Watch fashion illustration close-up as sketching expert Yelen Ayé creates three figures while sharing some of his key drawing and rendering tips.

This 15-minute Web Extra video supplements Yelen’s detailed tutorial in “Fashion Illustration Basics,” in Threads #210, August/September 2020. Yelen teaches fashion sketching and garment construction at The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

In the video, he shows what markers he uses, how he starts the fashion figure sketch with an essential understructure drawing, and how he achieves the figure’s balance and proportions.

Sketching guidance

As he sketches each fashion figure, Yelen offers pointers for conveying the figure’s attitude and showing the drape of a garment’s fabric. He demonstrates his method for creating fabric textures, too, specifically for a chiffon scarf and a ruffled dress.

Even the weight of each drawn line is important, Yelen explains. He encourages experimentation and welcomes questions about fashion illustration below or via Instagram: yelen_aye.

Personalized fashion illustration

For more sketching instruction from Yelen, see “Video: How to Make a Personal Croquis.”  In this video, he demonstrates techniques for creating a croquis in your likeness. It would be based on a front-facing, full-body photo of yourself.