WATERCOLOR FASHION ILLUSTRATION: Step-by-Step Techniques for Illustrating Fashion and Figures in Watercolors

Francesco Lo Iacono

David & Charles, Ltd, Pynes Hill, UK

Year 2021

Pages 269

Watercolor is a wonderful medium for figure and fashion as it creates loose, impressionistic results that capture the essence of a look without getting too bogged down in the details. In this complete course, the author shows you how to master creating delicate, beautiful fashion illustrations. The book begins with the best tools and materials, from paints and brushes to pencils, paper and more. You will then explore simple watercolor techniques such as washes, wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, and using the white of the paper. The author then goes on to teach you about lighting and shading, which can have a dramatic effect on your work. And finally in the front section, you will learn about colour, how to create palettes, how to mix colours and achieving a range of skin tones. Once you have covered these fundamentals, the author explores the key elements of illustrating fashion, with guidance on how to approach both male and female faces, a wide variety of hair types and styles, different male and female poses, and how to draw and paint garments, reflecting tailoring, drapery, volume, texture and patterns. Twenty step-by-step projects then take these building blocks and show you how to use them to create beautiful fashion watercolors, starting with easier subjects and building in complexity as your confidence grows. You will begin by painting handbags and shoes without models before starting to introduce figures. The range of subjects included covers all angles, from full figures front on and in profile to close-up make-up and beauty illustrations. You will also learn how to create dynamic compositions for editorial fashion illustration. Finally, the author covers the best ways to digitize and retouch your work, how to incorporate other media alongside your watercolors, how to work live at fashion events and how to take everything you have learned to develop your own personal style of fashion illustration.