How to draw fashion illustration characters - how to practice illustration at home without line drawings

Illustrator processes photos into vector fashion character illustrations

Vector characters are often used in many newspapers, magazines and commercial advertisements, especially young beauties, because regardless of male or female audience, They all like female characters in illustrations or advertisements. Drawing vector characters is not difficult. With the help of today's excellent vector drawing software, such as Illustrator, CorelDraw, etc., and mastering some basic skills, you can draw various characters as you like.

This article will use the Chinese version of Illustrator CS2 as an example to introduce how to use Illustrator to draw fashionable vector girls. The steps for other versions of Illustrator may be slightly different.

The specific steps are as follows.

1. Insert a reference photo

Many designers will first select a picture as a reference when drawing vector characters, which can make the creative process easier. , at the same time, it can make up for the lack of hand-drawing skills. Readers can search for other pictures of beautiful women on the Internet for reference.

After starting Illustrator, create a new document, and then select the menu command "File Placement" to place the reference picture into the current document. Double-click "Layer 1" in the "Layer" palette to open the "Layer Options" dialog box, select the check boxes "Lock" and "Dark Image To", and set the value of the darkened image to 30% , as shown in Figure 1. After setting, click the "OK" button.

2. Start tracing

With the reference layer, you can use the pen tool to trace, just like tracing red when practicing calligraphy. Click the "Create New Layer" button in the lower right corner of the "Layer" palette to create a new layer "Layer 2", hold down the Ctrl key while clicking the eye icon to the left of "Layer 2" (as shown in the figure) (shown in 2), switch the view mode of the diagram level to outline mode.

Use the "Pen Tool" in the toolbox to outline the basic outline of the girl, as shown in Figure 3. This requires readers to master the basic use of the pen tool in advance.

When drawing outlines, there are some shortcut keys that can help you draw quickly and well. These shortcut keys are:

Ctrl+[=Move the object arrangement order back one level. Ctrl+]=Move the object arrangement order forward one level. Ctrl+Shift+[=Move the object to the bottom. Ctrl+Shift+]=Move the object to the top. Ctrl+F=Paste the object to the top of its original location.

3. Make facial shadows

Use the pen tool to draw the path of the shadow, then select the outer contour path of the face and press Ctrl+C to copy the path, then press Ctrl+F to paste it into the original Location on the upper level. Select the copied facial outline path and the original shadow path, press Shift+Ctrl+F9 to open the "Pathfinder" palette, and click the "Intersect with Shape Area" button in "Shape Mode", as shown in Figure 4 ,After such operation, only the overlapping parts of the two paths remain. This is a method often used when drawing character illustrations. Please pay attention to it during the following drawing process.

Use the same method as above to create a shadow path for the entire illustration. It is not necessary to pay too much attention to the details of the path. It is enough to draw a simple path for each part, such as eyes, lips, T-shirt, body and other parts, as shown in Figure 5. Remember to use Ctrl+C to copy the path, and then use Ctrl+F to paste it to the original location. This method will save us a lot of time.

4. Fill in the basic color

Now fill in the basic color for the face, eyes, lips and eyebrows, as shown in Figure 6.

5. Fill the gradient for the shadow

Use the gradient color to fill the shadow path of the face. Here, the gradient from white to skin tone is used. Select the blending mode in the "Transparency" palette as "Multiply", as shown in Figure 7.

Select other shadow paths, and then use the "Eye Eyedropper Tool" to copy the gradient fill from the previously filled shadow path to other shadow paths, as shown in Figure 8.

For the shadows on the lips and eyes, use the Eyedropper Tool to copy the basic color of the face and change the blending mode to Multiply.

6. Coloring of body parts

Use the same method as above to fill the body with the gradient color. Note that you may need to adjust the gradient color of each shadow path to make the body part The color tone is consistent with the color tone of the entire character, as shown in Figure 9.

7. Color the hair

Still using the same method as above, after filling a path with the gradient color, use the "Eyedropper Tool" to copy the gradient color to other hair paths, such as As shown in Figure 10.

8. Color the T-shirt

Still use the same coloring method as the above steps, as shown in Figure 11. At this point, you should know the tips for coloring vector characters.

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9. Color the skirt.

Use a blue gradient color to fill the skirt, and then use the "Eye Eyedropper Tool" to copy it to the shadow path, as shown in Figure 12.

10. Hair details

Now you can add more details to the hair to make the character more delicate. Make shadows by adding multiple paths and add some highlights using a lighter gradient color, as shown in Figure 13. If desired, you can also use the same method to add more details to clothes, lips, etc., or add beautiful tattoos to her body.

Finally, let us take a look at the completed effect, as shown in Figure 14. To make the characters more vivid, you need to work more on some details, because this is a tutorial and not a commercial illustration. Using the method introduced in this article, you can find more pictures to practice drawing vector characters. In time, I believe You will definitely be able to create good works.

