UNIT 7:-Study of advanced illustrative Techniques and three dimensional views.

The primary skill needed by anyone who works in fashion is the ability to convey - to clients and
the general public alike - images of the designs. The impression given to the viewer depends on
whether the fashion design drawings are good. Contemporary Fashion Illustration Techniques
thoroughly describes the basics of fashion illustration, and covers the latest trends such as vivid
images, sprightly movement, and garment material texture. After all, fashion drawing is not
simply about sketching a body and face; only when you accurately reproduce the garments and
their colors can the designs truly come to life.

Fashion illustration has a long history and has played a critical role in the fashion industry. In the
past, fashion illustrations were the main avenue for presenting the glamorous fashion concepts of
designers. The illustrators added their own elements into their illustrations while showing the
designer’s vision. Meanwhile, fashion illustrators also documented the fashion show as editorial
illustrations for magazines, newspapers and other publications designers know that photographs
can never capture the fantastic details depicted in a good illustration. However, in order to adapt
to the accelerated technology, modern fashion illustrations are increasingly using digital tools
while they seek new media, such as collages of mixed media and materials, paper-cut and hand-
drawn digital editing. These innovations reveal how fashion illustrations evolve with the times.

A growing trend in fashion illustration is to add elements of graphic design, abstractions,

figurative images, cubism, surrealism and minimalism into the drawings. Lifestyle fashion
illustrations also have become popular in periodicals, advertising campaigns and fashion houses.
Such a vital change has brought fresh air to the industry. Compared to the old-fashioned,
traditional fashion illustrations, which emphasized silhouettes, modern illustrations evoke the
postmodern obsession with abstraction, mystery, and a dearth of defined details.

The new techniques coupled with the different artistic styles of modern illustrations reflect
important changes in fashion illustration. In addition, the changes demand more from the viewer,
since today’s pieces are more imaginative and suggestive. Today, fashion illustrators must
increasingly consider the commingling of function and innovative story telling. It’s a tall order,
but it reveals the talents, beauty and importance of fashion illustrations

MIXED MEDIA

Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium
has been employed.

Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct
visual art media. For example, a work on canvas that combines paint, ink, and collage could
properly be called a "mixed media" work, but not a work of "multimedia art." The term
multimedia art implies a broader scope than mixed media, combining visual art with non-visual
elements (such as recorded sound, for example) or with elements of the other arts (such as
literature, drama, dance, motion graphics, music, or interactivity).
When creating a painted or photographed work using mixed media it is important to choose the
layers carefully and allow enough drying time between the layers to ensure the final work will
have structural integrity. If many different media are used it is equally important to choose a
sturdy foundation upon which the different layers are imposed. A phrase sometimes used in
relationship to mixed media is, "Fat over lean." In other words: "don't start with oil paints. Plan
to make them the final layer."Many effects can be achieved by using mixed media. Found
objects can be used in conjunction with traditional artist media to attain a wide range of self-
expression.

COLLAGE

Collage (from the French: coller, "to glue"; is a technique of an art production, primarily used in
the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a
new whole.

A collage may sometimes include magazine and newspaper clippings, ribbons, paint, bits of
colored or handmade papers, portions of other artwork or texts, photographs and other found
objects, glued to a piece of paper or canvas. The origins of collage can be traced back hundreds
of years, but this technique made a dramatic reappearance in the early 20th century as an art form
of novelty.The term collage was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the
beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art.

INK

Its very interesting media. There are different types of inks used for illustration as mentioned
below.

 Pure
Undiluted ink for the dip-pen. Also used for confident gestures and the darkest areas with
brushes.
 Medium
Diluted ink with water, with a mix ratio of somewhere between 50% and 25% ink to
water. This is used towards the end of the illustration when I know where everything is
and want to add more contrast.
 Light
This is taking the brush with medium mixed ink and dipping it in some water. Used to
mark out lines I might not be confident about, or to make the lightest of washes when
starting out. These are then built up layer upon layer.

MARKERS

Markers are smelly, dry up at any given time, and produce lots of un-sustainable trash. Markers
(and most marker papers) generally have a thin, flat look that is hard to override. There is a great
quickness to being able to grab a wet marker and sketch something out. Markers look a bit
warmer if you use them on rich textured, porous papers, but that is exactly what causes them to
dry up quickly. Using MARKER on LAYOUT PAPER will stop the markers from bleeding-
through, thus make them last much LONGER, and are generally thin, slightly sheer bright-white
papers. So this is good for a “synthetic” feel or mood, not great for warm, cozy stuff.
Fashion markers combine well with other media such as pencils, ink pens, and graphite. Marker
brands like Copic markers from Japan and Touch markers from Korea are generally
recommended. Different types of markers are mentioned below:-

