Fashion Drawing For Dummies
Book image
Explore Book Buy On Amazon
Creating great arm attitude is tough enough to do in person, and you, as a fashion illustrator, have the extra challenge of capturing those same attitudes on paper. Fashion models practice moving their arms to create seductive and graceful poses, alluring and charming poses, and shocking and powerful poses. If a model can’t work those arms in different ways, she’ll be lost in the modeling industry.

You aren’t figure drawing; rather, you’re styling the fashion figure with your signature drawing lines. Realistic arms aren’t the idea here!

image0.jpg

Arms can add fun personality to your drawing, but don’t stray too much from proportional rules! Stand up and let your arms hang down. In general, your hand begins a little below the horizontal line of your crotch with the fingers hitting at mid-thigh. Keep this in mind as you bend and pose your model’s arm. More often than not, beginners make the arms too short rather than too long.

In addition to practicing how to draw women’s long, slender arms, you can try your hand at men’s and children’s arms in this section. The good news is that men and children pay much less attention to their arm positions than the ladies do, so male and kid arms are easier to get the hang of.

Women’s arms convey any number of moods and fashion types, from confident and sexy to on-the-go. Female fashion models use their arms to emphasize their bodies and their clothes. A woman may bend both arms at the elbows, let one arm hang at her side, or raise or extend her arms for a different look. Regardless of how a woman poses her arms, she does so with attitude and style.

No matter what attitude you want your model to send, her arms should be smooth, fluid, and shapely.

You can tell the shape of a woman’s arms regardless of whether she’s dressed in casual weekend wear or grabbing attention in a little black dress that shows off her arms and shoulders, so make sure to draw your female arms long and lean.

As the arm tapers to an end, don’t forget to draw the wrist bone — the marvelous beginning of a fashion hand. When you first start drawing arms, don’t worry about getting the hands right. Let the arm taper off after the wrist bone with a simple line.

How to raise the arms away from the body

Arms can go any which way in fashion drawing. A few fun options include bringing one or both arms above the head or having them cross the body.

Take a look at fashion magazines to get some ideas for arm placement. You often see models with their arms covering their foreheads, resting on their heads, crossing over or in front of their bodies, or lying behind their heads.

To draw a pose with an arm over the head, try these steps:
  1. Begin with a front pose where the torso isn’t tilted. Include armholes and a neck.

  2. Add a head. Then draw an arm with an elbow circle raised to head level.

    Place the elbow circle about level with the middle of the head and slightly beyond the width of the shoulder. Angle one line from the shoulder to the circle, and then angle another line that ends at the head. To show how the arm rests on the head, add a short line to represent where the hand will go.

    Note: You can draw both arms bent over the fashion figure’s head by following this step for both arms.

  3. Sketch the second arm so it’s bent away from the body with the hand resting on the hip.

  4. Draw cylinder shapes over the arm lines to create the arms.

    Leave the circles between the cylinders to indicate the elbows.

  5. Outline the woman’s torso, arms, neck, and head.

    As you finish the arms, add a small hand resting on the head. Erase the circles, trapezoids, and center front line.

    image0.jpg
You can make the arms more interesting by moving them away from the body and leaving the hands free. Think of a hula dancer, for example.

When you have an arm going across the body, it looks more natural to draw both arms going toward the bent side of the torso. To see why, stand in front of the mirror with your body matching the bent torso the figure shown.

image1.jpg

Move both of your arms across the body in one direction. Then move them in the other direction. Which side feels less awkward? Bringing the arms toward the bent side of the torso feels better and looks more like a fashion pose.

Here are the steps to draw a pose with one arm going in front of the body:

  1. Draw a tilted torso with armholes and a neck.

  2. Starting with the upper shoulder, draw an arm that goes across the body. Use a circle for the elbow.

    The arm line should tilt down slightly to cover the other shoulder. Place the circle for the elbow in front of the other shoulder.

  3. For the other arm, draw the straight lines and a circle extending away from the body.

  4. Draw cylinder shapes over the arm lines to create the arms, keeping the circles to represent the elbows.

    Include short lines at the ends of the arms to represent the hands. Draw the head to show the overall balance of the torso.

  5. Outline the woman’s torso, arms, neck, and head.

    Erase the circles, trapezoids, and center front line.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Marianne Egan teaches fashion illustration and design, apparel construction, and more. Lisa Smith Arnold teaches art and drawing, including fashion illustration, at Norwalk Community College.?She has also served as creative coordinator and fashion editor at several major publications.

This article can be found in the category: