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 details. In this complete course, leading fashion illustrator Francesco Lo Iacono teaches you how to master all the elements of creating delicate, beautiful fashion illustrations.

Foreword       4

INTRODUCTION         5

Using this book          6

Tools and materials   8

EXPLORING WATERCOLOR    12

Approaching the blank page 12

Mixing your paints     13

Practice exercises      14

Understanding lighting and shading. 16

Understanding color  19

ILLUSTRATING FASHION        24

Working in the fashion industry        24

CREATING A CHARACTER       26

General features        26

Women’s faces          30

Men’s faces    31

Hair    32

Painting beautiful hair 33

POSES 34

The body        35

Examples        38

RENDERING FABRICS AND PRINTS    40

Exploring fabrics and textures           41

Prints and patterns    43

TUTORIALS     44

Canvas tote bag         46

Wedge platform shoe 48

Gown on mannequin 50

Womenswear head to toe     54

Menswear head to toe          58

Girl with bag  62

Eye makeup   66

Girl with hat   70

Woman in print dress 76

Boy with hat   80

Perfumes       84

Focus on beauty        86

Girl with sunglasses   92

Man in print shirt       96

Vintage jewelry          100

Menswear composition         102

Catwalk moment       108

Close-up beauty look 112

Womenswear composition   118

Editorial with background     126

READY FOR BUSINESS 132

Digitizing your work   132

Mixed media  136

Working live   138

Developing personal style     141

About the author and acknowledgements   142

Index  143

When I tell people that I work as an illustrator, it’s not always easy to describe my job or explain what I do. It has been— and still is—an exciting journey, and for me, one of the perks of being an illustrator is that it’s an ever-challenging and constantly new experience. Drawing is, of course, at the core of my work. I’ve always loved drawing. Like many, I started when I was still a child. I vividly remember drawing in my primary school books, filling them with sketches and impressions, and I feel like I’ve never stopped. Of course, my practice has evolved since then. During my academic studies back in Italy, I fell in love with watercolor, which has become my favorite artistic technique by far, and I started to explore photography as well. Photography eventually led me to fashion, and not long after, I decided to move to Paris, where I briefly worked in the womenswear department of a trend-forecasting agency. During that time, I felt like all of my interests could be combined in fashion illustration, and from that moment on I’ve worked hard to make this my full-time job. Over the years I’ve also trained as a teacher, led some classes in Italy, and, more recently, tutored a monthly fashion life-drawing class for over two years in London. It has been a very enriching experience, and I see this book as the natural following step.

accessories 37, 38, 70, 100 acrylic paint 136 background landscape 126–31 bags 46–7, 62–5 beauty industry 86–91, 112–17 body, poses 34–9 borders, using paper tape 128 brushes 8–9, 139 cleaning 11 excess water 13 buildings 126–31 catwalk work 37, 38, 108–11 chin 30, 91, 95, 116 clothing depicting 35, 38–9 rendering fabrics/patterns 40–3 see also men; women collage 137 color 19–23 digitizing your work 132–5, 137 dresses/gowns adding shape 16–17 fashion show 108–11 figure in profile 54–7 g own on mannequin 50–3 print 76–9 ears 29 edges, diluting 15 erasers 11, 47 ethnicity 30, 31 eyes 27, 30, 31, 66–9, 112–17 fabric, rendering 40–3, 46 faces adding shape 15, 17–18, 30, 74 creating character 26–31, 65, 70 fashion illustration digitizing your work 132–5 history 7 live work 138–40 working in 24–5, 132 fashion shows 108–11, 138–40 feathers 41, 122–4 filling 15 fur 41 glass 60, 84–5, 92–5, 102–7 hair 31, 32–3, 79 hands 94–5 hats 70–5, 80–3 highlights 16, 17, 22, 33, 61, 101 inks 137 jewelry 100–1, 118–25 knits 42 landscape background 126–31 light 15, 16–18, 27 lips 28, 30, 86–91, 117 magazines 7, 25, 37, 38, 126 makeup 30, 66–9, 86–91, 112–17 mannequin 50–3 markers, ink 10 live work 139 tutorials 75, 79, 83, 91, 99, 117, 123, 125, 131 masking fluid 11 materials 8–11, 139 men bodies 36–7, 58–61 boy with hat 80–3, 102–7 faces 26, 31 man in print shirt 96–9 menswear composition 102–7 metallic objects 52, 100–1 mixed media 136–7 nose 29, 30 paint choice 8 mixed media 136–7 mixing 13, 19, 21 removing 11 palette, mixing paint 11, 13, 21 paper 10 paper towel 11 pastels 137 pattern 43 pencils colored 10, 33, 65, 75, 79, 91, 99, 107, 117, 125, 131 fine 11, 47 live work 139 perfumes 84–5 photography 7, 24 Photoshop, using 132, 133–5 plastics 42 practice 12–15, 31, 138, 141 prints 43, 76–9, 96–9, 117 PVC 42 scanning your work 132, 133, 135 shading 16–18, 33 shoes 48–9, 62 sketches 47, 68, 110, 138, 141 skin tones 22 style, developing 141 suits 58–61 sunglasses 60, 92–5, 102–7 techniques 12–23 three-dimensional effects 16–18 tools 8–11, 139 trends 24, 37 tutorials 6, 44 washes 14–15 water, amount 13, 14, 21 water jar 11 wet-on-dry/wet-on-wet technique 14 white paint 22 women bodies 34–5, 37–9, 54–7 faces 27–30 fashion show 108–11 girl with bag 62–5 girl with hat 70–5 girl putting on lipstick 86–91 girl with sunglasses 92–5 woman in print dress 76–9 womenswear composition 118–25 wool 42, 72–5, 83–4 working live 138–40