I even found step-by-step instructions, in detail, on the 9 head proportions for male croquis. This is the first time I have been able to find a book that demonstrates this. Every finish, every fabric type, every type and style of of garments, garment pieces, outerwear, under garments - it's all there with detailed instructions. This video explores a slightly easier (and hopefully faster) method of drawing the croquis, known as the 9 Head Method. In this latest episode of my fashion. The first step in drawing a croquis is to mark the center balance line for the figure. You will need to separate an 8.5x11-inch piece of paper into nine equal sections. This is known as the standard “nine head” length of a croquis.
Fashion Illustration – Head Theory, Croquis “Sketching or Illustrate designing is a skill drawn with the assist of number of lines and the design is produced with help of lines and strokes but it differs from drawing.” The focus in fashion illustration is to illustrate the fashion facts or croquis used for draping the clothes.
Fashion Illustration is considered as the most fundamental component of Fashion Design. It is used to present the design ideas; Fashion illustration can be presented through many forms and textures with plenty of creative themes and impressions. The combination of Fashion Design and Fashion Illustration is known as “ART”….. Sketching is the foundation of making original pieces of work in Fashion network. Fashion illustration begins with the sketching of a croquis, the extra notation of the garment, and also a technological representation of the garment, before it is produced. Designers frequently sketch out their thoughts and impressions in notebooks before they create. Fashion performers have segregated a grown up human body into eight equivalent parts, which are identical in height to that of the head. Each part is known as ‘head’.
All these eight heads are as follows:
1st Head = from top head to chin of neck
2nd Head = from chin of neck to bottom of armhole
3rd Head = from bottom of armhole to hollow of waist
4th Head = from waist to fork
5th Head = from fork to the end of fingers
6th Head = from the end of fingers to below knee
7th Head = from small to lower leg, just above the ankle
8th Head = from lower leg to the end of foot
How to create a Croquis? A croquis is an eight-headed figure outline which is the basis of fashion illustration. The method of creating Croquis is:Stick Figure -> Contour figure -> female or male Croquis. To create Croquis, first we have to choose perfect textured sketch book which should not have smoother surface, then all croquis handouts, ruler, pencils, coloring tools. The purpose of using “Eight head” theory of Fashion Illustrations are to identify the figure exactly. 1.) Draw the balance line from neck to ground , it should be straight 2.) Add the shoulder and hip line 3.) Fill the body shape – chest, waist, hip 4.) Then draw hands, feet, faces and at the end finish by drawing hairs 5.) Then sketch a high fashioned street wear or casual outfit using pencil or fine pen, for reference we can use magazines The main important components of Croquis are:
- Balance Line
- Hip Line
- Shoulder Line
When starting to draw croquis, as mentioned before, you should use a very simple but accurate, geometric approach. Basically, you’ll be using you figure map as a guide to draw proportionate geometric shapes that will later transform into human body parts.
First, place your figure map under the sketchbook paper you will be using for your drawing. Now you’ll use the lines on the figure map to draw your shapes/body parts. I’ll take you through a step-by-step process! (You can use the drawing below as a reference at any point, but please see the note at the bottom of this post first.)
1. Draw an oval shape taking up the space between lines 0 and 1 (aligned with the center vertical line of the figure map). This will be the figure’s head. Please note that in this scale, the head is about 1 inch long.
2. Draw two lines coming down from the head to be the neck. These will stop at the horizontal line mentioned earlier as the shoulder line (halfway between lines 1 and 2). Extend the shoulder line to be about one and a half heads (or 1 and a half inches) wide.
3. Draw a waist at line 3, about one head (or 1 inch) wide. connect the edges of the shoulder line with the edges of the waist line to create a trapezoid. This makes up the torso.
4. Draw a line across the torso at line 2. This line represents the position of the bust.
5. At line 4, imitate the shoulder line by making a horizontal line that is one and a half heads wide. This will be the crotch line. Connect its edges with those of the waist to make the lower torso.
Croquis Poses
6. Now, draw circles below the shoulder line and at the crotch line to represent the ball-and-sockets of the arms and legs.
7. Draw the circles to represent the elbows at line 3 and wrists a little below line 4. Draw circles to represent the knees at line 6 and ankles at line 8.
8. Connect all of these ball-and-sockets with straight lines connecting the circles’ outer edges.
9. Add hands that reach to about line 5 and triangular feet that reach to halfway between line 8 and 9. This will give you the basic geometric shape of the croquis.
9 Head Croquis Template
*You can reference the picture below to make the process easier. However, please note that the picture below is for a 10-head croquis, and I am teaching an 8.5-head croquis, so not all of the numbers will be the same.*
Ten-head croquis are very similar, though, and are often used in high fashion illustrations because the figure’s legs are very long and exaggerated. Also, the croquis below is much more realistic, but don’t worry about that right now! I will teach you more about making you croquis realistic later!