#p#subtitle#e#How to practice illustration at home without line drawing

1. First, you must be familiar with the software you want to use. You can find many tutorials on this software on the Internet. You can sign up for some online classes

2. Buy a hand-drawn tablet. It doesn’t need to be expensive. Buy a cheap one to practice with. The feeling of hand-drawing and mouse-drawing are different. You can experience the strokes of the hand-drawn tablet yourself. , Intensity

3. Imitation, you can first find some simple illustrations to copy. After achieving the effect you are satisfied with, you can find some relatively difficult illustrations you like to practice

4. Usually read more illustration works, learn other people’s painting techniques, and practice and strengthen yourself

Extended information

1. According to market positioning: vector fashion cartoons, juvenile realistic Beautiful Korean comic illustration concept settings, etc.

2. Classification according to production method: hand-drawn, vector, commercial, cutting-edge (2D plane, UI design, 3D), pixel

3. Classification by illustration and painting style: Japanese cartoons and illustrations, European and American illustrations, Hong Kong illustrations, Korean game illustrations, Taiwanese romance novel cover illustrations (due to the diversity of styles, it is just a simple classification)

4. In addition, the style is wider abroad. There are handmade origami, cloth patterns, and various styles, all on par. Fashion Illustration: The "Devil of Fashion" with a 500-year history

Fashion illustration has existed for nearly 500 years. Since the emergence of clothes, it is necessary to transform the ideas or images of designing clothes into fashion illustrations . This visual form originated in illustration, drawing and painting, and is also known as "fashion sketching". Fashion designers mainly use "fashion sketching" to brainstorm ideas on paper or digitally. Its main role in design is to preview and visualize the final result before sewing the actual clothes.

Next, we will take a look at the historical development process of fashion illustration, the "devil of fashion" with a history of 500 years, in stages.

1. The Beginning of Fashion Illustration

Fashion illustration began in the 16th century, when global exploration and discovery led to people's fascination with the clothes of people in various countries around the world. Books illustrating appropriate clothing for different social classes and cultures were printed to help combat the fear of change and the social unrest caused by these discoveries.

Between 1520 and 1610, more than 200 such engravings, etchings or woodcuts were published, containing panels of figures dressed as a particular nationality or caste. These are the earliest illustrations of clothing and the prototype of modern fashion illustrations. These illustrations are likely to be used by dress designers, dressmakers, and their clients to inspire new designs.

Seventeenth-century artists Jacques Callot and Abraham Bosse both used modern engraving techniques to create realistic details of period clothing and costumes.

These periodicals began in France and England in the 1670s and are considered the first fashion magazines, and include Le Mecure Gallant, The Lady's Magazine, La Gallerie des Modes, Le Cabinet des Modes and Le Journal des Dameset des Modes. During this period, the number of published periodicals increased, in response to the market's growing female readership hungry for the latest fashion news. It was not until the late 18th and early 19th century that male-style illustrations became as important as female illustrations.

2. The fashion plate in the 19th century

The fashion plate came to the forefront in the late 18th century and became popular in Paris. During this period, publications such as Horace Venet's "Incroyable set Merveilleuses" etc. objects, as well as a series of watercolor fashion pictures engraved by Georges-Jacques Gatine during the Napoleon I period, both became famous for a while.

France’s position as the arbiter of fashion ensures a constant demand for fashion illustrations at home and abroad. This interest in, and increasingly widespread access to, fashionable clothing resulted in more than 150 fashion periodicals in the 19th century. These highly detailed fashion illustrations capture information on fashion trends and provide general dressmaking guidance.

Haute couture customization also appeared at this stage (appeared in the 1860s). Fashion companies hired illustrators, who would work directly with women's clothing designers. When the designers hung the fabrics on the live models, the illustrations The designer will sketch out the new design. They also create illustrations of each design in the finished collection, which can then be sent to clients.

By the end of the 19th century, hand color printing was replaced by full color printing. Fashion patterns began using two figures, one of which could be seen from the back or side, so that the garment could be seen from more angles, making copying easier. The focus of 19th century illustrators was accuracy and detail. They adhere to static image conventions in order to provide comprehensive information and guidance to the viewer.

3. Fashion magazines and illustrations in the 20th century

In the early decades of the 20th century, fashion illustrations in the modern sense blossomed for the first time. As the distribution of the latest fashion styles became increasingly profitable, the job of fashion illustrator became a profession. Fashion, formerly the work of individual artists, is now becoming an industry, producing new merchandise in unprecedented quantities to fill department store shelves. These stores invented a new pastime in full name - shopping culture.

