Fashion Drawing Studio: A Guide to Sketching Stylish Fashions (Craft It Yourself)

Product Description

Featuring step-by-step sketches and easy-to-follow illustrations, this guide gives kids a look into fashion-forward clothing trends including Rock Star, Girly Girl, Glamour, Harajuku, American Girl, and Skater Chic. Tips, techniques, and the perfect outfit accessories make this book the perfect inspiration for the future fashion designer.

From School Library Journal

Gr 5 Up—In this solid overview of clothing styles, past and present, tweens and teens who love to draw and create their own fashions will find a variety of styles, plenty of bling, and a few unique drawing tips, though not much depth. Each design is presented in four steps. The illustrations are colorful and fun, and the book is clearly organized, with pages depicting a wide variety of casual and formal styles, including “At the Park,” which shows the addition of high-top boots to a skate-park outfit, and “Short and Sweet,” which emphasizes a rocking New Year’s Eve party dress. Among the other styles are fashion basics such as “Lacy Layers” and newer fashion ideas like “Visual-Kei,” a Japanese style-to-song crossover meaning “visual music style.” Most of the designs are for women, with the exception of a few simple ones for men. Bolte’s entertaining and useful tips are the highlight of the book, for example, using eye shadow as a tool to create soft lines in fashion drawing. Readers will enjoy flipping through and picking up drawing advice; however, compared with similar books, this title is fairly broad and lacks step-by-step fashion character design tips that beginners would find helpful. For fashionistas looking for more detailed information on each style, explore Bolte’s specific fashion sketch books, including Girly Girl Style and Skater Chic Style (both Capstone, 2013).—Paige Bentley-Flannery, Deschutes Public Library, Bend, OR

From Booklist

While this may look like an instructional title, it reads like Teen Vogue (“Don’t get swept out to sea looking like a shipwreck. Sweep through first class like you’re the captain of fashion”). The book is for artists who are already comfortable drawing the human figure and do not need to master that before they can turn their attention to the fashion. Bolte focuses on six types of trends—All-American Girl, Girly Girl, Harajuku, Hollywood, Rock Star, and Skater Chic—with a dozen styles representative of each. A double-page spread with three progressing figure drawings culminates in the finished outfit. Tips throughout the book alternate between comments on accessorizing and ways to use materials to create different effects. This is not an equal opportunity book; there are only three male outfits on display. Attractive and colorful, this will be most appreciated by fashionistas seeking direction and inspiration—and those who can already draw. Grades 6-9. –Kara Dean

About the Author

Marissa Bolte has written or edited hundreds of titles over the years, but topics on history and books done in graphic format are her favorite. When she’s not reading, writing, or researching, she’s at home in rural Minnesota with her husband, child, and pets, which include a geriatric dachshund and a revolving door of foster cats.

Sarah J. Dahl grew up as an essentially self-taught child artist and designer in Southern California, heavily influenced by fashion, fine art, comics, and illustrations. Starting as a teenager, she had been involved in the Los Angeles fashion industry as collection fashion illustrator, while earning her dual BFAs in Illustration and Graphic Design and AA in Fashion Design. She established Dahl Design, Inc. in 2003, under which she has been illustrator, fine artist, graphic designer, photographer, and manager. In 2007, she shifted to New York, and has been a part of the NYC fashion industry, as illustrator and designer, ever since. She has been interviewed for a fashion illustrator Q&A article on NextInFashion.com, which was also posted on New York Fashion Week’s Facebook page. Her il