A.F. Vandevorst S/S 2014

real animal skull necklaces

Virginia the Wolf

JX3 qixiu martial art school || Coser: 唐八狗  PHX：@十二岁萝莉 Photoshop@我左青龙右白虎腰间纹个米老鼠  @盯叮叮丁  Backup: @悠司Yuuji_ @鬼才Kisai 

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A visual glossary of Puffy Sleeve Types

More Visual Glossaries: Backpacks / Bags / Hats / Belt knots / Coats / Collars / Darts / Dress Silhouettes / Hangers / Harem Pants / Heels / Nail shapes / Necklaces / Necklines /  Puffy Sleeves / Shoes / Shorts / Silhouettes / Skirts / Tartans / Vintage Hats / Waistlines / Wool

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My “draw the squad” memes so far

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For all you chionophile’s out there.

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Is there any chance you could give some tips on how to get better at accuracy? I feel like no matter how much I practice, I can't get poeple to look right. Even if I trace, it doesn't look right (which is funny to me considering how often people accuse you of tracing--seriously have they ever tried it?). You make it look so easy, and I feel like it's the hardest part of drawing.

Okay three things first:

It is the hardest part of drawing.

Tracing will actually set you back unless you do it the right way.

You don’t have to be accurate to make good art.

I grabbed a random screencap to show you how I do it (keep in mind that I’ve made thousands of drawings at this point in my life, so a lot of this is stuff I don’t even stop to think about anymore, so I apologize if any of my advice sounds muddy or confusing):

The first thing I do is note the positive and negative spaces and distances between them (marked in pink and blue below):

I reversed the colors so you only see the spaces for what they are. Look at the black space in particular because that’s the barrier between the two major halves of the entire space.

I also note the angles of things:

And then I start to sketch.

First I break up the space and mark out the major axis of the figure (a good rule of thumb with figures is to draw where their spine would be, and perhaps where their shoulders are as well—you don’t have to do it this way of course but if you’re having trouble seeing an axis, it can be helpful):

Then I start to mark out the major shapes, using each previous set of marks to help me refine things. Some people use circles or scribbles or even whole chunks of light and dark. There are an infinite ways to block out a drawing, but I’ve found that angles and lines work best for me:

You’ll see above that I made a cross for his face the same way I made a cross for his body to marke the center line and where his eyes would be. If you want to practice these angles, something like a fashion magazine works great. Get some paper and just flip through each face and try to copy the angles you see.

Anyway, so then I slowly refine details using the lines and angles to help me see how things are shaped. I can build the shapes of fabric and muscle over the angles as if they were a wire skeleton:

And that’s basically it!

Now, to address tracing…

There are two ways you can use tracing to help you. The first is to pinpoint landmarks, like the corner of a shoulder or the eyes. You can do this by making a dot—and only make as many dots as you absolutely need. Too many, and tracing becomes a crutch, and you want to help yourself learn, not skip over learning. I don’t recommend tracing any lines.

You can also use tracing to repair what you’ve done.

Here’s my sketch overlaid onto the screencap:

It’s pretty good! I don’t have to fix it if I don’t want to, but if I want, I can use tracing to mark the places where things are a little off:

And then I can go back and adjust.

This trick is really useful for helping you see the mistakes you keep making so that you can work at correcting them. For example, I tend to make eyes too big and shoulders too wide. I don’t always need to fix that, but this method helps. 

The idea isn’t to make drawing easier but to make learning easier, you know? That’s why you want to be careful with tools like tracing (or even gridwork) because you’ll find that you’re not giving yourself enough of a chance to learn. That’s also why tracing can’t replace skill.

Anyway, like I said, you don’t have be accurate or mechanically perfect to make good art. These are just some tips to help you see in observational art and to be more confident. But remember that sometimes the best and most beautiful art is a mechanical mess.

Here’s Van Gogh’s room as proof:

Good luck! <3

Antonios Couture

Spring | Summer 2016

need refs/inspo for period clothing?

here you go:

Medieval (9th-15th century):

10th century and earlier

Romance (1000-1250)

11th century

12th century

13th century

more 13th century

14th century

more 14th

15th century

and more 15th century

Gothic (1150-1550)

Renaissance (1520-1650)

16th & 17th century

16th century

more 16th

Tudors (1500-1550)

more Tudors

Elizabethan Period (1558-1603)

Jacobean Era (1603-1625)

17th century

more 17th century

and again

and even more

this won’t stop

Baroque (1600-1750)

Georgian Period (1714-1830):

18th century

more 18th century

18th century women’s fashion

18th century men’s fashion

Rococo (1720-1770)

Classicism (1770-1790)

children 18th-19th century

Regency Preiod (1811-1820)/ Empire (1800-1820s):

1790-1820s

more stuff on regency and georgian era

even more

that’s not enough regency

and more

how is there so much

early 19th century men’s wear

early 19th century women’s wear

Victorian Period (1837-1901):

Romantic Era (1820-1840s)

Civil War Era/1850-1860s

1870-1890s

more victorian

Edwardian Period (1901-1910):

1900-1910s

Belle Epoque (1880-1910s)

more edwardian/belle époque

Modern:

1910s-1920s [Fashion between the World Wars]

1920s

more roaring 20s

so much 20s

1920s hairstyles

1930s

1930-1940s

1930-1950s

1950s

more 50s

1960s

1960-1970s

1980s

lots of periods in one spot/fashion through centuries:

here, here, and here is almost everything (and properly ordered)

also here with lots of historic fashion magazines

historic fashion

costumes of antiquity

more historical clothing

history of fashion

more history of fashion

“vintage” clothing

historic costumes

children’s historical fashion/toys

details

historic wedding dresses

historic assecoires (hats, shoes…)

hats

masks

parasols

lots of embroidery/jewlery

it indeed is western/european centric, I’m sorry for that, but for other cultures I simply don’t have so many references

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Horse Grenadier Saber of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard

Dated:  1810

Culture: French

This ‘Horse Grenadier Saber’ (3rd pattern) was used by Napoléon’s Imperial Guard. These sabers were used also by the Dragoons of the Imperial Guard and the Elite Gendarmerie. This is one the most beautiful and famous sword from the Napoleonic period.

Source: Copyright © 2016 Sword Collection

Fashion Inspired By Nature In Diptychs By Liliya Hudyakova

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