How to Draw Fashion Models

Drawing fashion models is an art in itself. You must know not only how to represent the human form, portraying skin, hair, teeth and features accurately. You must also know how to make them look glamorous. It may be necessary to learn to depict clothing textures, jewelry and other accessories. To get started drawing fashion models, it's best to choose a subject in black and white that has a great deal of chiaroscuro (contrast of light and dark) in the composition. This will make for a much more attractive and interesting finished picture.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Set up your drawing. Create only the most minimal outline of the eyes, nose, mouth, hair, ears, clothing and other elements in pencil. Use a very fine, light line so you can make changes if necessary.

2. The fashion model drawing with the darkest areas fleshed out.

   Begin to fill in the darkest areas of the drawing. Work with extreme care, filling in the eyes, nostrils and part between the lips first. Be sure shade in an even, smooth manner, as this will be important for the overall impression of smooth, soft skin. Don't forget to fill in background elements.

3. The fashion model drawing with midtones and clothing filled in.

   Fill in the midtones, again using great care to use smooth, even shading. Use cross-hatching if you must, but use very light pressure with the pencil. Go over the area several times to get darker shading, rather than baring down with the pencil.

4. Begin to work in the details and lighter shading. Use only feather light pressure on the lightest areas of shadow. Portray clothes with a coarse cross-hatching method. Create hair by drawing the darkest areas first, then fill in lighter areas by drawing a line in the direction of the growth of the hair.

5. 

   Check your picture against the original. Fill in any areas of shadow that need to be darkened. Use a kneaded eraser to draw highlights on hair and skin. Use a spray fixative to protect your finished drawing.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't hesitate to take liberties with your drawing. In the example shown, the model had a dull expression, so I gave her a wry smile. Also, feel free to remove distracting elements from the picture, such as stray hairs, which are difficult to reproduce in pencil.

• Take your time completing your drawing. The more time you take, the more accurate and faithful your drawing will be to the subject.

• If the hair looks stringy, go over it with a chamois cloth or tissue to smooth the shading.