A Handbook of Costume Drawing

A Guide to Drawing the Period Figure for Costume Design Students

Georgia O'Daniel. Baker

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781136083334
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Theatre

Perfect for students of costume design and history, A Handbook of Costume Drawing illustrates and describes the dominant male and female costume silhouettes for major historical periods ranging from Egyptian dynasties through the 1960s. Important details, including head and footwear, hair styles, fashion accessories, shoulders, waist, hem, and neckline are provided to maximize the historical accuracy of each design and to help you fully recreate the look and feel of each period.

Chapter 1

The Basic Figure and How Clothes Fit the Body

The Figure

Figure 1.1 This diagram shows a method of arriving at correct proportions for the human figure using a rectangle to show proportions of the width and length of the figure.

Figure 1.2 A correctly proportioned male and female figure using the specifications established in Figure 1.1. The hip hits at the center line of the rectangle, line #3. Line #2 is the center line of the chest or bustline. Line #4 is at the knee.

Figure 1.3 a. One-half of each the male and female figures without the box s tructure. b. The back view.

Figure 1.4 An illustration of the body proportions from a side view of the female and male figure.

Figure 1.5 The muscle structure of the male body illustrating the thicker neck and shoulder muscles, a wider waist, narrower hip, and more developed thigh muscles. The female muscle structure constitutes a thinner neck, bust point at the armpit, narrower waist, and fuller hips.

Figure 1.6 The S Curve. In this drawing of the relaxed figure the weight is predominately on one leg, with one side of the hip dropping lower than the other. The upper torso tilts in the opposite direction from the dropped hip to balance the body weight. The weight then distributes itself evenly on either side of the center of the body from neck to floor. The shoulder swings out in one direction to balance the hip swinging out in the opposite direction. Since one shoulder is elevated, one elbow is slightly higher than the other. It is important to know how to draw the relaxed figure, because people usually stand at ease and this type of figure drawing creates a more natural and graceful look to the body. Some important things to note are the longer leg created by the dropped hip, and that the relaxed knee allows the foot to take on many positions.

Figure 1.7 The relaxed figure as it is first seen in Greek sculpture.

The Face

Figure 1.8 The value of the square diagram is to show the regularity of the human face. It can be divided horizontally at the one-half point to easily place the eyebrows. The top quarter mark is the bottom of the nose. The bottom eighth marks the cleft in the chin, and halfway between the cleft and the bottom of the nose marks the line of the lips.

Figure 1.9 The female and male face, front view, based on the square diagram showing placement of the features. The male face has a wider jawline, thinner mouth, and more pronounced nose bridge. The eyebrows are thicker and less arched.

Figure 1.10 The child’s face is smaller in relationship to the skull. The proportion of a child’s head to the body is one to four. The eyes are the same as the adult, but the nose and mouth are smaller.

Figure 1.11 A contrast of youthful faces with aging faces. In the aging faces eyebrows are shaggier and hair thins. Muscles lose elasticity, creating folds above and below the eye socket area. The nasal labial fold starts in the bottom fold of the nose and ends just above the mouth. Small folds appear on the forehead and around the mouth.

Figure 1.12 The grid on the profile of the face shows the correct placement of the ear. The one-quarter vertical line on the left marks the back of the skull. The one-quarter vertical line on the right marks the placement of the jawline at the bottom of the face.

Figure 1.13 Illustrations of different treatments and ways to indicate front views of the eye and eyebrow for males and females.

Figure 1.14 Profile...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. The Basic Figure and How Clothes Fit the Body
• 2. Materials and Techniques
• 3. Learning to See Color
• 4. Rendering Fabrics
• 5. Computer Aids for Costume Rendering
• 6. Creating a Period Silhouette 3000 B.C.–1969 A.D.
• 7. Creating a Portfolio
• Bibliography
• Index