Best fashion illustration classes: Draw, sketch, paint, and digitize breathtaking fashion statements

We often hear about fashion models, designers, brand marketeers, and business moguls, but what about fashion illustrators?

Fashion illustration is an incredibly inspiring and exciting art form that’s at the heart of it all.

The purpose of this illustration style is to communicate fashion concepts visually, whether this means sketching up an already existent look or coming up with the foundation for a design destined for the runway.

If you’re passionate about fashion and have a deep love for drawing, painting, and digital art, I can assure you that our picks for the best fashion illustration classes will be chicken soup for your artsy, fashion-loving soul!

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How to choose the best fashion illustration classes for you

Fashion is such a beloved, vast theme with so many different facets, making it somewhat challenging to know how to get started.

Before getting into all of the fashion illustration classes on this guide, here are a few thoughts to consider as you scroll away: 

• The fashion illustration classes listed are on the following platforms: Domestika, Udemy, Skillshare, Creativebug, and Craftsy — which is best for you? Learn about each in our guide to online course platforms.
• Do you want to purchase courses individually or access multiple fashion illustration classes with an ongoing subscription? 
• Is class duration realistic to put in the time and practice?
• Would you like to learn fashion illustration on paper or explore digital software? 
• Do you want to learn how to draw croquis/body figures too, or just stick to garments? 
• Are you interested in focusing on pattern and texture illustration skills or just the basics? 
• Are you already experienced with the art form or a complete beginner?
• What is your motivation for taking fashion illustration classes? Professional? Pleasure? A tool to evolve into fashion design? Curiosity to experience new illustration techniques? 

Best fashion illustration classes

Enjoy discovering our picks for the best fashion illustration classes below!

We’d also love to know which of the fashion illustration classes on the list you liked most; feel free to drop us a comment at the end of the article or share more suggestions — we’re all ears!

Fashion Sketchbook: Find Your Creative Voice

Renowned Brazilian stylist Ronaldo Fraga, one of the top 10 most innovative stylists of our time (per London Design Museum), will be your mentor for this Domestika course and demonstrates how a simple sketchbook can unleash a world of untapped talent.

With just a few basic materials, you’ll learn to research and brainstorm ideas, apply technical drawing techniques, sketch croquis, develop a signature style, and more — all within a sketchbook. And yes, you’ll be creating one of your own as you go from lesson to lesson!

Read also: Best children’s book illustration classes

If you’ve been yearning for inspiration, this is definitely the place to find it! It’s one of my favorite fashion illustration classes out there because it really dives into unblocking artistry through unconventional methods to get you illustrating fashion statements that come from the heart.

The tools required for the course are also low on cost and maintenance, making it a really practical pick no matter your skillset. However, I especially recommend this as a starting point if you’re just kickstarting this hobby (or profession)!

This course is taught in Portuguese (Brazilian) and has English subtitles. Content quality is sublime on Domestika and prices are super attractive — click below to see for yourself!

Fashion Illustration

Next up is this lighthearted fashion illustration class for beginners on Craftsy!

In this course, illustrator and designer Anum Tariq will show you the ropes to creating a complete fashion illustration from start to finish with a small number of easy-to-access materials. Anum will also make bonus resources available such as mood board ideas, croquis, pattern references, and more!

If you’re a busy bee and don’t have time to take on more comprehensive fashion illustration classes, this is a great option to learn fundamentals within a total of 38 minutes worth of lessons.

While you will get the essential concepts and steps covered, keep in mind that this is probably a better suggestion for total beginners who have zero experience. Anum also displays more feminine, glamour trends in her designs, so if this is what you’re going for, this is a great place to pick up some tips.

Fashion Illustration — Sketch anything!

Alexe Perron is somewhat of a star on Udemy and hosts a series of in-depth fashion illustration classes on the platform— here’s my favorite for beginners!

While Alexe does have a more general, introductory course on fashion illustration on the platform, this class is extra special because it teaches you to transform a simple croquis into a texture-filled work of art.

You’ll learn how to create a variety of timeless, chic skins and prints to make your illustrated garments pop off the page: snake, crocodile, feathers, fur, leopard, and zebra patterns are some of the designs you can expect to master by the end of this thorough class.

