How To: Create a Watercolour Fashion Illustration with Francesco Lo Iacono
Posted by Cass Art on 14th Mar 2018
Cass Art Professional Ambassador and renowned fashion artist Francesco Lo Iacono gives us an insight into his creative practice by showing us how to create our own watercolour fashion illustration. Taking inspiration from photos he's taken from Manon Planche's latest fashion collection, he's given us a step by step guide, accompanied by photos of his incredible artwork. Have a go yourself - good luck!
What you need:
A set of watercolours
A fine point sable brush
A set of watercolour pencils
A flesh coloured watercolour marker
Step 1
My starting point is a rough pencil sketch of the whole illustration. These pencil lines are landmarks for when I use watercolour.
Step 2
Before starting to paint with watercolour, I rub out all lines that I don't consider useful so that I can keep the sketch as clean as possible.
Step 3
Once my sketch is ready, I start adding watercolour. Because I am mostly a figurative illustrator, I often start painting the skin, beginning with the darker tones, so that I can blend them with water if needed. Since this is a head-to-toe illustration, I try to prioritize the areas I would like the viewer to look at. In this instance, I add a lot of detail to the jacket, as I feel like this can be the focus of the whole illustration.
Step 4
Once the painting has dried, it is now time to work on the details. I use markers to add darker tones on the neck and pencils to draw details on the face.
Step 5
Once I am satisfied with the whole illustration, it is now time to scan it and using Photoshop I clean it and contrast a little if needed.
Thanks for your insightful How-To demonstration Francesco!
Feeling Inspired?
Visit Francesco's website
And see more of his fantastic work
