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Rendering Tips

Whichever medium you choose for your fashion design illustrations, there are various ways in which to use that medium to create a spectacular end result. See the showcase page for inspirations from extremely talented artists.

 

Look at how they use their mediums to produce the shading, highlighting and textures. Hair or fabric must be depicted in such a manner that it is instantly recognised. Try to observe the way folds are drawn, the highlighted areas and the shaded dips. Often the use of colour, rather than line, can more effectively communicate the curves and contours of the figure or clothing. Darker colours depict these areas in shade, therefore on a lower plane, the highlighted areas seeming to be rounded and plump, such as the cheeks or a fold; a washed out, undefined image is hard to look at. Shading and contouring creates interest and excitement to the viewer. Be careful of colour use such as green or yellow as backgrounds: this can seem to wash the entire image in a yellow tone, which is not flattering in the least. Use brown/tanned shades for the skin, as white/yellow/light pink shades aren’t as striking as a beach tanned skin shade (see thumbnail at the bottom of this page). Don’t use only black backgrounds as your portfolio will seem dark and gloomy if you’ve used it throughout your assignments.

(See thumbnails below for ‘what not to do’)

                           

Use colour to entice the viewer! An image such as this (above) is visually appealing because of the use of colour contrasting and highlighting off the correct areas. It isn’t busy and untidy, as too much detail in an untidy manner can put the viewer off. Remember, detail only makes an impact if correctly drawn. There are also quite a few fashion rendering tutorial sites that give tips on how to use colour markers, watercolours or pastels to the best of their abilities. Some of the media might smudge easily, or bleed, so get to know your medium first by practicing on a scrap piece of paper. Keep a second black and white copy of your figure, in case of mistakes.

 

Shading is probably your best tool for visual effect, and using a black colour pencil or chalk to create shades in the darker places of the figure and clothing gives a good, finished outcome. This is an interesting link on rendering tips and shading: http://www.portrait-artist.org/basics/shading.html . Use any medium to create shades and highlights. Using white to create highlighted parts or even use an eraser to create a lighter effect on highlighted areas drawn with colour pencils. A combination of media and techniques will be open to you, once you are comfortable. Try the cross-hatching technique for instance .

When trying to render fabrics, try the Frottage technique: (French for "rubbing"). It is used in visual arts and is a technique of obtaining an impression of the surface texture of a material, such as fabric, by placing a piece of paper over it and rubbing it with a soft pencil or crayon.

 

When trying to illustrate a shiny object, leave a white area to depict the shine such as on the lips or plastic objects such as a bangle. Decide where the light source is and render your highlights and shading accordingly. When trying to depict gold, use a gel pen in gold to create the metallic shine you desire, rather than a pencil.

 

Test a few different colours and shades for your choice in skin tone. A firm favourite is Copic, a light suntan shade. This tends to bring out the colours of the garments on your figures, as a paler colour has less visual effect. You will need this colour for most of your work, and you might decide to buy a few shades of that colour to help you in the shading and highlighting. Find a few shades for hair colour, such as blonde or brunette, with highlight shades as well. You can buy sets of colours from the stationary shops, but these will be limited to only a few selections. Where possible, you should buy them singularly; this allows you to choose the exact shade you'll need. Even though it initially costs more, buy the refills for your markers (Copics/Pantone/Triart) as they are essentially three markers in one bottle. This saves you money in the long run.

 

Some more great tutorial sites for fashion design illustration are listed below. These links can assist you in drawing folds (in the fabric), how to perfect the eyes, hands and the feet. There are even rendering tips with reference to fabric textures.

www.deviantart.com
www.drawsketch.com
www.portrait-artist.org
www.polykarbon.com
www.mangatutorials.com
http://neondragonart.com/dp/tutorials/marker.htm

 

What Not To Do:

Presented below is brand new content, which will most certainly assist any student who would love to learn about what not to do in regards to fashion rendering:

 

The site has been opened for guests to post their personal tutorials on drawing techniques/rendering tips. This is a great way to gain more perspectives on alternative drawing methods. Please note: not all of the techniques are based on fashion illustration methods, yet shading and drawing types are all the same. Click the artist’s name to learn more about them or to view their sites. Please note, do not attempt to redistribute or copy these. Please contact the artists for permission to use them on your own site.

 

Clicking the thumbnail displays an enlarged tutorial:

 

If your specific fashion design illustration style is to use bold outlines first and then to colour in later, then you’ll need line work that’s as dark as possible. It is best to darken inked line-work that looks washed-out before colouring in. The range in line quality also heightens descriptive potential: you can describe textures, movement, light, space, etc. Using many different kinds of lines in your drawing can also add visual interest. How interesting can a drawing be if everything is the same? Even when the subject or content of a drawing is not readily recognisable, varying line quality can imply space, movement, light, and so on. Thicken the lines in spots where things overlap or attach, this will help to make them stand apart better. This slight variance gives everything more volume giving it the appearance that it is not on the same plane.

 

For guests, the site is now open for you to post your own personal tutorials/rendering tips on drawing techniques for designing clothing/folds. This is a good way to gain more perspectives on alternative drawing methods. Please note: not all the techniques are based on fashion design illustration methods, but shading and drawing types are all the same. Click the artist’s name to learn more about them or to see their sites. Clicking the thumbnail will produce the enlarged tutorial:

Other excellent links for reference purposes:

·          Treijim – A brilliant reference on how fabric folds over the body and how creases cone be correctly drawn. Done by Treijim from Deviantart.

Please do not attempt to redistribute or copy these. Please contact the artists for permission to use their fashion rendering tips on your personal/business site.