Tan Huaixiang character costume figure Step-by-Step Drawing Methods for Theatre Costume Designers AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier 200 Wheeler Road, Burlington, MA 01803, USA Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK Copyright © 2004, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail: [email protected]. You may also complete your request on-line via the Elsevier homepage (http://elsevier.com), by selecting “Customer Support” and then “Obtaining Permissions.” Recognizing the importance of preserving what has been written, Elsevier prints its books on acid-free paper whenever possible. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tan, Huaixiang. Character costume figure drawing : step-by-step drawing methods for theatre costume designers / by Tan Huaixiang. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-240-80534-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Costume. 2. Costume design. 3. Drawing--Technique. I. Title. PN2067.T36 2004 792.02’6--dc22 2003023767 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. For information on all Focal Press publications visit our website at www.focalpress.com 04 05 06 07 08 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in China Table of Contents Preface v CHAPTER 2 Acknowledgements vi CREATING THE FACE 69 Introduction vii What Makes a Good Theatrical Costume Proportions of the Face—Front, Profile, and Designer? vii Three-Quarter Views 70 The Importance of Personality and Body Step One: Establish the Head as an Abstract Language vii Form or Mass 70 Philosophy for Drawing viii Step Two: Block in the Features 72 Step Three: Contour the Features 74 Types and Characteristics of Faces 83 CHAPTER 1 Facial Expressions 92 How Can Proper Facial Expression Be DRAWING THE FIGURE 1 Achieved? 92 Proportions of the Body 2 Emotions 92 The Basic Bone Structure of the Body 6 Positioning the Head and Neck and Directing the The Joints of the Body 7 Eyesight 111 The Head, Chest, and Pelvis 7 The Relationships between the Limbs and Body Masses 10 CHAPTER 3 The Balance of the Body 10 FIGURE AND FACIAL Weight on Both Legs 10 VARIATIONS 113 Weight on One Leg 16 Body Leaning on an Object 21 Characteristics of Different Age Groups 113 Figures in Action 24 Children’s Faces and Body Types 118 Abstract Stick Figures in Action 24 Teenagers’ Faces and Body Types 118 Contouring the Stick Figure 25 Youths’ Faces and Body Types 122 Figures in Dance 37 Middle-Aged Faces and Body Types 126 Figure Poses Change through Time and Elderly Faces and Body Types 130 Fashion 50 Characteristics of Different Figure Types 132 Garments and Textures in Relation to the Body in Heavy Body Types 132 Action 60 Thin, Tall, or Short Body Types 135 M iv CONTENTS CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 6 HANDS, FEET, AND RENDERING ACCESSORIES 139 TECHNIQUES 185 Heads and Hats 140 Creating Highlights and Shadows 185 Hands, Gloves, and Props 150 Characteristics of Materials and Drawing Hand Proportions 151 Strokes 189 Relationship Angle between Hand and Wrist 152 Painting Costumes 196 Feet and Shoes 160 Painting from Light to Dark 196 Rendering Sheer Material 207 Painting from Dark to Light 208 CHAPTER 5 Painting with Markers 217 Creating Texture 225 CHARACTER COSTUME Painting the Head and Face 233 DESIGN CREATION 169 Decorating the Background of the Costume Design 235 What Is the Best Way to Begin? 170 Drawing Supplies 247 Proportion, Action, and Movement 171 What Is the Figure Doing beneath the Garments? 172 CHAPTER 7 Detailed Costumes 173 Outlining the Garment 173 COSTUME RENDERING The Details 174 GALLERY 249 Credits to Walt Stanchfield: Words of Wisdom A handout for people who are interested in animation drawings or want to be animators. Preface As an instructor, I have been working with the- is difficult for me to express myself exactly the way I atre costume design students for many years. want to in English, so I hope the visual images speak I know how students become frustrated for themselves. The various illustrations demon- when drawing human figures, and I understand their strate my step-by-step processes. I have incorporated needs. I feel I have a responsibility to write this book a number of examples of my costume designs into in order to help students who have trouble drawing, each subject to give more visual explanations on the and hope this book will greatly help all prospective topic and to show how to utilize line quality, form, designers out there. Because English is my second and texture to create facial expressions and body language, writing this book has been a very difficult language, and to explore variations in characters and task. Some days I felt it was impossible and wanted garments. I have tried hard to make this book easily to give up. But the desire to help my students—fu- comprehensible and easy to follow. I hope this book ture designers—encouraged me to continue. is both useful to students and entertaining to casual The development of this book is based on years readers. It can be used as a reminder or as inspira- of experience with educational theatre and, more tion by college students and professionals who are in- specifically, my teaching experience with college stu- terested in character drawings for all different types dents. I know they need a guide they can use in their of character creations. I hope this book will help free time to educate themselves and practice figure costume design students enjoy the process of figure drawing to become skilled costume designers. I tried drawing, and if it helps even a little with design art- to make this book instructional and fundamental. I work, I will feel rewarded. tried to keep it simple, direct, and straightforward. It v Acknowledgments I would like to thank all the professionals and derful, understanding leaders and for teaching me friends who encouraged me to write this discipline and timeliness. Your positivity will always book. be remembered. A