How to Draw Girls in Dresses
Drawings of girls in dresses are often done by fashion designers who wish to show their designs. Female figures are often the subject of other artist portraits as well. Learning to draw the female form can take time. Learning to draw her in a dress can be just as challenging. With the right approach, learning to draw girls in dresses isn't difficult and can help improve your figure-drawing skills immensely.
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Instructions
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Select a guide photograph of a female to work from or use a live model. A photograph is best because it allows you to work at your own pace and the reference won't change. If you're working from an image, consider a black and white image. Color tends to be distracting and can make it more difficult to focus on the details of your subject.
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Sketch the outline of your subject first. This is important because it determines how your will draw her dress later on. Don't worry about details at the moment. Sketch the basic feminine form and how you want her posed. Use a 2H or 3H pencil and do your outline lightly.
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Apply details to your girl's face and hair, adding her facial features. Don't worry about shading yet. Draw her eyes, nose, and mouth. Sketch the hair as you want it to frame her face. Use the appropriate pencil strokes for the type of hair you want. For straight hair, use long, vertical strokes. If you want her to have curly hair, draw it in tight circles .
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Sketch a dress over your initial figure. Sketch only the outline so you can determine which part of your female subject's body will be covered. You'll apply the pattern of the dress later.
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Use a softer, darker pencil, such as a 2B, and go over the parts of the girl that won't be hidden beneath the dress. Thicken the areas of your figure that will be visible outside the dress. Add shading to her cheekbones and around her eyes and nose to give her face depth.
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Sketch in the details of the dress. Determine if it will be a solid color or have a pattern, such as flowers. If the dress needs a pattern, draw the pattern first, before you begin adding shading.
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Color the dress. Be sure to keep the coloring lighter around areas of the anatomy that you'll need to highlight to give the dress a shape. This is important. Without highlighting anatomy, the dress will appear flat and one dimensional.
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Emphasize anatomy lines, such as the curve of the breasts, by darkening the lower inner curves of the breasts. This will help give the dress lift in that area and add an element of dimension that will make it appear more realistic.
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Add dark, slightly squiggly pencil lines at various points throughout the dress to create the look of fabric. Use the corner of your eraser or the tip of your finger to smudge the lines just enough to blend them. This keeps the fabric lines in the drawing but lessens their hardness. The lines need to be subtle to suggest the soft folds and creases of the fabric for a more realistic look.
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