Marianne Egan

Marianne Egan teaches fashion illustration and design, apparel construction, and more.

Articles & Books From Marianne Egan

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-28-2022
Fashion drawing is all about attitude, exaggeration, and style. As you develop your fashion illustration skills, infuse your work with personal flair — your signature — to create a look unlike any other. Start by observing the golden rules of fashion drawing, mastering the S curve and other figure drawing techniques, and putting a creative spin on the fashion drawings you create.
Step by Step / Updated 11-10-2021
When drawing fashion illustrations, you first create a rough sketch of the body, also referred to as a croquis. Then you draw the clothes that go on top.Grab your pencil, a black pen, some tracing paper, sketch paper, and a fashion magazine if you have one handy. Here’s how to begin drawing a front view croquis:Lay tracing paper over a full-body picture of a model from a magazine.
Step by Step / Updated 11-10-2021
Drawing a stick figure, or line figure, is a perfect way for beginners to get comfortable with basic figures for fashion drawing, and it serves as a refresher for people who’ve done figure drawing before.Draw an oval to represent the figure’s head and then draw a dashed line of symmetry.The line of symmetry, or balance line, runs down right through the center of the stick figure’s head and continues to the bottom of the stick feet.
Step by Step / Updated 11-09-2021
Eyes really are the windows to the soul. The expression in the eyes is the first thing that people look at in real life as well as in fashion illustration. Eyes instantly express a person’s mood and can convey a haughty, happy, or distant look. There’s no end to the looks you can give your fashion creations through their eyes.
Step by Step / Updated 11-09-2021
When you’re drawing a dude’s arms, don’t aim for muscle beach in fashion drawing. Male arms can look toned and terrific without making people’s heads swivel in disbelief at their size and shape. Keep in mind that men’s shoulders are wider.To draw attention-getting arms on a man, follow these easy steps:Lightly sketch a torso with armholes.
Step by Step / Updated 11-09-2021
Pants are pretty simple to draw: They start around the waist and follow the legs down to the vicinity of the feet . . . although in today’s fashion, they can also start somewhere around the middle of the derrière and end anywhere from just below the knee to the ground!They can’t be called pants if they don’t have two legs, but the pant legs can hug the body or flow outward and can end above the ankle or drape the floor.
Step by Step / Updated 11-09-2021
Ah, the T-shirt! The tee is easy to draw, and it lends itself to all kinds of fun prints. Throughout the years, the T-shirt has made its way from the gym teacher’s wardrobe to the high-fashion runway and back again! Guys, women, and kids practically live in them.Draw the basic woman's tee.Start with a basic shirt.
Step by Step / Updated 11-09-2021
The button-down shirt hangs in everyone’s closet these days. For guys, it’s standard dress in many offices, and it’s a staple in nearly every woman’s wardrobe. Little boys wear a button-down with a tie on dress-up occasions, and little girls may wear one under a dressy jumper or with a skirt.Draw the classic women's blouse.
Step by Step / Updated 11-09-2021
Women’s pants are fun to draw, and the varieties are endless. The waistlines, length, and fit are constantly changing. Designing pants can be such fun when you think about the placement of pockets and topstitching, along with the height of the waistline and length of the hem.Don't forget the pants staple — jeans!
Step by Step / Updated 11-09-2021
Most fashion illustrators love to draw fancy dresses and create a glamorous mood. With gowns for women, just about anything goes, and as a fashion artist, you get to go to new and exciting places with your pencil.Dress up the basic shapes.Just about every basic shape comes into play when you’re drawing gowns and dynamic dresses.