special thanks to Bonnie J. Kruger, who in- Thanks to the UCF Faculty Center for Teaching troduced me to the Focal Press. Thank you to the and Learning computer lab professors and staff Focal Press for your support and understanding. for all your great help whenever I needed it for my Thanks to all my professors at the Central classes and computer problems. Academy of Drama in Beijing, China: Hou Qidi, Thanks to the entire faculty and staff in the Ma Chi, Xing Dalun, Wang Ren, Li Chang, Zhang department of theatre at the University of Central Bingyao, Qi Mudong, Zhang Chongqing, He Yunlan, Florida for all your help, support, and kindness. Yie Ming, An Lin, Wang Xiping, Sun Mu, and Li Thanks to my dear friends Xiangyun Jie, Julia Dequan. You laid the foundation for me to pursue Zheng, Helen Huang, Peiran Teng, Dunsi Dai, and achieve what I have today. You nurtured and Liming Tang, HaiBou Yu, Zhang Chongqing, and motivated me to start my theatre design career. Your Rujun Wang for giving me unconditional support influence has changed my life. and advice. You put a smile on my face when I Thanks to the professors in the Department needed it most. of Theatre Arts at Utah State University, Colin B. Thank you to my parents for shaping me into Johnson, Sid Perkes, and Bruce E. McInroy, for your the person I am today. A big thank you goes to my kindness, advice, and support. You taught me how daughter, Yingtao Zhang, for all your inspirational to survive in the United States and were patient and ideas and unending support and encouragement. understanding at all times. I greatly treasure your Thanks to my husband, Juli Zhang, for encouraging instruction. me and helping me to succeed in my own profes- Thanks to all my former chairmen with whom sional life. I worked: Sid Perks, Bruce A. Levitt, Wesley Van Finally, thank you to all my students for your tol- Tassel, and Donald Seay. Thank you for being won- erance and for allowing me to be your instructor. vi Introduction This book is visually oriented to provide a The Importance of Personality and simple, viewable guide that focuses on the Body Language principles and formats of character costume figure drawings. Throughout all the illustrations, To capture the impression of a character’s spirit you will see dimension and diversity in the charac- is always a goal when developing character figure ters. Facial expressions, body language, body action, drawings. By nature, we all relate to human emotion and props are incorporated to clearly characterize because we all experience it. Characters are human each figure. beings, and human beings all possess personalities. To portray a character’s emotions and personality on paper is a challenge, but well worth the results. What Makes a Good Theatrical When I create costume designs, I try not only to illustrate the costumes, but also to portray a com- Costume Designer? pleted characterization. I try to manipulate every I would never say that a person who draws beautiful body part to build compositional beauty and artisti- pictures is always a good costume designer. A good cally express the power of a character’s substance. costume designer must have many other qualities Every gesture, action, facial expression, and acces- and capabilities, such as imagination and knowledge sory will add meaning and entertainment to the in theatre, world history, theatre history, costume design. People say that we should not judge a person history, and literature. The designer must retain by his or her appearance, but when an actor appears good communication and organizational skills; on stage, his or her appearance becomes significant. possess research and technical skills like drawing, The character’s body language reflects the soul and rendering, computer graphics, costume construc- spirit of the character, and an interesting gesture tion, crafts, millinery, and personnel management; helps to display the style of the costumes. Using be a good team player; and even be in good health. body language to emphasize the personality and sta- All these factors make a wonderfully ideal costume tus of a character is to give the character an exciting designer. Drawing and painting skills are tools for appearance. Character figures enhance and adorn helping a designer develop and express visual images the costume designs, and they communicate with and design concepts. Renderings are not the final the director, actor, other designers, and the produc- product, the final product is the actual stage costume tion team. Expressing the personality of the charac- made suitable and proper for the actors. ter in your drawings is like the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” vii M viii INTRODUCTION Philosophy for Drawing Drawing human figures should be fun. Nobody was born an innate artist and nobody will become one overnight, but I believe that with some effort, any- body can draw. Although improving your drawing skills requires tremendous effort, enjoying it and be- ing interested will greatly help. When you are driven to do well, you will. Watch, listen, and absorb. To develop a more positive attitude, consider this: Just do it. Work helps. Avoid a pessimistic and sluggish attitude. Desire and dedication are the discipline of a career, and work is the language of that discipline. POSITIVITY! CONFIDENCE! PRACTICE! SUCCESS! 