The Connie Lim Method Part 1

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In this lesson, I’ll walk you through the materials I use in my fashion life drawing practice and teaching. You don’t need expensive tools to draw expressively — what matters most is choosing materials that help you loosen up, observe better, and enjoy the process.

This lesson is about understanding why certain materials work, so you can adapt them to your own style and workflow. Feel free to pause the video, test things out, and make this setup your own.

Connie Lim is a professional illustrator and designer from Los Angeles, California. She has trained at prestigious universities such as Art Center College of Art and Design Pasadena (Illustration, 2008) and UAL’s Central Saint Martins in London (Fashion Design with Marketing, 2013). As an artist specializing in fashion, she merged her two love of illustration and fashion design to create unique and striking images with a strong personal vision.

This course is a stepping stone to your creative drawing journey. By no means are you expected to be amazing drawers by day 1 or even by day 30 (so no pressure to be perfect!). However, I ask you to be open to try new things. You will most likely not enjoy all the sessions that are offered but will find that you prefer some techniques or lessons more than others.

A quick tip before we start the course!

Lines are really important to understand and master! It is the fundamental basic tool we use in our everyday lives to communicate. We write, sketch, draw, doodle to get our ideas down and we do it daily. 

If you use the same line weight, then your drawing will look quite flat. However, if the graphic and flat aesthetic is what you want to go for, then by all means, you’re welcome to. It definitely changes the mood.

Now that we understand line quality, we can use it for various marks and mark making. We can use the line in many different ways. Different marks evoke different emotions. Soft flowy lines can represent feminine energy while harsh strong lines can suggest masculinity. When I was studying character design, I learned that  for the villain you used pointy jagged areas and rounded edges for the hero.

Let’s practice your lines based on the lesson 1.

Get a whatever sketchbook! You have to warm up and stretch before working out doing your exercises. This sketchbook is that warm up. You’er warming up your hand and muscles and practicing the pressure points for your line quality. Try to do this everyday and you will build up your confidence with putting line to page. (Getting over the fear of the blank page!)

If you want to draw something that looks realistic, it’s crucial to understand that you are trying to create 3D volume and form on a 2D flat surface.

An easy way to create form is to duplicate the same shape and connect the corners. See example below. This will be useful when we go over foreshortening. 

These lines are called contour lines. They follow the form of the object and can run in any direction along the surface of the object to help you visualise the illusion of form.

You can use the contour lines to flesh out the volume but notice if you use straight lines in the example below. The first leg is using straight lines and appears flat vs the curved lines which create the 3D form.

You can influence the way an object is perceived by manipulating your contour lines. This process definitely comes with practise but see the example below and how simply changing the contour lines inside the same exact shape creates a totally different drawing.

Practice your lines into shapes / 3D objects.  

1. Create some shapes (geometric and organic) and turn them into 3D shapes. Think about planes and angles. 

2. Take some reference images or live objects and draw them in flat 2D shapes. Then add your contour lines. Play around with your contour lines and see how manipulating them in different ways and directions can change the overall look and feel of your object. 

When I was studying illustration I was always confused about how to shade and where to shade..it just seemed very complex to understand and I’ve always had trouble with it. But in fashion we don’t need to be so picky if the shadows are totally correct. However, I do want to touch up on it because they do help give your work more depth and realism with a range of tonal values.

I chose 4 to help you understand values simplified from light, medium, medium dark, and dark. Starting with the lightest colour which I chose pink as it alleviates the pressure of trying to get that perfect line in the beginning. The beginning first line is called the ‘lay-in’ where we can mark and put down guide points or a quick overall gesture.

Gradate from dark to light and vice versa as seen in the example below. We're not here to be perfect realist illustrators that need to chisel out perfection and accurate shadows but instead we can manipulate gradation to benefit the drawing to portray more depth. So this is a series of soft lines that go in one general direction and you can use it to shade just the anything.

Hatching and cross hatching is probably the most well known ancient technique and what Da Vinci is well known for. Basically, you overlap lines at various angles to create a ‘knitted texture’. It's useful for drawing fabrics like wovens including denim. You can play with the woven count by spacing the lines apart or tightening them by bringing them closer together. 