 Ultra-fine black Sharpies: This marker can produce an ultra-thin line every time. It’s
terrific for finalizing pencil outlines and for adding details, linear shading, and textures.
 Prismacolor markers: This line of markers has a long life span, as long as you take care
of them. Prismacolor offers a wide selection of color markers, though you should stick
with the gray shades for now. Their double-ended markers have a broad, flat edge on one
end and a fine point on the other. They also won’t give you the dreaded marker headache
because they don’t smell.
 Pantone Universe Twin markers: Pantone offers a decent line of markers with both a
brush-shaped end and a fine-point end in one marker. Test out their cool and warm grays
— they’re wonderful for a bold shading style. When you feel confident, a quick stroke of
a marker is the way to go in fashion illustration.
 Copic markers: These markers are pricey but well worth it. They’re one of the best
quality markers on the market! They all come double-ended — each end has a different
tip. Most Copic markers can be refilled (which saves money and waste), and the range of
colors available is endless.
 Tombow Dual Brush Pens: These brush tip markers (also known as stamping markers)
are so much fun! They’re less expensive than the other markers, and they work like paint
brushes, laying down bold colors with a softer tip.

GOUACHE

Gouache has a rich, velvety texture and is made to be used on thicker, rougher papers giving a
luxurious quality and texture to the artwork. The imperfections add to the rich artistic quality of
the illustration. With gouache, you “mix your own markers”… you can always access and work
up exactly the color you need. Soft, porous, fabric-like papers will suck all of the “juice” out of
the markers, but are made to work with gouache. All too often my students who insist on using
markers will produce thin, sheer illustrations (of course sometimes this may be just right, but it’s
no fun to be limited to that range) and really approximate colors to match their swatches -
meaning that the colors they illustrate with generally are really poor matches to the fabric colors
in the swatches.

FROTTAGE

Frottage, (French: “rubbing”), in visual arts, technique of obtaining an impression of the

surface texture of a material, such as wood, by placing a piece of paper over it and rubbing it
with a soft pencil or crayon, as for taking brass rubbings; the name is also applied to the
impression so obtained. Frottage was used by Max Ernst and other members of the Surrealist
movement, for whom it often provided the starting point for more elaborate compositions such as
paintings and collages.
MONTAGE

Montage (noun) - Montage is a combination of images taken from any number of media
(photographs, film, and handmade). These images can be whole or partial, glued together on a
surface (such as a photomontage), or edited together to produce a video or film. Think of those
film clips edited together that the annual Academy Awards (a.k.a. the Oscars) ceremony loves to
show in order to stir up our emotions - especially the images of those who passed away over that
past year.

Tracey Moffatt (b. 1960 in Brisbane, Australia) has turned the Oscar editing aesthetic into an art.
Her film montages knit together snippets from television and film in order to create a sense of
commentary on universal issues: love, motherhood and, most recently, art.

The technique of combining in a single composition pictorial elements from various sources, as
parts of different photographs or fragments of printing, either to give the illusion that the
elements belonged together originally or to allow each element to retain its separate identity as a
means of adding interest or meaning to the composition.

COMPUTER ILLUSTRATION

A computer is potentially every tool we have talked about wrapped up into one amazing high-
tech unit. The only limits on any of its capabilities are the quality of the software programs and
our knowledge and ability to make use of them. We can draw in the computer with any number
of instruments, render with a seemingly endless range of colors and brushes, create backgrounds
and graphic shapes almost instantaneously, Combine images, compose layouts, create textures
and patterns, and so on. Even better, if we have a scanner, we can combine our hand drawings
and/or renderings with the computer tools, and that, in my opinion, is the best of both worlds.
When it comes to computer tools, the shock of the new is not just a clever book title. Our high-
tech, high-speed world is transforming our experience every day. Computer skills are largely
self-taught and limited to what can be done quickly and easily to speed up and enhance the
illustration process. Coral draw, Photoshop & Adobe Illustrator are important programs for
students or designers to learn to create computer-generated technical flats. This is a desirable
skill in the design industry that should be taught in every fashion program.

DAVID DOWNTON (1959) - FASHION ILLUSTRATOR

English artist David Downton is a renowned fashion illustrator. In 1984, he worked on a wide
variety of projects ranging from advertising and packaging to illustrating fiction, cook books
and, occasionally, fashion. In 1996, he was asked by the Financial Times to draw his impressions
of the fashions at the Paris couture shows; since then, David has become chiefly known as a
fashion illustrator. Over the last decade, David Downton has established a reputation as one of
the world’s leading fashion artists. His fashion illustration career has charted the runway and
captured the backstage glamour of couture. His drawings have graced the covers of fashion
publications as well. Ink and watercolor on colored paper with acetate overlay David Downton
has been an influential master of fashion illustration since his first commission to illustrate Paris
couture in July 1996. His glamour portraits of fashion capture the essence of classically elegant
and beautifully crafted couture. In this image, Downton uses a bold, blood-red backdrop and
loose brush strokes to express the signature glam-rock style of Jean Paul Gaultierʼs collection