maisocalledlife: THINGS TO DO WHILE IN QUARANTINE: FASHION ILLUSTRATION

Hello there, just checking if you guys are all doing fine..I hope you do cause I am. I'm trying the best I can to stay sane and be optimistic. Keeping myself busy with things I love and enjoy doing to pass the time and ease my worries. I hope you do too. I know that for most of you, quarantine has been really challenging, but like what I have mentioned from my previous blog, there are so many things that we can do to make it easier. Easier said than done, I know, but we can at least try. So, aside from reading I want to share to you guys another thing I do to entertain myself and keep me preoccupied so I don't think and worry about the pandemic that much. Fashion illustrations. Here, I'll show you some of my illustrations and a how I do it.

some illustrations I made while in quarantine

What is Fashion Illustration you may ask, well~ it is the art of communicating fashion ideas in a visual form that originates with illustration, drawing and painting. It plays a major role in designing to preview and visualize designs before sewing actual clothing. They are also used for ads and sales for fashion houses.

paper doll I made while in quarantine

So what I do is, I draw and design fancy dresses and other stuff. It's something that I really love doing since I was little. You girls remember playing paper dolls and dressing up? Oh my gosh! one of the best parts of our childhood. It really started back then, I couldn't get enough of my paper dolls that even made my own so I can make as many dresses as I want. HAHA! I started with cut out papers then eventually drew and added colors with my dresses. Made more for my friends and sisters so we could all play together. I really loved it. I still do anyways, lols! As I grow older it became a hobby, one of the things I love doing when I'm stressed out and whenever I want to keep my mind off something. Though, I don't really get to draw most of the time because I am lazy, yes, you know that. HAHA! Oh well, going back, here, I'm sharing you a little bit of my process, how I draw and what are the basic things you need to do a fashion illustration. Disclaimer! Don't judge my illustrations guys, this is just a hobby, I am not a professional, I have never been to a fashion school. I am self-taught and still learning, I just want to show you how I do it and hopefully to inspire you to add this to your growing list of new found hobbies during the quarantine.

still practicing color and fabric rendering with my markers and gel pens :)

First, you must prepare basic sketching equipment that you need like,

*Paper. You can draw on regular printing paper but it's kinda difficult to render on it especially if you're using markers and water color. Best is to use bleed-proof marker pad cause special marker pad (thin, smooth, and has a coating on the back) insures that the ink will not bleed through the paper, it can extend markers life and colors look more vibrant. But for starters, anything will do as long as you can draw on it.

*Pencils.You can use any but for me I prefer to use FABER CASTELL mechanical pencil with a 0.5 nib for my sketches because it provides more consistent lines, it's more convenient to use and more cost-effective because you only need to replace the lead once it has run out. You'll need eraser and sharpener too if you're using wooden pencils.

*Coloring materials like crayons, colored pencils, water colors and markers. You can use anything you have available at home then later on you can try which coloring material you're more comfortable using. As for me, I tried colored pencils before but I figured I am more comfortable using markers. I am currently using PRO MARKERS (available at National Bookstore) but it's kinda expensive so I'm also using TOUCH FIVE MARKERS which I bought from Lazada, the quality isn't as good as promarkers and copic but it's a good alternative.

*Fine-line pens. You need fine liners to outline a figure and to draw details so it is also a must have. I'm using FABER CASTELL FINE LINERS 0.1 for outline and 0.5 for details.

COMBYN Street style inspired sketches

Now that you have the equipment you need, it's time to create a CROQUIS.

CROQUIS. A croquis is the basic drawing of a model pose that you can use for drawing fashion illustrations. You can find different poses online, print them out or you can try to create your own and just trace them whenever you feel like doing an illustration.

Croquis photo from Google

After creating a good croquis it's time to get some ideas and inspiration. You can search online, follow fashion illustrators and fashion designers, visit their blog, instagram, twitter, youtube channel and pinterest. Watch fashion videos, documentaries, movies and tv series about fashion. Look for things that inspire and motivate you. Create a vision board, use images, quotes and words to inspire yourself and make your vision and ideas come to life.

Zimmermann ss20

Lastly, keep drawing, keep creating and keep learning until you develop a style of your own. Nothing beats practice, it's the only way you can get better. I have been doing fashion illustrations for years now and I am still learning. As you can see I'm still far from perfect but I am improving, I get better and you will too. Just believe in yourself, put your visions on paper and have fun.

illustrations I made three years ago

I hope this helps and somehow inspires you to finally give fashion illustration a go. Another fun thing to do while in quarantine. Enjoy sketching and just stay home for now. I will try my best to update my blog as much as I can and share things you can do to keep yourself entertained while helping the government and our front liners to flatten the curve.