Fashion mag drawings

My main aim for this theme was to practice my drawing of faces and figures. I thought fashion magazines would be a good place to find reference images as there are lots of photos of models in different positions and usually a lot of high quality closeups of faces.

I was inspired by Laura Callaghan's illustrations of women with such attitude in their facial expression. I likened this to the expressions you see on models' faces in magazines and the persona they portray in the poses of their whole body. In some ways they seem emotionless but within that there is a strong character in there.

I really like the simplicity of these, especially the one on the right. I think her striking features are emphasised through the selective use of line and not overcomplicating the face.

I always struggle to fit the full length of the figure on the page, I need to learn how to plan ahead for this because I rarely get to fit the feet on the page. I quickly added some colour on Photoshop to the image on the right, it was only a quick little play around but I like how adding one or two colours can make the drawing look more finished and less like a quick sketch. 

I also played around with this denim jacket drawing on Photoshop. I drew this from a figure that was wearing it but I think it looks strange that you can's see the back of the jacket in the gap.

I have realised from this central drawing that I find it difficult to know how big the features should be inside the outline of the face. Its something I find difficult to gauge. 

 Legs are something I really struggle with - can never seem to get the lines right to show the shape of them. I think the drawing on the right is my most successful attempt but I still need more practice on this to be comfortable in knowing where the basic curves and lines should be. 

 These are two of my favourite sketches so far. I think the first one shows attitude in the face and also in the clothing the model is styled in. Doing these drawings has made me think more about the clothing that people wear in photographs and how it kind of sets the tone for the atmosphere of the image. I think I need to consider this more when I am drawing people, think deeper into their character and how I can portray ideas through clothing and pose as well as facial expression. I also think the same goes for background and settings even though I have not explored this within my drawing. Looking at fashion photography in general is helping me to notice things about composition and colour too. 

A lot of the images I have drawn so far have been ones that have caught my eye while flicking through magazines. I think I have taken a detour from my inspiration Laura Callaghan which is okay because I have still been practicing my drawing of faces and figures (my main aim) but I think to finish off this sketchbook, I want to look at some more serious poses and facial expressions where I can try and capture what she captures in her illustrations.