Where do I start when drawing a digital flat?
Have to draw a flat cad of a garment but don’t know where to start? When you are new to Illustrator I typically suggest starting off one of 3 ways:
- Tracing over a hand sketch of a flat
- Tracing over a photo
- Tracing over a croquis
With both of these options you can import the sketch or photo into Illustrator in the form of a jpeg and trace over it. Always remember we want to draw FLATS so if you have a hand sketch you should use a FLATS croquis. If you are using a photo choose a garment that has a similar silhouette to the design you want to create and use that as a foundation for your sketch. Also try to choose a photo of a garment that is not on a model as the body parts will just get in the way.
After you have been drawing in Illustrator for a while you will amass a library of flats to choose from. When I start a sketch a typically just look through all the cads I have and find something with a similar silhouette to modify.