One extra perk offered in this course is access to bonus materials, including already-drawn croquis templates for tracing. That said, this class won’t have you diving into complicated sketching techniques. Alexe will go over a ton of current fashion trends here too, which may spark inspiration if looking for new ideas.

While this course is not the cheapest on our guide, it’s still pretty affordable — content is very well structured, and videos filled with close-ups and zoomed-in angles to benefit your learning experience.

Click below to find out more about this Udemy class!

How to Create Beautiful Fashion Illustrations

Before getting into digital fashion illustration classes, here’s a Skillshare course you’ll love if all about incorporating watercolors and different drawing materials into your craft.

In this introductory course, your teacher Elena Fay will share all her secrets to achieving beautiful fashion illustrations. It’s ideal if you’re convinced drawing isn’t your forte — Elena ensures you all it takes is just a few hours a day to start seeing your skills evolve!

Read also: Best watercolor classes online

You’ll be learning the basics of fashion illustration, from drawing croquis from scratch to coloring in your work with ink and watercolors. What I really like about this course is how Elena really gets into croquis/figure pose drawing techniques, which is perfect if your goal is to work through every step of the process.

Another bonus worth mentioning is that this class, much like the previously listed Craftsy course, is a little over half an hour long, making it a convenient learning experience if you’re low on time.

The good news is that while on a Skillshare Premium subscription, you’ll have unlimited access to this content, which will allow you to go back for a refresher any time you want. You can also try the platform’s free one-month trial if you think that’s enough time to get these skills under your belt!

Fashion Illustration: from the Catwalk to the Paper

The following fashion illustration classes on the list will tackle something a little different — courses for tech-loving fashion illustrators!

This Domestika class covers mixed-medium techniques to create stunning digital fashion illustrations. Guided by fashion illustrator Roberto Tirado, you can look forward to getting hands-on with classic art supplies like paints and brushes as well as a lot of Photoshop features during these lessons!

You’ll learn how to work from inspiration, create collages to adapt digitally, study masculine/feminine features, integrate different materials, and combine technology with manual crafting to illustrate a pro runway look.

Although this course is for beginners and does cover the basics of Photoshop, you’re likely to benefit more from your project if having previous experience with the software. Besides Photoshop, you will also need a graphic tablet and a scanner (or camera phone in a pinch).

This is a great starting point if looking to explore a new facet of mixed-medium artwork, whether you want to apply these skills solely to fashion illustration or learn a few tricks for different creative themes — no matter which side of the digital art spectrum you find yourself on!

This course is in Spanish (with English subtitles) and can be purchased individually or in a bundle; Domestika Plus also offers great deals for avid learners!

Fashion Sketch Illustration

Like the previous course, this Domestika class taught by Carol Gomide also takes a mixed medium approach to fashion illustration, this time with the Procreate app!

Carol will show you how to combine manual and digital art to sketch croquis, achieve proportion, fit, create garments, develop color palettes, and shadows. She’ll also guide you through Procreate’s brush library to perfect your croquis with different textures and colors.

Read also: Best Procreate classes online

The class project will have you creating a fashion collection composed of three illustrated sketches. By working on a mini collection rather than a single piece, you’ll definitely be getting more practice and skill under your belt. There are also some related skills like photographing your work effectively and tips on posting your art to social media!

Although there is a lot to love about this course, the main advantage here is that you’ll be using Procreate, which is more intuitive and accessible than complex software like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator.

This course is taught in Portuguese (Brazilian) — click below to watch the class trailer for a sneak peek (trust me, the subtitles are worth it).

Fashion Illustration: Digital Drawing with Attitude

This Original Skillshare course stars fashion illustrator and writer Danielle Meder who covers the world of digital drawing to create beautiful runway sketches.

In this class, your instructor will focus solely on digital fashion illustrations and guide you through the fundamentals of drafting, the principles of female proportion, and gesture lines while teaching you how to capture the attitude and energy of a live runway show.

This course is set up for artists looking to explore the world of fashion illustration through the lens of digital art and aims to equip you with the know-how and understanding of specific software to bring your projects to life.

