Drawing Fashions: Figures, Faces and Techniques

School Library Journal

Gr 7-9Drawing Fashions discusses both figure drawing techniques and the proportional and stylistic differences that distinguish fashion drawing from figure studies. The book is well-written, the advice sound and the sketches attractive. However, the explanations are too general for beginners, and more experienced artists will find little here that is new. For instance, readers are advised to note the ``main action line'' on a group of figures, but the action line is not clearly indicated in the drawings. Readers are advised that fashion drawings begin at ``eight heads'' and go to ``ten heads,'' but the authors never explain how the measurement of the ``head'' is arrived at or how the measurement is used in the normally proportioned figure. In describing racial characteristics, readers are told only that, ``The black model's face is a long oval with high cheekbones and full lips.'' A single chapter briefly demonstrates the textures that can be achieved with various drawing tools. The final chapter, which shows how research on historic fashion can be used to design new styles, would seem to belong in another book. The authors convey the excitement and glamour of fashion illustration, but even the most enthusiastic beginner would have trouble learning to draw glamorous figures from this book alone. Eleanor K. MacDonald, University Elementary School Library, Los Angeles