5 Things Not To Be Scared Of That Will Improve Your Fashion Illustrations
People always ask me for tips on how to improve their work, I mean… obviously, it’s part of my job atm! But I always reply with the same thing first, which it isn’t smart, it isn’t revolutionary, but life drawing is the no.1 thing!
Fashion illustration is like 90% figurative, so once you’ve got the proportions, anatomy, understanding of the body, then you’re soaring!
But there are a few other things that people hesitate on when creating work, so here’s 5 things you shouldn’t be scared to do if you want to improve your illustrations!
1. Try different mediums
There’s this thinking that once you find your preferred materials you stick to them, and that your style is the materials you use, but this isn’t the case! Your style is the way you approach a drawing, not whether you’re using watercolour, acrylic or collage. So experiment with different materials, see what happens! Your style won’t disappear.
2. Don’t be afraid to get worse
A lot of us stick to what we’re good at because, well, we’re good at it!
But you might be amazing at that one particular thing but that won’t help you grow as an illustrator. When trying something new, your work will get worse, you’ll take a step back initially, but then you’ll take a great big leap forward once you get better.
So don’t be scared of taking those arms from behind your drawings back and putting them down by her sides, DRAW THOSE HANDS! Unless you want to give all your drawings the look of chronic back pain… take that initial step backwards, draw some shitty hands, then take that beautiful leap forwards!
3. Get feedback
It’s hard to improve in a vacuum, when you’re the only one looking at your work you can’t always see what the issues are. Sometimes it takes another set of eyes on your work to see things you can’t, so don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from people you respect and admire, it is vulnerable but it really does help!
4. Take inspiration
…and I mean literally, TAKE. The saying ‘good artists copy, great artists steal’ is 100% right, if you see something another artist does that you like, implement it into your work next time you draw, see how it fits.
But there’s 2 key things to remember with this, 1. Take an element, not the whole thing, we’re stealing, not squatting, so it doesn’t mean taking the whole house, you’re just nicking a couple trinkets… and the second thing is my next point…
5. Look outside of fashion illustration
All the best artists take inspiration from other areas and bring it back to their own field, if every fashion illustrator only looked at other fashion illustrators it just becomes an echo chamber of the same 5 styles.
You don’t see fashion designers saying their inspiration for this collection was Chanel ss15, they say it was some random antique they found in a Parisian flea market or something, so look further afield, get inspired by other artists, mediums, practises and then bring it back to fashion!
6. Take my course!
Eheheh… hey, least the plus is an extra tip and not one of the 5!
My new fashion illustration course has reopened, I cover everything I ever get asked about in this course, from how to loosen up your work, to tackling complicated patterns, finding your own style, drawing from imagination, how to use reference pictures, even how to scan your work and edit it to a professional standard, it’s all there baby!
Welcome to join and go through it at your own pace, or join along with the group, grab a space here:
Click here to grab your space on my Fashion Illustration Masterclass
See you in there!
x
