Safashiongirl: photoshop

Edgars

One of my popular posts is Fashion Storyboard Help and I decided it was time for a more in depth post on compiling a board. I just posted a mood board for this particular project so now you can see the outcome of the concept. The board I am focusing on is the American side of An American/In Paris This particular storyboard was a Computer Aided Design project which I prefer to conventional illustration because I find that Photoshop can really help amp things up quite a bit. Here’s a brief tutorial.

Step 1: Once you have a concept down, draw the fashion figure and if you intend to use Photoshop, go over it with a fineliner/thin sharpie and close all the lines so you can fill nicely after you scan it in.

Step 2: After scanning, open a new document in Photoshop that is sized to your liking then find a background and font suitable for your text and concept.

Step 3: Selecting layers, place your figure on top of your background and adjust her size using ctrl+t and shift. In this example you can see I’ve selected a white spot to delete with the magic wand tool, get rid of these if you have any.

Step 4: Now you can get to rendering the figure. Make sure you shade her using shades darker or lighter than her skin tone. Digital storyboards can look a bit flat without shading. I have old drawings of facial features pre-saved on my computer; this is a great way to keep your style cohesive and your storyboarding quick, I used to spend way too much time on faces!

Step 5: When you’re finished with her body, it’s time to get to the clothes, in this case I scanned in fabric, defined it as a pattern (you will find this option under the Edit tab) and filled her shorts and top, when filling, select the Pattern option from the drop down menu and click on the fabric you just defined as a pattern. It’s a great idea to do this with denim and patterned fabric but if your fabric is less defined, do use shading techniques to bring it to life. A problem you may come across is that the pattern will repeat and look segmented, this happened with her top so I had to use the clone stamp tool to fix it up.

Step 6: Scan in your technical drawings/flats and select them with the magic wand tool like you did with the figure. I sometimes will draw half of my technical drawings and flip them over to get perfect symmetry; in this case I drew them whole. Cut out your fabric samples and arrange them. In this case I did digital fabric swatches because I didn’t want to cut up the clothes I used but I recommend cutting physical samples and sticking them on after you have printed your boards.

All done! Remember that layout is key, fill up space evenly but don't clutter. Happy storyboarding!

art

Fashion Storyboards - Computer Aided Design

I've been an internet junkie since I was 9, I kid you not. I used to make little websites, things were quite innocent then, no facebook, just guestbooks! I was just part of a bunch of little kids being creative. Making websites is an art, in fact most computer coding, flash, animation or photoshop work is seen as less to do with talent than it is, but it is a creative outlet that requires skill like any other art form.

I had to do my last figures on photoshop and I think I'll continue digitally rendering, I'm the type of person that has great ideas but I can't put them to paper. I can make them or write about them but drawing them never quite captures what I have in my head. This is frowned upon, I'm always being told to sketch more and that my rendering is bringing down my concepts. You're never going to be good at everything and that's ok! My art skills are good enough for me right now, they have developed quickly over the last two years. I prefer compiling collages, writing and thinking about what I want to make, drawing takes me very long to perfectly articulate something that I want to.

I wish my course was tailor-made for every student, everyone just needs to be encouraged and appreciated for what they're good at. You don't ever really get a pat on the back for anything in fashion, it's a competitive dog eat dog business so I guess this is all good preparation. It's fine, I'm a happy person so I can take the bullshit. Sometimes I think some of the things that are revered in life; speed, minimum input to get maximum output etc are things that we've got a bit wrong. Do everything you do with heart rather and try to have fun whenever you can. A life of happiness and fulfillment is more important than an assembly line state of being even though that's what's being thrown at us.

Remember that bigger isn't always better and quantity limits quality. I'm always willing to learn though, life is about evolving, growing and changing. Never stunt your growth and never listen to naysayers! People love to put you down or keep mum when you do something great, it's hard to find people who are happy for you. Gimme a call if you need one x