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Drawing is an age-old art form that brings to life all types of ideas. Just as painters may pick up a pencil to make a preliminary sketch of their subject, fashion designers will pull out their sketchbooks when they have an idea for a fabulous new garment. However, fashion illustration is more than just a creative activity. It is also an exquisite art style in itself.
Want to learn how to make your own eye-catching fashion illustrations? Fortunately, there’s an abundance of educational books that can teach you the skills you need to know. Modern Fashion Illustration by artist Holly Nichols is the ideal guide for working artists and designers. It explains through step-by-step tutorials and finished art how to create compelling visuals that will entice modern audiences. On the other hand, if you want to do a comprehensive dive into everything there is to know about this discipline, Michele Wesen Bryant’s Fashion Drawing is the ideal companion. It features a comprehensive guide and even includes techniques used by renowned fashion illustrators.
From mastering the human figure to rendering garment textures and patterns, check out our list of the 10 best fashion illustration books.
Learn how to draw gorgeous fashion illustrations with one of these incredible books.
Fashion Drawing, Second Edition: Illustration Techniques for Fashion Designers
Michele Wesen Bryant | $65
Michele Wesen Bryant’s Fashion Drawing is a beautiful, comprehensive guide for anyone who wants to learn the ins and outs of fashion illustration. Inside the book are numerous step-by-step tutorials that show you how to render women, men, and even children. It also includes over 1,000 illustrations from prominent illustrators and breaks down the techniques they use.
Fashion Design Workshop: Remix
Stephanie Corfee | $17.47
For creatives looking for a more contemporary approach to fashion illustration, there’s Stephanie Corfee’s book Fashion Design Workshop: Remix. This colorful book includes step-by-step projects inspired by iconic designs, everyday fashion, and special occasions. It also features a range of body types to bring a more inclusive approach to your illustrations.
Modern Fashion Illustration: Create Trending Stories & Develop a Personal Brand
Holly Nichols | $18.39
Modern Fashion Illustration is made by artist Holly Nichols, who is famous online for her incredible fashion-inspired art. In this book, she not only shows how to approach a stylized figure and render various garments, but she also explains how to promote your art on social media, making it an ideal guide for the modern working artist.
Contemporary Fashion Illustration Techniques
Naoki Watanabe | $17.95
Contemporary Fashion Illustration Techniques is the ultimate reference for artists looking to improve their technical skills. Author and artist Naoki Watanabe covers the basics and demonstrates how to render movement in garment material texture so that your illustrations will convey your designs accurately and beautifully.
Fashion Illustration Art
Jennifer Lilya | $21.62
If you want to learn all of the essentials to fashion illustration, then Jennifer Lilya’s book Fashion Illustration Art is the perfect start. It artfully explains how to render faces, bodies, and clothes with numerous colored illustrations. This guide also includes insider tips, like which materials to pick and how to use them.
Colour in Fashion Illustration: Drawing and Painting Techniques
Tiziana Paci | $26.64
Fashion illustration students that want to master color will love Tiziana Paci’s book Colour in Fashion Illustration. It uses images and examples to demonstrate how to incorporate watercolor, water-soluble graphite, colored pencils, professional markers, digital art, and more into your portfolio.
Fashion Illustration & Design: Methods & Techniques for Achieving Professional Results
Manuela Brambatti | $26.52
Fashion Illustration & Design is produced by Versace’s chief design illustrator, Manuela Brambatti. Inside the book, readers will learn through images and examples how she conveys different designs with her innovative style, and how to do the same in their artwork.
Essential Fashion Illustration
Maite Lafuente | $24.52
Students who want to create striking, stylized figures will love Maite Lafuente’s book Essential Fashion Illustration. It provides a plethora of examples that cover how to render different poses, hands and feet, as well as different postures and angles. Additionally, it explains how to bring your art to life through color, using watercolor, pastel, and more.
Haute Couture Fashion Illustration Resource Book
Irina V Ivanova | $24.95
If you want to focus on high fashion, then there’s Irina V Ivanova’s book Haute Couture Fashion Illustration. It uses step-by-step examples and images to teach you how to draw human figures and poses and how to render a variety of different dress silhouettes.
Somer Flaherty Tejwani | $18.01
Acclaimed fashion illustrators from around the world have contributed to the making of The Art of Fashion Illustration. It features more than 150 illustrations as well as interviews with illustrators who explain how to add movement, attitude, and style into your art.
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