Mentor Assignment: Week 8: Clothes and Costumes: Part 1: Silhouettes!

This week, on the Mentor Experiment, we look at clothes and fashion. To be more specific, we’re going to look at drawing clothes on our characters.

Let’s say we have to draw a large, middle-aged, overweight, yet affable and innocent Roman soldier from ancient times. How do we approach the design?

One method would be to collect references – both for overweight men and also ancient Roman costumes. For me, collecting references is key to being
able to visually represent the character. When we don’t use references, we wind up using symbols and stereotypes to inform our drawing choices. The end
result is a drawing that feels like a watered-down representation.

So, step one. Find references. Lots of references. Look at a wide variety of costumes. If you can, go beyond the Internet and look to periodicals and books on the subject. Study the drawings, sculpture and paintings from the time. Try as much as possible to go back to the original source, not the pop-culture representations. You’ll be surprised at what you discover.

If you use the Internet, try supplimenting your Google Image Searches (GIS) with Getty Images or other stock photography sites. Remember, you are NOT trying to copy the photos – you are using them as a visual guide to get inspired by.

Step 2, after collecting references, is to start looking at the overall silhouette that matches the description you are working from. For creating silhouettes, I use the Lasso tool in Photoshop; it lets me focus on the shapes and overall flow of the character instead of the details. So for our Roman soldier up above, here a few silhouettes I created (props, body, etc.):

It’s helpful to start with the silhouettes when exploring character design – they’re easy to create and adjust. Don’t like how something looks? Just use the Lasso tool to carve out and subtract those areas you don’t like.

Your assignment this week is to collect references and create at least 3 silhouettes for a Victorian era woman, mid-20’s who is sassy, slender and smart – but also a tomboy at heart. Good luck!

-Krishna