Every now and then, you will have to make something in your drawing that you just don't know how to make. You just don't know enough about it to be comfortable or confident enough to draw, at least without a lot of help.

For me, that something is a blouse.

As a guy who wears men's clothing, I never really paid attention to blouses. I have always been very unfamiliar with them and naive about them. At least I was, until having to research for this article!

As I think back to my experiences with drawing women, I usually practiced drawing them with simple clothing like a <a href="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-how-to-sketch-a-shirt/">t-shirt</a>. Why wouldn't I? T-shirts are much more familiar to me. That said, I am sure I have drawn a few women in blouses, sometimes without even realizing what exactly I am doing.

So how do you draw a blouse when you don't know anything about blouses? The same way you draw any unfamiliar subject. You learn about it, see examples of different kinds, and get reference photographs to help you. That is exactly what we will do in this article.
<h2>Defining Blouses</h2>
In order to draw a blouse, it is helpful to first understand just exactly what a blouse is. Although similar to a shirt, a blouse is characterized as being a loose and often baggie upper garment. The word "blouse" can also be a verb meaning "to hang loosely" when referring to a sleeve, for example. A blouse is considered a garment for a woman or girl, although in many many years past blouses were also commonly worn by men who were peasants, workers, and even artists!

The varying styles of blouses are endless. I mean, seriously, look at all the different styles of blouses present in this one shop alone!

[caption id="attachment_2355" align="aligncenter" width="600"]<a href="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/little-india-blouse-shop-in-bangkok-thailand.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-2355"><img class="wp-image-2355" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/little-india-blouse-shop-in-bangkok-thailand.jpg" alt="© Lee Snider | Dreamstime.com" width="600" height="392" /></a> <center>© <a href="http://www.dreamstime.com/leesniderphotoimages_info">Lee Snider</a> | <a href="http://www.dreamstime.com/">Dreamstime.com</a></center>[/caption]

Therefore, it can be difficult to generalize blouses as mostly looking the same and drawing them in a similar fashion every time. Since the styles can be so vastly differing, the parts of a blouse vary greatly from one blouse to another. The parts of a blouse all depend on the style of the blouse.

If we had to identify what all blouses have in common, the similarities would be very basic and limited. A blouse is similar to a shirt. All blouses have an opening for the neck. All blouses have an opening for the arms to go through. Blouses are loose-fitting.

That is pretty much where the similarities end. Blouses can be equipped with a collar or without a collar. They can have ruffles or no ruffles. Blouses can be plain or patterned. A blouse can have a bow or no bow. Most have sleeves that can be long or short, but there are some that are sleeveless. Blouses can be made out of countless types of materials. Some are one piece in the front and others must be fastened with buttons or even tied together.

This graphic can help you visualize a few basic styles of blouses. It might also help you get started drawing or sketching a blouse on a woman if you do not have a better frame of reference.

<a href="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/how-to-draw-a-blouse-patterns.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-2356"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-2356" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/how-to-draw-a-blouse-patterns.jpg" alt="" width="457" height="600" /></a>
<h2>How to Draw a Blouse on a Woman</h2>
Now that we are more familiar with blouses, let's try drawing a blouse on a woman. We will still use some reference photographs in the following examples to make things even easier.

This first example is a blouse with loose-fitting long sleeves, a collar, and a big bow.

<a href="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/how-to-draw-a-blouse-ref-1.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-2791"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2791" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/how-to-draw-a-blouse-ref-1.jpg" alt="how to draw a blouse ref 1" width="533" height="800" /></a>

In this next example,

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In this final example,
<h2>Drawing Blouses from Now On</h2>
So remember that even if you know nothing about blouses, drawing a blouse on a woman does not have to be difficult. Like anything that is unfamiliar to you, all you need to do is build your familiarity by looking at different examples, identify the characteristics of the blouse you have to draw, and use reference photographs as you need them. You might not become an expert on blouses, but at least you will no longer "know nothing" about them, and they will be much easier and less intimidating to draw!

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