Category Archives: Croquis

Mardi Gras Croquis

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WordPress baffles me. Yesterday was my second largest number of blog visitors in a single day. The previous record was held by Kristin Espinasse’s Tuesday Talent interview. This make sense considering her loyal following. But there is no rhyme or reason to yesterday climbing the charts to #2. Either there are a ton of foodies out there or you’re all trying to figure out how to launder money.

And it’s been far too long since I’ve given my faithful Fashion Illustrators anything. So in honor of Mardi Gras I dressed up a croquis pose. How do you like her? I plan to post more poses from time to time. Let me know if there are particular poses you’d like me to draw. That’s Right! I’m taking requests.

Sketch 2014-03-04 07_58_51

The Weekend ~ 6/28/2013 ~Basic Croquis

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Last Friday I shared my rant on some men’s view of height to which a fellow writer replied with a  quote by Johnny Depp in Don Juan DeMarco:

“One must see beyond what is visible to the eye…When I say that all my woman are dazzling beauties, they object. The nose of this one is too large; the hips of another, they are too wide; perhaps the breasts of a third, they are too small. But I see these women for how they truly are… glorious, radiant, spectacular, and perfect… because I am not limited by my eyesight… I search out the beauty that lies within until it overwhelms everything else.”

So I decide that next time I am confronted with such ignorance I plan to say “Oh, I see your limited by you’re eyesight. That’s a shame.” This rebut can and should be liberally applied.

That goes for you too Gals. If the quote above show anything we as women need to quit judging ourselves by the skin we wear. Let your beauty radiate.

So as promised I have finished new basic croquis templates. My Wacom Tablet decided now would be the time to go on the fritz. i.e. quit working all together. So these babies are hand drawn. I had promised…. so there was no letting you down for the umpteenth time.

After posting my curvaceous croquis I got numerous requests for a back view. And Croquis Part II still remains my most read blog post. Of course revisit it if you want to know how to draw your own 10 head fashion figure. Recently Justine Limpusparish created a fabulous template showing you how to pivot your fashion figure. This will help you vary poses on the basics. And give you much more flexibility in your designs.

So I thought it only fitting that curvaceous be the first of my new and improved Basics revealed, perfect for all your plus size or curvy fashion designs. I’ve elongated her, fashion style, but this lady is still curvaceously delicious. Most people do not realize the average woman in the North America wears a size 14 and the average height is 5′ 4″. So most women would be considered plus size. That certainly is not reflected in our magazine images. However this week Canada’s first plus size magazine was released. Check out Dare– Thanks to Diana Di Poce. So without further ado here’s Curvaceous.

DCT croquis curvaceous FB wweb

I have also redone the Basic Male and Female croquis I posted earlier. Hope you get good use of them. Please share your creations. I would love to see what you design.

DCT croquis Female FB wweb

DCTcroquis Male FB wweb

This will no doubt keep you busy over the weekend. See you next week on the blog!

Blast from This Blogs Past

 

The Weekend Reading List

 

Something Extra

If you can watch this video and not want to dive in then I don’t know what to say to you. It’s just not possible. Makes me want to partially paint my croquis. hmmm…….

Maroon 5- Love Somebody

DCToolbox-Personalized Croquis

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In Croquis Part II I showed how fashion illustrations distort and elongate the human figure. This creates a great visual effect but when it comes to actual designs we draw to scale. So, what if you drew true-to-life scaled drawings of your clients. Perhaps many of you already do.

I’ve found it especially helpful when doing custom work. I’m able to communicate my ideas more clearly and the client can visualize the design more accurately. Often understanding changes I’ve suggested tackfully pulling them out of their comfort zone/regular fashion choices.

One of the most important elements in design is proportion. By drawing a custom croquis you are able to create a harmony between the design and your individual body proportions. Ultimately producing more flattering designs

In theater school the Costume Design teacher use to draw sketches of the students as their characters. I enjoyed the realism in the details.  I could visualize each of my fellow actors as the characters they were playing.  Here are illustrated examples of drawings by Jacqueline West for Water for Elephants. You get the idea.

Most of us are 8 heads tall. In Croquis Part II, I shared the rules for drawing the average proportions of the eight head figure: the chin falls at 1, the bust line at 2, the elbow & waist at 3, hipline at 4, fingers tips at 5, knee at 6 and heel at 8.  The shoulders are 1 ½- 2 heads wide, waist is 1 head, and hips 1.5 heads.  Now this is the ideal or the average. Most of us don’t have the ideal proportions or even distributions of models. You’ll find that every person is unique.

Carl Jung wrote “The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.”  This is personified in this day and age where the ideal beauty is so far from the reality of the average. So today let’s apply the principles of drawing a person true to scale.
 

How to Draw A Custom Croquis:

First, to create our template we must take some measurements. Using a tape measure I start at the crown of the head. First I measure the head (the basic building block).

Next I note where the pivotal points of the body fall. I.e. where do the shoulders break, high point of the bust, bust point, waist, belly button, high hip, hip, knees, ankles, etc.? Then I measure the width of the shoulders, bust, waist and hips.

Once I have all my measurements noted I begin drawing my scaled template. When drawing a custom croquis I use a scale of 1/8” to represent 1”. As a working example I drew a scaled figure of fellow designer and NYFA student Gina Moorehead.

Gina is 5’ 4” or 64”. So using the only ruler I can’t live without  I draw a line 8 inches long (math review 64”/ 8 = 8”). If I were drawing myself at 6’ 1” or 73” I would draw a line 9 & 1/8” long. These measurements are true to scale and barefoot. Later I can adjust my figure to add heels as high as I would like them to be.

So once I have my 8” line I go back and mark the important points from the measurements I took on the template. These are indicated in Red. Notice that I draw the shoulders, bust, waist and hip lines indicating their width. For the other areas I make small tick marks. Once these are in place I begin to flesh out the figure.

*note you can always draw one half of the figure then fold the paper on the centerline and trace the other side so they are identical to one another. Placing tracing paper over your template makes this even easier.

Once the front view is completed place another piece of paper over top and trace the outline of your figure. From here you can draw the back view.

Now I like to ink them and add various design lines to the croquis figure. I also created a side view and added heels. Here are some other peoples custom croquis images/tutorials  I came across online Here & here & here & here & here & here . I think you get the picture.

Finally you are ready to draw your designs. You will get a much more accurate idea of what styles work for your body type. So go forth and draw yourself, your friends, and your family. Enjoy!

Image: (1) Acceptable  (2) Fabulous Doodles  (3) Simply Luxurious Life (4-7) DCTdesigns