So far I’ve talked about drawing by hand using good old pencil and paper. It’s the most accessible way to draw, but I also know that many of you are interested in using computers or tablets. For you, I’ve teed up a couple of the best books I know for technical drawing. This first one will suit both hand drawing and CAD, and I hope this book review of Technical Drawing for Fashion helps you!
If you’re more interested in fashion illustration, you can check out a few of my previous book reviews:
- Anna Kiper, Fashion Portfolio
- Anna Kiper, Fashion Illustration
- Sharon Rothman, The Fashion Designer’s Sketchbook
Note: The full title is Technical Drawing for Fashion: A Complete Guide, second edition. ISBN: 978-1-78067-836-8. Published by Laurence King.
You can order Technical Drawing for Fashion directly from the publisher here.
Let’s dig in!
Two reasons why I recommend this book
These two photos demonstrate exactly why I recommend this book – and I’ll come back to this in a few weeks, when I tie things up. Not only should you have your own unique style of drawing, but Szkutnicka points out that there are three styles of drawing besides. She does this to clarify the premise of her book, but this also explains why some designers worry more than they should about their drawings. Which kind of drawing are you concerned about? And is it the most important type?
This distinction allows you to focus on exactly which skills you need to develop, and which style of drawing you most want to improve.
Exercises for observational drawing
There’s an early emphasis on observational drawing. You can’t skip this just because you’re using a computer! Here are some examples of how and why you need to pay attention.
There is really no getting away from strengthening your powers of observation. It doesn’t matter whether you use a pencil or the computer to draw. What matters most is your ability to faithfully represent what’s in front of you.
Knitters, here are a couple of examples of how this is illustrated using CAD software. You can also see how surface pattern and colour are applied in a way that doesn’t fight with clarity. Technical Drawing for Fashion shows you how to do all this using Adobe Illustrator, as many of these books do, but vector drawings are vector drawings. Many of the conventions are transferable from one piece of software to another.
As a side note, it’s important to use vector drawings for all types of illustration. You’ll get a clear, clean line no matter how far you zoom in. Because we want line drawings, we don’t want the files to contain lots of unnecessary information stored in pixels. Leave that to Photoshop and friends!
Figure drawing and technical drawing for fashion
There’s also space given to figure drawing. There isn’t as much depth as there is in the fashion illustration books I mentioned at the top of this post, and for good reason. For technical drawing, we don’t need to bother with complex poses. All we need is to see a clear view of the front, back, and sides. No three-quarter profiles here! The goal is clarity and focus.
Again, guidance is given for hand drawing and CAD.
As an aside, you can source your figures from wherever you like. You can use the ones supplied in the book, but an even better option is to use the croquis generated from somewhere like My Body Model. You can create figures for various sizes in your range, according to the body measurements in your size chart, and use them as a starting point.
I say this because it’s been on my to-do list for YEARS! Having a resource like this is so helpful for knitters and designers. It makes the schematic so much more relatable, and there’s no such thing as too much information if you make your own clothes. Sometimes it’s not about the quality of the information, but how it’s presented.
Last words
I hope this book review of Technical Drawing for Fashion was helpful – and please let me know if you buy this book or get it from your library. Your library should be able to order it for you if it’s not already on the shelf.
You can order Technical Drawing for Fashion directly from the publisher here.
Finally, thank you for reading, and a big thank you to Katie and Connie for their ongoing support via Ko-Fi! If you’d like to support my blog regularly or contribute to the tip jar, click the pink button on the bottom left.
And if you found this book review on technical drawing for fashion helpful, please share it so that others can benefit too. Thank you 🙂
Not yet ready for technical drawing for fashion, but want to start building your drawing skills? I have a starter course for you!
Visual Communication: Pencil control and the greyscale | Knitwear Design Initiation taster course
Knitwear Design Initiation | Visual Communication taster course
A 1-hour introductory drawing course or refresher for those who haven’t used their art materials for a long time.
It’s accessible to anyone who wants to make a start on or improve their drawing skills, but the techniques covered prepare you for the nuance of illustrating soft textures of knits.
This class on pencil control and the greyscale was designed especially for drawing out your latent sensitivity and artistry. The marks you make on the paper will range from the wispiest grey to the earthiest charcoal. This vocabulary will also improve your observational skills because you’ll have the means to draw what you see.
The Visual Communication taster is the first step away from the frustration of not being able to draw from life, or the disappointment of your drawings not looking the way you want them to. In just over an hour, you’ll never look at pencil and paper the same way again!