Organic Shading

Instead of using straight lines, I am using organic circular lines to create more fuzzy texture and soft edges. This is great for teddy bear jackets, shearling collars, and just for a softer surface.a

Combining shading techniques

It's perfectly normal to use several shading techniques in one drawing. Using a variety of these techniques can help you create and interpret various fabrics, moods, and colours. It’s quite exciting to see all the combinations that you can utilise! Have a look at the drawing below and you can identify which techniques I used in which areas. Hopefully this can give you insight into how you approach your own illustrations

In this lesson, we explore the front face in fashion illustration, starting with the skull as the foundation. Understanding the structure beneath the features helps you create faces that are not only proportionate but full of expression, beauty, and style. You’ll learn how to approach the front face step by step, from analyzing anatomy to adding the details that bring your illustrations to life.

In this lesson, we explore the front face in fashion illustration, starting with the skull as the foundation. Understanding the structure beneath the features helps you create faces that are not only proportionate but full of expression, beauty, and style. You’ll learn how to approach the front face step by step, from analyzing anatomy to adding the details that bring your illustrations to life.

In this lesson, we explore the front face in fashion illustration, starting with the skull as the foundation. Understanding the structure beneath the features helps you create faces that are not only proportionate but full of expression, beauty, and style. You’ll learn how to approach the front face step by step, from analyzing anatomy to adding the details that bring your illustrations to life.

In this lesson, we explore the front face in fashion illustration, starting with the skull as the foundation. Understanding the structure beneath the features helps you create faces that are not only proportionate but full of expression, beauty, and style. You’ll learn how to approach the front face step by step, from analyzing anatomy to adding the details that bring your illustrations to life.

In this lesson, we explore the front face in fashion illustration, starting with the skull as the foundation. Understanding the structure beneath the features helps you create faces that are not only proportionate but full of expression, beauty, and style. You’ll learn how to approach the front face step by step, from analyzing anatomy to adding the details that bring your illustrations to life.

In this lesson, we explore the front face in fashion illustration, starting with the skull as the foundation. Understanding the structure beneath the features helps you create faces that are not only proportionate but full of expression, beauty, and style. You’ll learn how to approach the front face step by step, from analyzing anatomy to adding the details that bring your illustrations to life.

In this lesson, we explore the front face in fashion illustration, starting with the skull as the foundation. Understanding the structure beneath the features helps you create faces that are not only proportionate but full of expression, beauty, and style. You’ll learn how to approach the front face step by step, from analyzing anatomy to adding the details that bring your illustrations to life.

In this lesson, we explore the front face in fashion illustration, starting with the skull as the foundation. Understanding the structure beneath the features helps you create faces that are not only proportionate but full of expression, beauty, and style. You’ll learn how to approach the front face step by step, from analyzing anatomy to adding the details that bring your illustrations to life.

This lesson breaks down the key elements of the face—eyes, nose, mouth, and ears—so you can understand how each feature is structured and how they work together. By studying proportion, placement, and anatomy, you’ll gain confidence in drawing expressive, balanced faces that feel natural and stylish in your fashion illustrations.

This lesson breaks down the key elements of the face—eyes, nose, mouth, and ears—so you can understand how each feature is structured and how they work together. By studying proportion, placement, and anatomy, you’ll gain confidence in drawing expressive, balanced faces that feel natural and stylish in your fashion illustrations.

This lesson breaks down the key elements of the face—eyes, nose, mouth, and ears—so you can understand how each feature is structured and how they work together. By studying proportion, placement, and anatomy, you’ll gain confidence in drawing expressive, balanced faces that feel natural and stylish in your fashion illustrations.

This lesson breaks down the key elements of the face—eyes, nose, mouth, and ears—so you can understand how each feature is structured and how they work together. By studying proportion, placement, and anatomy, you’ll gain confidence in drawing expressive, balanced faces that feel natural and stylish in your fashion illustrations.

This lesson breaks down the key elements of the face—eyes, nose, mouth, and ears—so you can understand how each feature is structured and how they work together. By studying proportion, placement, and anatomy, you’ll gain confidence in drawing expressive, balanced faces that feel natural and stylish in your fashion illustrations.