Fashion Sketches

Drawing sketches for fashion designing is a hard thing to get used to. It's not going to come out perfectly on your first try- it takes a lot of practise to get perfect. But to learn properly, you need to know where to start. When drawing figures, you use the classic 9 Head Diagram. This just means that the height of your figure is equivalent to 9 of it's heads put on top of each other. The average person is actually only about 8 heads tall, but to make the figure look taller and slimmer, designers elongate the legs by adding another head. As you can see down both sides of the photo, it shows the length of the figure. I'm going to talk you through each section step by step, so you understand the proportions. Keep referring to the drawing as it will help you understand the instructions.

Head 1) Head 1 will just contain the head of the figure. Draw a circle about 2/3 of the head, then bring it to a point at the bottom.
Head 2) This section starts with the neck going 1/3 of the way down. Immediately after the neck, draw the shoulders at about 2 heads wide. On the end of the shoulders, draw a small circle (about 1/3 head diameter).
Head 3) 1/6 from the bottom of head 3, create 2 dots for the elbows. Join the outer dot to the edge of the circle, and the inner dot slightly below. This should form the top of the arms. At the bottom of head 3, draw a line the width of a head, and join the ends to the shoulder line. This will form the waist.
Head 4) 2/3 down from the top of head 4 are the hips. They should be about 1 1/2 heads wide. Join the hips to the waist. At the bottom of head 4 mark the groin and the wrists. Connect the arms to the wrist marks, and the hips to the groin mark.

Head 5) Half way down head 5 is where the hands end. For now, just draw the hands as rectangles.

Head 6) At the bottom of head 6, draw the knees. Both the knees together should be about a head's width. Connect the hips and groin to the knees mark as it is on the drawing.

Head 7) Head seven is empty, apart from the legs that join in head 8.

Head 8) The bottom of head 8 is the ankles. The ankles should be just thinner than the knees. Continue the legs to reach the ankles.

Head 9) This section contains the feet. Like the hands, just draw them as rectangles.

Rub out the inner lines, and you should be left with something a little like this. Again, don't worry if it doesn't look quite right, just keep practising!

It's now time to make the body a bit more curvy. Round the neck and shoulders to make them more realistic, and emphasise the curves around the bust and hips. Also, add a bit of curve to the arms and legs. The hands can be a nightmare, but keep practising. Anyway, the hands aren't necessary if the figure is going to be used to design outfits.

The next step is to start designing! I never bother with facial features other than the mouth, but you will probably develop your own sketching style.