Draw Fashion Clothes for Plus-size Models
Plus-size clothing is made for today's real-sized women. With magazine ads changing what regular women want to wear, there is a need for designers to develop bold collections in plus sizes. Learning drawing techniques for body movement, form and shape will help you adjust silhouettes for the plus-size figure. By restructuring chest, waist and hip size, you can produce silhouettes that focus on brilliant color choices, textured fabric selections and bold prints.
Instructions
1. Draw your initial anatomical sketch with the figure in an upright position. Body illustration begins by drawing eight separate units of the body, the rough framework. The units are feet, calves, knees, thighs, abdomen, waist, chest and chin. The head is a separate unit and is multiplied eight times to form the dimension of the figure. Don't sketch an increased chest, waist and hip yet.
Use a hard H pencil or soft B pencil for this stage. The H pencil is for illustrations with fine details such as stitch, ribbing and prints and the B pencil is for loose drawings.
2. Modify your initial sketch. Lay tracing paper over your body form and using your B pencil, draw your plus-size figure by slightly increasing your shoulder, bust, waist, hip, thigh and calves. It is best to study larger women or models in movement and note their shape when walking or sitting. This will help you draw realistic line work, delineating the plus-size silhouette and garment styles.
Use your modified body silhouette as your body template. You can make several copies to draw different styles.
3. Draw a series of rough, freehand sketches of garment styles without the body template. Select the season and category, such as tops, bottoms, skirts or dresses. Narrow down your choices prior to drawing your initial silhouettes. Sketch your initial styles with colored pencils, charcoal, pastels, watercolors or markers. Add color and print placements while sketching. This will influence your silhouettes and your seam direction.
4. Resketch your rough garment styles with your body template. Your styles and seamwork will need to be modified and altered for the plus-size body. For example, the baby-doll inspired swing a-line knit top with neckline embellishment can translate into a plus-size silhouette by decreasing an exaggerated sweep. This will streamline the overall shape and pattern.
Keep your fabric in mind when resketching. For instance, a Lycra/spandex blend--such as a stretch poplin or denim--will allow you to create softer seamwork and add comfort to your silhouettes.
5. Determine your size ranges, such as 12 through 18 and 20 through 24. This will help translate styles for drawing and construction. Divide the styles into two size ranges. Draw separate plus-size body templates to reflect the separate ranges.
