Drawing practice using japanesestreets.com as reference. In my next series the girls need to be wearing proper clothes, so I have to learn how to draw them.
Learning to draw good clothes is pretty much like learning to draw an entirely new character. They say so much about the wearer instantly. When a character is naked (as a lot of mine are), they’re timeless and untainted by genre. As soon as you dress a character they’re gong to get judged for what it is you’ve put them in. Even though nakedness expresses more vulnerability, as an artist I feel far more self-conscious about posting characters who are dressed.
I don’t think I’m all that good at making sure the clothes I dress my characters in speak clearly about who they are. I’ll often draw them in watered-down versions of what exists in my wardrobe, since it’s on hand at the front of my mind. It doesn’t help I currently find what I own very boring.
This clothes mismatch is the main reason I dislike my last watercolour. I don’t think the clothes say anything exciting about who she is. It’s my job to make sure that everything in the picture is playing an equal role in telling the story, so it’s time I learned how to speak through style.
This is the fun part though! I get to do heaps of awesome research followed by tons of practice! I’m serious, I love this part SO MUCH. And there are few things more inspiring and original to me than a blog on Japanese street fashion, so what better place to start?
I’ll probably throw some of The Sartorialist in to the mix too, once I’m in a good flow.
If you have any other suggestions for awesome fashion blogs (street, high fashion, runway, editorial, male, vintage, New Zealand), please let me know! I am a sponge for visual information!
Oh, and a huge big thank-you to everyone who responded to my last post. You guys are AWESOME and so incredibly helpful. This is why I know the internet is the best place to call home.