HOW TO MAKE 3D FASHION ILLUSTRATION DRESSES WITH DRY FLOWERS?

Everyone knows that flowers make for a great prop, something very useful in these visual days. Moreover, in this time of social media, we are all looking for good photography props, aren't we? Bloggers, influences and what not, everyone wants to make their photographs pop. Flowers are a great way to do just that. Dried flowers are even better, because you don't have to worry about their expiry date. Dried flowers are also a great way to recycle (when you make your own) and preserve memories. I've been drying flowers for quite some time and there is really nothing to it. You can also buy dried flowers (or even fresh ones if you prefer). They are simply a perfect addition to flat lay photography.

Today I'll speak about creating 3D dresses on fashion illustrations. Now, you don't have to know how to do fashion illustration to try your hand at this. You can trace some of the fashion templates available online (be sure to make sure the author is o.k with that) or you can print them out. You can also print out some fashion illustration (again make sure the artists don't mind). Alternatively, you can also cut out a photograph from a fashion magazine and have fun with it. The point is that you try to create a 3D dress using dried or fresh flowers. This can be a fun DIY project. You can use it to make a card for someone. I'm not sure who first came up with the idea of mixing fashion illustration with flowers, but it's certainly a great idea. So, what do you really need? 

First you need the base, a drawing, a painting or a photograph over which you'll create a 3D dress. As I explained, you don't have to know to draw to get your hands on some fashion illustrations. You can trace a free fashion template or something of the sort. Alternatively, you can also use a photograph of some model, either on its own or trace it on a piece of paper. If you do know how to draw fashion illustration bodies, make sure you keep it simple. You can experiment with body poses as you much as you want, but keep in mind what areas you want to be free. I've seen some illustrators just drawing faces and hands and legs because they planned to cover the middle part, but I always almost always draw the whole figure (yes even when I'm drawing winter fashion). As you can see here, I drew the these bodies in bikinis. You don't have to draw the whole outfit because that might be distracting. I've been practicing drawing some new poses recently so I figured I might use those sketches. I decided not to draw the whole outfit (just the bikini part) so that I could use these fashion drawings for collages. As you can see first I sketched the illustration in pencils, and then I coloured them with coloured pencils.

Now, comes the fun part. The best thing about creating 3D dresses with dry flowers is that you can create an endless variety relatively easy. You just take the dried flowers, the leaves and whatever you have at hand and start arranging them. Creating a dress shouldn't be that hard. Try to follow the lines of the body. Don't forget to have fun. If you need to look for inspiration, you can always turn to Internet. Pinterest and other social media are filled with lovely examples of fashion illustrations done with flowers. I advise you to be patient and to take lots of photographs. As you rearrange the flowers, you'll end up with new designs- it would be shame not to catch them on camera. 

So, what do you think about these fashion illustrations? Is it something you'd be willing to try yourself? Let me know if you do decide to do just that.  The only down size to these kind of illustrations is that they can be time consuming. It is easy to forget about time as you're arranging these mini 3D dresses. If you like to arrange flowers, you'll probably enjoy this as well. Time flies when you're having fun they say. Some of these 3D dress creations can be time consuming indeed. But so is drawing or collage making- when you think about it, all creative hobbies or jobs take time. So, I think this activity is worth a shot. If you want, I can prepare more posts about this subject for you. Whenever I posted these kind of illustrations, I've always got a lot of great feedback, so I know a lot of people like them. With that in mind, I have prepared these whimsical flower creations. I hope you'll like them. 

SOME OF MY OLDER WORK

As I said, this is not the first time I have done this. If you enjoyed this post and you want to see more of my work with flower fashion illustrating, you're welcome to visit my old posts:

1. What happens when fashion illustration meets flowers?

2. Creating floral fantasy with help of rose pedals

3. Fashion illustration of the day

4. Fashion illustrations of the day

FRAMED PRINT ROSE PEDALS

FRAMED PRINT ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS GIRL

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT: QUEEN OF FLOWERS

FLOWER ART PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLAGE

I also decide to play a bit with editing, but I think 3D flower dresses are eye-catching enough on their own. However, it's still nice to add some background to them. I did this in few of my older posts, if you remember. Let me know what you think.

Thank you for reading. Have a great weekend!