Fashion Artist Oval and Triangle Technique

Fashion Artist Oval and Triangle Technique

There are a variety of strategies that might assist you in learning to draw fashion figures. If you’d rather spend your time designing outfits rather than drawing figures, you may always download free basic figure poses and develop them using tracing paper.

Fashion Artist Oval and Triangle Technique

1. Matchstick Men Templates

Matchstick Men are the most elementary method for drawing figures – we can all draw them. The Oval and Triangle Technique takes you a step further by using simple blocks to represent the total body shape and its proportions, while clearly identifying the balance and movement of the figure.

Whether your fashion drawing takes on the character of a gamine girl with big eyesdila Twiggy or a sophisticated diva, the oval and triangle technique is a simple method for understanding, the basic principles of the figure. as you developed your reading and writing skills you can learn to sketch fashion figures.

The typical female fashion figure is illustrated as young and slender with elongated legs and square shoulders. Fashion figures are measured in head lengths and head widths which is the simplest measurement for checking body proportions.

• The female figure measures seven to eight head lengths in height. In contrast, the female fashion figure can measures nine to ten head lengths or more

• Fashion figures retain the proportions of human form from the head through to the crotch. Extra length is added to the legs to give a more dramatic, stylized look and to give clothing designs more dynamic appeal.

Fashion Artist Oval and Triangle Technique

2. The NINE heads template

The nine heads template is a front facing, symmetrical fashion figure, measured in head lengths and widths, and drawn as ovals and triangles. The Nine Heads template is a simple starting point for drawing all fashion poses. It will be used here as a guideline for body proportions.

Drawing exercise:

1. Draw ten, evenly spaced horizontal lines. Each division represents one head length.
2. Number the sections 1 to 9.
3. Draw the intermediate lines for the shoulder and the hip (dashed).
4. Name the lines.
5. Draw a vertical line this forms the Vertical Balance Line (V/B) and the Centre Front Line (C/F) of the body.

Note: Corel DRAW (drawing software) has been used to present clarity of line, but it is expected the exercises be drawn quickly by hand and do not have to be as precise.

Draw the Oval and Triangle Fashion Figure

1. Draw the head as an oval to fit section one.
2. Draw the neck from the oval to the shoulder line.
3. Draw the upper torso as a large inverted triangle: Shoulder to hip- the shoulder is approximately two head widths across.
4. Draw the lower torso as a smaller inverted triangle: Hip to crotch – the hip is approximately one and three quarters head widths.
5. Draw each arm as two elongated ovals: Upper oval-shoulder to elbow. Lower oval – elbow to wrist.
6. Draw the hands as diamond shapes three quarters of a head in length.
7. Draw each leg as two elongated ovals: Upper oval – hip to knee. Lower oval – knee to ankle.
8. Draw the feet as diamond shapes – one head length.
9. Name your drawing Template 1. This is your basic nine heads template that you will flesh out in Highlight.

Fashion Artist Oval and Triangle Technique

3. Balance and movement vertical balance line (V/B)

To add life to the basic fashion pose it is imperative to understand how the body balances. The vertical balance line (V/B) is an extremely useful guideline to ensure a figure drawing is well balanced and never appears to be falling over.

The V/B line drops vertically from the pit of the neck to the ground. It never bends – it hangs like a builder’s plumb line. To understand this clearly, check your own vertical balance line by using a full length mirror:

• Stand with your weight evenly balanced between both feet – your shoulders, waist and hips will naturally be level.
• Visualize the vertical balance line dropping from the pit of your neck directly to the ground. In this evenly balanced pose the line falls through the centre of your body to the ground, equidistant from each foot.
• v/b line and high hip Transfer your body weight onto one leg. The V/B line now lies from the pit of the neck dropping vertically to the leg bearing the weight. Your shoulders and waist take on opposing angles – there is now movement and life in your pose.

The leg taking all the weight is called the weight bearing leg

(1). Your other leg, which is carrying little or no weight, is called the balance leg

(2). Note: The vertical balance line

(3) drops directly through the weight bearing leg.

• The hip and shoulder are now asymmetrically angled over the weight bearing leg – the hip (4) is higher and called the High Hip. Change your weight to the opposite leg and see how the angles reverse to become a mirror image. The vertical balance line now drops directly through the opposite leg.
• Move your balance leg and observe how you can place it in many positions and still stand comfortably on the weight bearing leg. • Notice how you can move your arms to different positions and that the vertical balance line from the pit of the neck remains over the weight bearing leg.

Fashion Artist Oval and Triangle Technique

Body perspective

Shoulder Understanding body perspective will also help you draw the correct proportion of the figure in various poses. In this section we look at the Arc Figure, the movement of arms and legs and the Centre Front Line

The arc Figure

As the arms and legs of the front facing figure move sideways on an arc, their length remains constant. The arc figure demonstrates this movement. In contrast when the arms and legs of the model/figure are bent and move towards or away from us they appear foreshortened.

Fashion Artist Oval and Triangle Technique

4. Popular fashion poses

As the styling details of most garments are on the front, the preferred poses to display the clothing are forward facing or slightly turned. Therefore, side (profile) and back views are not drawn as frequently unless required. Back views are more commonly drawn when designing wedding or evening garments as the back is often highly.

The key to fashion drawing is to start by perfecting a number of standard poses as outlined in the Figure Matrix. From this platform, a wider selection of poses can then be developed by simply varying the arm, leg and head positions. Reverse the drawings and you have more variations.

The following poses are a variety of some of those most frequently used in fashion. Quickly sketch them and their variations using the oval and triangle technique – note they do not have to be perfect, simply capture the poses and movement.

Several of these sketches have been selected to be used as templates and developed throughout the book. Name the drawings as per examples and keep them protected in a folder or portfolio. They will be developed in Chapter 5, Fleshing Out Note:

Fashion Artist Oval and Triangle Technique

1. As the body turns, the perspective changes, therefore you will need to slightly distort the triangle and oval shapes.
2. Check the figure is well balanced by using the vertical balance from the pit of the neck.
3. Check the shoulder and hip angles. When you have finished drawing these poses, practice sketching poses from magazines. The model should be wearing fitted garments so that you can see the body shape.

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