For a hat, the model must always sit, never stand. In the first place it is more comfortable for her, but it is also more convenient for you, as then her head will be more or less on a level with your own. All other things being equal it is better for her to lean forward and look up ; the line of her throat will then form a graceful curve. Perhaps the worst is for her to lean back and look down, as, seen from the front, the chin will be doubled, the neck wrinkled, and the hat will seem all crown ; when drawing a hat from the back, however, this is often an attractive attitude.

When drawing a hat from the front the thing to watch is the angle made by the line of the eyebrows and the line of the hat where it touches the forehead.

If these lines are parallel, the hat is on straight; their angle is the angle at which the hat is worn. A third line to notice in conjunction with them is the line of the edge of the brim, where there is one.

Be sure, too, that, in your drawing, you really could get the head into the hat. So often you would only have to continue lines of the face upwards for a little way, to find them going outside, rather than inside, the crown. When you are drawing a big hat from the front be sure that, in your sketch, the brim really would be continuous at the back, if the neck were not there to interrupt it. It is a common fault to make it disappear down in the direction of the shoulder on one side, only to reappear somewhere up by the other ear. The line where the crown ceases and the brim joins it the bandeau line must be kept firmly in mind all the way round, of course ; but it must be felt to be continuous, as this is the only part, in many cases, where the hat is in actual contact with the head.

When you are sketching the hat on the model, you must notice if any shadow is cast on the face by the brim. Just draw the edge of this in with a single con-tinuous line for the moment, as it will be useful afterwards. Sometimes when a wide brim is drawn in perspective (i.e., foreshortened) you cannot show, except by the extent of this cast shadow, how wide it really is. Be careful to avoid, however, the typical beginner's mistake of putting in the shadows cast by the brim and yet ignoring altogether the shadows that the nose and chin must cast : for if you are going to allow the sun to shine at all, you must let it do so impartially, all over the face. Another mistake often made, which also applies more to the finished drawing, is to forget that the nose sticks out. By making the line of the brim's shadow continue right across the face, instead of raising it slightly on the nose, a beginner sometimes gives the impression that the nose is a feature painted flat on the face, and is unaffected by light and shade.

The sketch (pi. 4) happens to have been done for a magazine, but it was drawn in a shop from a model wearing an actual blouse and hat. Of course, if the drawing had been done for an advertisement, the blouse would probably not have been required and then I should have drawn down no farther than the shoulders. I drew the crown of the hat too big at first and the little arrow is to show which line is the right one. Also it was not necessary to draw in the lines of the straw all over the hat, a few strokes being enough to show the direction of the weave. Of course, when I came to do a finished drawing from this sketch, I found that several things were wrong, quite apart from the details that have to be adapted to the particular needs which the drawing is calculated to fulfil. The body and hips, for example, are too heavy for the head and the model's hair had not been ideally arranged.

To sum up, about hats : in one that has both brim and crown, the exact proportion between these two masses is what you must aim at and bear in mind, even when your pencil is concerned with details. Have I made the brim too big

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for the crown, or the crown too big for the brim ? are questions you must not cease to ask yourself.

All the other things that you may have to draw in a shop are very much easier than hats and coats and dresses, because they do not have to be drawn on a frail and exhaustible human being, but can be tackled by themselves in a quiet corner. Provided you are in no one's way, you may take your time over sketching them.

Nothing could be much easier than a bag. Some of them have rather intricate designs worked over them ; often these repeat all over the bag, so you need only note down a small part of the pattern. The only difficulty with a bag is to get the right proportion between the height and the length ; but as you are free to handle it, you can also measure it. This does not involve carrying about a tape-measure ; you have only to mark off its height against one edge of your paper and the length against another. By reducing these measurements in exact proportion when you are drawing the bag out at home, you can boast of unassailable accuracy. Particularly note the clasps they are all different, and often the one distinctive feature and make special notes of them at the side, if necessary.

I cannot agree that shoes are as difficult as some people pretend (with feet in, it is another matter), especially if you set about them in the right way. It is not unlike the question of the hat, for here, too, the problem lies in the proportion between two masses, the mass of the heel against that of the foot.

Begin with the horizontal line a a (pi. 14, No. 11) which is to represent the floor ; next draw the lower line of the arch, b b, rising from the horizontal and then drop from it the inside line of the heel, c c. These three lines will give you the space enclosed by the shoe and the floor. I always draw the back line next, d d, the outline of the back of the shoe, continued down the heel. It is essential in a good drawing to continue the line of the sole, b b, through the heel, so that it forms the line where the heel is joined to the shoe, b z. The rest of the shoe follows easily enough from these lines. I have only given this method for the use of those people who really have no idea how to set about drawing a shoe. Most students will, I feel certain, have a way which suits them much better.

Fashion Drawing Sections

Part-1 Part-2 Part-3 Part-4 Part-5 Part-6 Part-7