How to Draw Faces in Fashion Illustrations

Fashion illustration is an art form in and of itself. Creating a quality fashion illustration is a talent that any serious student of fashion design should cultivate. While the clothing is the central focus of a fashion illustration, it's also important to properly draw faces that complement the drawing. Learn some basic steps to help you draw faces in fashion illustrations and give your fashion drawings extra depth and style.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sketch Pad
• Pencil(s)
• Pen

1. Begin by flipping through magazines and getting a feel for how the fashion model typically poses in print. Pay attention to the basic symmetry of the face, especially the fashion face, so you can understand how important symmetry is in fashion drawing.

2. Sketch each body part separately on a different piece of sketch paper with a hard led pencil or black ink pen before drawing the face as a whole. Start with eyes, then practice noses, lips, hair, and eyebrows. Be conscious of not putting too much detail into the faces because they will not be the focal point of your fashion illustrations.

3. Decide whether you want to draw a male or female form. Adhere to basic gender conventions when picking the head shape of your drawing. Males should have fiercely angular faces while female faces should be long, elegant, and poised. Use as few strokes as possible while still maintaining a sense of style with the face.

4. Give impressions of the features rather than detailed sketches of each contour of the face. Pencil in a simple line for the nose or even a few avant-garde wisps for hair to give your illustration a more fashionable and stylish feel.

5. Sketch the form using basic fashion illustration form. Remember to pay more attention to the folds of the clothing and the basic idea of the outfit. Then pick a head to accompany the outfit, paying special attention to positioning. Mimic a fashion spread or editorial pose from your favorite fashion magazine.

6. Add a splash of color to the face, such as red lips or a hint of hair color or eye makeup to give the illustration emphasis. Then go back over your illustration with the black ink pen, if you didn't draw it with the pen initially, to give it a finished look. Capture the simple strokes of the face with the pen, while still maintaining the obvious characteristics of a face.

Tips & Warnings

• Recruit one of your friends to serve as a model for your illustrations and to practice perspective.
• Be creative and experiment with different methods of face drawing. Feel free to exaggerate the lips or hair, or even leave off the eyes or nose of your face. This style is typically acceptable in fashion drawing.

Resources

• Visit this great fashion illustration resource.
• Find a gallery full of fashion illustration inspiration.

[designdelight]

on 7/8/2009 I am so excited about how much I have been able to learn from howtofashiondesign. with bob martin learning to draw fashion and so much more...check it out..