Gazettedubonton, a French luxury magazine published from 1912 to 1925, brought together a group of young artists who were given unprecedented freedom in interpreting fashion. Iribe was the leading figure among these fashion illustrators, contributing to prestigious publications that also included Charles Martin, Eduardo Garcia Benito, George · George Barbier, Georges Lepape and Umberto Brunelleschi. The plates they produced for the Gazette showed the influence of Japanese woodblock prints, as well as new changes in Art Deco style.

In the United States, mass-market fashion magazines Vogue and Harper's Bazaar cover social occasions as well as contemporary clothing trends. Harper's Bazaar magazine signed an exclusive contract with the genius Erte, which lasted from 1915 to 1938 and was one of the longest contracts in publishing history.

From 1910 to the outbreak of World War II, Vogue magazine always featured illustrations on its covers. Early covers of Vogue featured illustrations by American illustrators Helen Dryden, George Wolf Plank, Georges Lepape, and F.X. Leyendecker of artwork.

After World War I, they were joined by European artists, including Eduardo Benito, Charles Martin, Pierre Brissaud ) and AndreMarty.

4. The Golden Age of Fashion Illustration

The 1920s to 1930s represented the "golden age" of fashion illustration. Every commercial artist is considered a fashion artist and is a consummate draftsman. Many people can represent the texture, sheen and even weight of a fabric with authority and conviction.

New technological developments in photography and printing began to place reproductions of photographs directly on the pages of magazines, meaning that fashion graphics were no longer representative of modern life. By the early 1930s, photographs began to become the magazine's first choice, with Vogue reporting in 1936 that photographic covers were selling better and illustrations were beginning to be incorporated into the inside pages.

With the economic recession following the 1929 stock market crash, the American fashion industry became less dependent on Parisian fashion. During the interwar period, clothing manufacturing in the United States made great strides, improving mass production methods and standardizing sizing. Middle-class women relied on skilled seamstresses to purchase the latest fashion designs at affordable prices, while magazines such as Vogue and Women's Journal published patterns that were invaluable to home dressmakers.

The main purpose of Vogue magazine is to show fashion to readers as much as possible. Photography frees illustrators from the need to accurately record clothing and is more inclined to interpret fashionable clothing. According to the magazine's publisher, "The artists, who are primarily interested in obtaining interesting pictorial and decorative effects, are burdened and therefore bored with faithfully reporting anything in the spirit of contemporary fashion."

Dior's "New Look" of the late 1940s provided inspiration for the postwar fashion revival. In many ways it's a throwback style, reaching back into the past rather than looking forward to the future, but it also symbolizes a return to more cheerful, optimistic times.

5. The Destruction and Revival of Fashion Illustration

By the 1950s, fashion editors had allocated more budgets to the editorial communication of photography. The subsequent elevation of fashion photographers to celebrity status meant that illustrators had to be content with producing articles on lingerie and accessories, or working on advertising campaigns.

During the 1960s, fashion illustration continued to lose its place in magazine publishing, a trend that was reflected in the new category of teen magazines aimed at young people, many of which were published in the 1960s, all of which Illustrations are all about illustration as a cheap alternative to photography.

Antonio Lopez (Antonio Lopez) was the only artist to appear regularly in Vogue magazine during this period. His career began in "Women's Wear Daily".

In the second half of the 20th century, fashion illustration struggled to survive, and it was not until the 1980s that it began to revive. The new generation of artists was featured in magazines such as La Modeenpeinture (1982), Conde Nast’s Vanity (1981) and Visionaire (1991). This resurgence was attributed to advertising campaigns, specifically Barney's New York advertising campaign from 1993-1996.

6. Fashion Illustration Today

Between fine art and commercial art, fashion illustration has recently been re-evaluated as an important genre. Since beauty and elegance have become passé in both fashion and art, fashion illustration sometimes seems like a throwback to an earlier era.

Photography is very good at recording the details of a garment, so the illustrator's focus is no longer on an exact representation of the garment, but on explaining the garment and its possible wearer. In the late 20th and early 20th centuries, it developed a range of unique artistic styles, enabled by digital tools and social media platforms. In the 1990s, pioneer illustrators Ed Tsuwaki, Graham Rounthwaite, Jason Brooks and Kristian Russell began to emerge in the field of computer graphics.

This period witnessed the emergence of computer design programs Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as the revival of traditional art-based forms of fashion illustration. New York's Parsons School of Design and FIT School began offering illustration as a dedicated element of their fashion courses. Hand-crafted "traditional" illustration has been enjoying a renaissance, with fashion illustrators often looking back to the masters of the past for style inspiration. Fashion illustrations based on classic methods have successfully complemented those created by more modern processes.

Recently, illustration has become popular through collaborations between fashion designers and illustrators. With the use of social media, fashion illustrators have begun to attract people's attention. Stylish illustrations are full of vibrant colors, intricate patterns and endless personality to make a lasting impression.

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