Fashion Sketchbook By Bina Abling (5th, Fifth Edition) Paperback – January 1, 2008

Full disclosure: My background is in graphic design and I am a mostly self taught artist. I'm trying to shift gears from my current job as a production artist to go into apparel design (the technical end). My mother is a seamstress and I pretty much was raised in the local fabric store. I bought this book in particular, because another customer recommended it over 9 Heads (I bought both, but this one came first).That said...this is the best book I've ever bought on drawing...ever. I lucked out and bought it USED for $10 through an amazon seller and I've never been so pleasantly surprised. This book not only covers the fashion end of the spectrum, but it truly wants you to understand the human form and movement. The first fourth of the book is simply explaining to you how to draw each part of the female form (it goes into male form and children as well--but not as detailed), telling you the difference between fashion croquis and a normal human shape, but also quick short cuts to getting the form down. Yes, practice makes perfect and the few art classes and all the advice I've ever gotten as an artist always said this, but being able to jump start pretty quickly into drawing the figure is so helpful to young artists. Just this part of the book has me amazed. I still recommend studying living breathing forms, but this is a damn good start.The amazement doesn't stop there. It covers step by step what you need to know about drawing draping fabric, layering color, and creating texture to represent fabric types better. It even covers flats--not in complete length, but enough to get by. I found this and most of the end chapters the most useful, because it goes on to explain how to draw the most useful figure/design, depending on the purpose. Everyone wants to draw pretty pictures, yes, but theres a stark difference between drawing something to look pretty and drawing something to be informational, and have it still look fluid. The part of this book I like the most is that yes it tells you exactly how to get an effect or shape, but it also explains the theory. You give a man to fish, he'll eat for a day. You teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a life time.This book is going to go on my shelf next to all the art books I have. It will be a frequent pull and just as loved. I might even by the newer version just to see what improvements were made.

This book is perfect. Im taking fashion design and this has worked me great for reference. its not the best for small details like stiches, but its perfect for the over all clothing design.

Ms. Abling has done an excellent job illustrating how to illustrate, for apparel. The workbook-like format is easy to follow and instinctually laid out. She explains the materials needed, and the techniques she uses to create lovely illustrations. A must-own for any fashion design student.As a side-note, she also has several great YouTube videos explaining some of her techniques as well. They're a nice supplement to this book.

I like this book it helps me with my sketches of fashion figures. I improved on my proportions and my croquis look much better than before. I used this book for my fashion sketching class.

This book is great for the drawing aspect but the rendering tutorial is HORRIBLE. Which sucks because portraying textiles accurately is more important then getting the figure right. Especially since they need to be drawn more. Drawing the figure and the garments however, this is a great step by step book for that. Perfect perhaps.

Perfect condition and fast deliverythank you!!! 🙏🏼

Beautiful book! Great condition, great value! Of allMy textbooks this year, I use this one the most!

Bina Abling's Fashion Sketchbook is a wonderful book for all fashion design students learning or re-learning to draw the fashion figure. This book is comprehensive with examples of women's, men's, and children's wear sketching. The drawings and illustrations in the book are very clear and inspiring. This is one of the important books I recommend to my students at FIT and Pratt.