Fashion Design Drawing

DEVELOPING ORIGINALITY

Most beginners have a good deal of inhibition about creating original fashion sketches. A few pointers will help to dissipate that by showing how simple it is to acquire originality.

First of all, don't worry about it. It will come naturally after thorough groundwork and practice. Much will be learned about the figure by blocking in poses from other artists' sketches. For instance, take an authentic pattern pamphlet. Use the pose of one figure for your sketch and the dress of another (preferably a different pose). This changing of poses and dresses is an excellent exercise for the amateur.

It is also perfectly legitimate to use a figure in your clipping file as a suggestion for a pose. However, the artist should never copy another sketch or pose exactly. If he is using a sketch for a suggestion, he should change some part of the pose* If the model in the clipping has both hands on her hips, place one hand on her hat or down at her side, or turn the head for your sketch.

Photographs offer another means of developing originality and are especially recommended for wash drawings. The clearness of the highlights and shadows in a photograph enable the artist to see just where to place them in his sketch. Nearly all fashion magazines reproduce pictures of smartly dressed women. Practise copying them, remembering to change the figure to fashion proportions.

The best method of all for creating original sketches is to have a live model pose for you. Let the model take her pose, and you study it. Study the action of the figure, the way the dress fits the figure, the general effect. Without the use of the model start your sketch, striving to capture

the same action and feeling of the original. Drawing from memory allows more freedom in your work and greater naturalness, for the eye retains only the important features of the pose and eliminates minor details that stiffen the effect.

Individuality of style may express itself in a particular type of garment. For instance, one artist's work may be outstanding for dresses; another's may excel in men's apparel. Free-lance artists should be classified according to their ability to draw certain things.

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