your design creations on top of the shape.
Describe your design. Shade the design to show movement of the fabric or to highlight where material gathers on the garment.Colors in the fashion drawing to add dimension.Add embellishments to clothes to showcase your style.Add facial details or hairstyle to complete the look.