Sketching in Color

Since Gertie's New Fashion Sketchbook came out, I've been thrilled to have proportional croquis to work with. It's so refreshing to use fashion figures that are of a realistic height and body type! And it's really made me want to step up my sketching game. So I decided to start experimenting with using color in my sketches. I bought some Prismacolor art markers, the kind with the brush tip on one end and and a fine tip on the other.

I haven't been to an art class in decades and I honestly have no idea what I'm doing here, so I decided to just have fun with it. I started by sketching in my design in pencil the way I wrote about last week. (This is the dirndl I'm planning on making.)
I know I plan on using this royal blue and black jacquard (from my new fall fabric collection, more to come on that!) so I had an idea what colors to use. I'm planning on finding a magenta silk for the apron and trim. I started by coloring in the apron and large parts of the dress, using the brush end of the marker. I drew black swirls on the dress to represent the jacquard pattern.


I drew in details and outlines with the fine point of a black marker. Then I experimented with making the blouse black and the lips red. 

I didn't like the black blouse as much, but unfortunately there's no way to go back! (Though that's what sketching is for: now I know to buy white fabric for the blouse rather than black.) And I wasn't sure how to represent details like gathers on a black garment. (Ideas?) Ah well. Also important to note: the markers kind of seep through the paper, so you can only use one side.

Anyway, it's been a fun experiment. I'd love to hear your sketching tips! Do you work in color? What are your favorite techniques?