Working with Color
OMG! We’re getting closer to the end, and I’m going to miss you 🙂
But, I’m super excited for this lesson because we’ll work with color, which is one of the most fun steps of the illustration process!
Are you ready?
Color
The color is the 3rd element of a simple fashion illustration, and it is very important because it gives an explosion of emotion and meaning to your fashion work. Besides, if the purpose of your fashion illustration is merely representing the garment, then having the wrong colors would mean trouble during production time 😛
Well, at the beginning of the course I stated that a simple fashion illustration is not required to evoke emotion. But, if you want to give emotion a try in your illustrations after this course , this could help you.
You can interpret one fashion illustration or collection completely differently just because of color.
The emotions and meaning each color conveys vary from culture to culture, from country to country, and of course, from person to person. One color won’t evoke the same emotions in you as in me. The meaning we give to color depends on our background, our stories, and our personality.
Yes, there’re some fundamentals in color theory and color science that you can use, but they’re general. And they’re not as deep as human emotions are.
That’s why as a designer and illustrator, I recommend you to do a personal test with each color you use, and ask yourself:
- What is this color telling me?
- What emotions is this color evoking in me?
- Is this color transmitting what I want to transmit?
As I said before in a simple fashion illustration you don’t need to evoke emotions unless you’ve stated that in lesson 2, remember the exercise?
In that case, decide what are the colors you want for your simple fashion illustration, and the materials you want to use. You can represent the same colors as in your source of inspiration, you can go bold and change them to something that is more you, or you can even do both, create one illustration exactly as your source of inspiration, and another illustration representing the colors you think fit better to the outfit.
It’s your time to do things your way, remember that experimenting is one thing that will take you closer to finding your style, so it’s worth the time you spend on it.
Okay, so now let’s see how to give color to your drawings 😉
How to Give Color
This piece of the lesson is divided by two, today you’ll see how to color skin, eyes, mouths, and hair, and in next lesson you’ll see how to color the garments. 😉
Well, there’re dozens of materials you can use to create and color your fashion illustrations like:
- Markers
- Watercolors
- Gouache
- Color Pencils
- Acrylics
- Pastels
- Ink
- Gelatos
My very favorite material for beginners is markers because they’re easy to use, you can use them for very quick sketches and very detailed illustrations, and they look amazingly gorgeous! – I even have a course teaching how to render 45 different fabrics 😛
I remember when I was in my first year of industrial design, I was desperately excited because I was about to learn how to use a new material, markers. By that time, I had used pastels, color pencils, and oils but never markers.
My first project with markers was coloring a car (what?! :s), and then I used them to illustrate a locket and other kinds of jewelry and for every project I had during school.
But, like you I love fashion, and when you love something you can’t stop thinking about it, and you do everything you can to experience it.
So, I started coloring my clothing designs with my new markers; I didn’t do anything special just added some flat color. But, as I began practicing different fabric textures and I realized the big potential of the technique I was using, I fell completely in love with it.
I also use markers when I create ideas for a new collection rapidly, and I mix them with other materials when I want to create something more detailed. If you want to create something gorgeously detailed you only have to dedicate more time and practice, that’s all. You can do whatever you want to do with whatever materials you want to choose.
Now I’m in love with watercolors, and it’s the art media that I use most often – creating detailed and not so detailed illustrations. And a course is coming soon 😉
So, work and experiment until you find your perfect match.
Today I bring with me four videos that come from my new course Fashion Markers, a course to learn how to illustrate 45 fabric textures.
One video shows you the basics of markers, and the other three are a bonus to complement your fashion illustrations by coloring the skin, eyes, mouth, and hair.
Hope you enjoy them 😀
Today’s assignment is
- Read today’s lesson, watch the videos, and use your workbook.
- Determine the colors and materials you will use for your fashion illustration. You can use page 65 of your workbook to write that down.
- In next lesson, we’ll see texture, and you’ll give color and texture to the outfit from your source of inspiration.
- In the meantime, ask me anything about today’s or any previous lesson via email, or if via Instagram with the hashtag #FashionIllustrationCourse.
- I had a GREAT time creating this tutorial for the REVAMPED magazine; you can go and check it out!
What colors and materials will you use? Have any doubt, let me know!
Lots of LOVE!