11 Drawing the Figure My objective in writing this book is to show how to draw figures using a simple and easy drawing method. Specifically, the book is intended to help theatre students improve their drawing skills so that they can give effective design presentations. Most theatre students do not have any solid drawing training, nor do they have any human anatomy or figure-drawing courses in their curricula. Drawing requires a lot of practice and knowledge of the proportions of the human body. I believe that with effort, anybody can draw. Theatre students typically have to do production assignments and work in the shops, help- ing to build either scenery or costumes for the production. Their time is occupied with those assignments, leaving them little time to improve their drawing skills. That is why I am trying to find a short, easy, and fast way to help them improve their drawing abilities. The methods in this book can be used without a model. However, if theatre students have the opportunity to draw the human figure from live models, they should do so. Drawing live models is a tre- mendous help in understanding the human body. 1 M 2 CHAPTER 1 PROPORTIONS OF THE BODY Most of the proportions of the body that I used in shorter or chubbier. When keeping these measure- this book are based on the theories of proportions ments in mind, the figure will always look right. There are many concepts or methods for measuring used in many other art books. There are fantastic I recommend that you use the following steps to the divisions of the human body. The eight-heads-tall art books from which you can learn about the create a figure drawing, until you become familiar figure proportion method is often used by artists or proportions of the body and about figure drawing with body proportions. Refer to Figures 1-1 and 1-2 fashion illustrators. Some fashion drawings may use techniques, such as Bridgman’s Complete Guide to as you complete these steps. eight-and-a-half- or nine-heads-tall figures to dem- Drawing from Life, by George B. Bridgman; The onstrate the garments, using a slim, sophisticated 1. Place two marks on the paper — one on the Complete Book of Fashion Illustration, by Sharon image. Realism is not intent of fashion designers or top portion of the page, one on the bottom Lee Tale and Mona Shafer Edwards; The Human illustrators. Rather, their objective is to create a styl- portion of the page — to indicate the height of Figure: An Anatomy for Artists, by David K. Rubins; ized or exaggerated version of reality, which today is the body. Then draw a vertical line from the Drawing the Head and Figure, by Jack Hamm; and a tall, slim, and athletic figure, with a long neck and top mark to the bottom mark. The composi- Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty long legs. Fashion illustrations emphasize the current tion of the figure should be considered; that Edwards. These books helped me improve my under- ideals or trends of fashion beauty. The thin body and is, keeping the figure centered or off-centered, standing of the human body and taught me how to specific poses are designed to enhance the garments. more to the left or to the right side, and so on. present the body well. You can study the rules and Fashion illustrators are creating the images of fash- These guidelines control the figure height. principles of figure drawing but you have to learn ionable products to stimulate customers to purchase how to use them through practice. 2. Draw a mark at the middle point of the verti- the garments. Beautiful illustrations can impress and To give my characters a realistic appearance, I cal line to find the middle point of the body. influence customers to buy and wear the advertised slightly change the size of the head. Compared to This mark is where the crotch is located and is clothing. the eight-heads-tall proportions, I enlarge the head also the half-height of the body. I am going to Costume designs for theatrical productions are to extend outside the usual boundary of the first call the area from this mark up the upper half quite different from fashion illustrations. The head area. This enlarges the head in proportion to of the body. To me, this mark is the most criti- costume designer uses the history of fashion as a the top half of the body. I keep the feet within the cal reference point for good proportions of the reference for creating costumes for many varieties of bottom-half portion of the body. When I start the body. (See Figure 1-1, mark #5.) characters or groups of characters in plays. The char- foundation of a figure, however, I still start with the acters are everyday-life people: young or old, thin or 3. Divide the upper body from the top mark to eight-heads-tall method because it is an even number heavy, short or tall, with different nationalities and the crotch line into four equal parts. This cre- and easier to divide for calculation purposes. My di- particular personalities. Costume design for produc- ates five marks but four portions. Number all visions on the body may differ from other books, but tions requires creating practical garments that are the marks: The very top mark, mark #1, is the the measurements work for my figure drawings. My going to be worn on stage by believable characters top of the skull; we won’t use mark #2; mark primary intent is to have a system that is easy to use. who have well-defined personalities. Sometimes a #3 is the armpit; mark #4 is the waistline; and The key for developing a character figure drawing well-defined character costume design can inspire mark #5 is the half-body mark (it is also the that is in proportion is to keep the top half (from the actors and enhance the design presentation for crotch, pelvis, or hipline). The very bottom the crotch up to the top of the skull) equal to the the production team. In my drawings and designs, I mark drawn in step 1 is mark #6. I will refer bottom half (from the crotch down to the bottom of try to emphasize a realistic style of body proportions, by numbers to these six marks extensively in the feet). The crotch is the main division point. The but I use slightly exaggerated facial features and the discussion that follows. head can actually be made either a little bigger or body language to create characters with personality. smaller. A small head will make the figure look taller 4. Make the head bigger compared to mark #2 The real creative challenge is how to express person- or thinner; a bigger head will make the figure look (usually considered the chin in measurement alities of characters.