Although one of the shorter fashion illustration classes listed, it happens to be one of the most in-depth when overviewing digital techniques and sketching tools/software. You’ll also be getting a lot of extra resources!

Danielle’s course is a great place to begin learning if you’re up for a little digital fun, and want to experiment with software other than Procreate and Photoshop.

Click below to subscribe to Skillshare Premium or enjoy a full month of free access to all of the fashion illustration classes on the platform.

Introduction to Adobe Illustrator for Fashion Design

If you’re looking for comprehensive, from start to finish, scratch to completion types of digital fashion illustration classes — here’s a great option!

With over five hours of content, this bestseller Domestika course for beginners features fashion and textile designer Mila Moura and provides a complete introduction to Adobe Illustrator for fashion design.

Read also: Best Adobe Illustrator classes

This Domestika Basics course will go over all the essentials to get you started: exploring the Adobe Illustrator interface, vectorizing sketches, editing and drawing garment details, experimenting with colors and patterns, and creating a specification sheet for manufacturing.

Unlike the rest of the fashion illustration classes listed, this course focuses more on fashion design vs. fashion illustration. That means you might consider this angle less “artful” and more technical. Nevertheless, who said you couldn’t learn a bit of both?

Mila’s course is an excellent option to complement one of the more traditional fashion illustration classes above, not to mention an inspiring gateway to the design process if you’re thinking of taking your illustrations beyond the paper!

Pattern Design for Fashion Garments

Onto something a little different now, this Domestika course combines the concept of design with fashion illustration.

This course is led by Vero Escalante who will teach you how to create unique prints and bold statements through magnificent imagery and patterns.

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Vero will show you the fundamentals of sketching your ideas, finding inspiration, choosing color palettes, and transforming these into real-life, wearable fabrics. Your class project will challenge you to create a collection of six digitized patterns for apparel — a great way to stretch your imagination!

If you’re used to manual or more classic approaches to fashion illustration, this is a great class to draw inspiration and think outside the box. It’s also just under two hours long, making it a great choice to complete your learning after exploring more basic fashion illustration classes.

Although this course is for beginners, it’s also great for experienced fashion illustrators looking for ways to innovate their workflow and creative processes.

This course is taught in Spanish with English subtitles. Click below to watch a class trailer and find out if it’s for you!

Fashion Illustration with Mood Fabrics

Project Runway All-Star Benjamin Mach (yes, that Project Runway!) instructs this Creativebug course and will show you how to draw fashion illustrations with a particular focus on fabrics!

Along with the basics of drawing body proportions and garments, Benjamin will guide you through blending and creating custom colors and sketching a variety of textiles to translate your ideas onto paper.

Read also: What is Creativebug? Is it worth it?

You’ll also learn how to put a mood board together to inspire a complete capsule collection! This Creativebug course is only one hour long but really dives into the fundamentals needed to incorporate textures and color into your work.

If you’re looking to tackle this craft with the intent of drawing up a theme for a collection based on shape, fabric, and color, this is an excellent pick. Keep in mind that this course is best suited for intermediate artists with basic sketching and fashion illustration skills.

Creativebug offers a very affordable monthly and yearly subscription plan. You can also enjoy 60 days free by clicking here!

Creative Fashion Illustration Techniques

Want a truly unique fashion illustration class? This is it!

This Domestika class taught by Connie Lim is the last of the fashion illustration classes on our list, and will teach you how to combine traditional collage techniques to develop quirky, dynamic fashion illustrations.

Read also: 15 best Domestika courses in English (plus 5 in Spanish)

You’ll learn to attribute facial and body expressions on cut-out figure croquis, which you will then embellish with drawing and collage techniques — not to mention all the layering and 3D elements you’ll be incorporating.

Materials for this class are accessible and pretty basic. The magic lies in exploring the versatility of these resources to create movement and artistry. You’ll also learn to use digital apps to photograph and tweak your final results and make them Like-friendly for Instagram.

I love this class because it’s a fun pick for all skill levels and niches of visual creatives looking for tangible, handmade projects to refresh their approach to the art form.

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That’s it for our list of the best fashion illustration classes online! Do you have any more recommendations? Let everyone know in the comments below!