How to Draw Draperies
Fabric draperies are among the most important elements in your drawing skill set. If you'll be drawing the human figure, you'll also need to draw clothing and artistic drapery. Fabric naturally falls into complex folds, especially when it moves. Drawing it can seem intimidating. Yet, like all other subjects, fabric breaks up into simple planes. Once you know how to see these planes, drawing drapery becomes simple.
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Instructions
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Examine the drapery, and break it down into shapes. There are several basic drapery shapes fabric falls into. These include pipe or tube-shaped folds, zig-zag-shaped folds, spiral folds and U shapes. These folds break down into even simpler geometric shapes. Identify the locations and attitudes of these shapes before you put pencil to paper.
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Sketch the structure. Drapery is usually placed on top of a human body, piece of furniture or other object. If you leave out the object underneath, the fabric may look flat. Lightly draw this structure so that folds will fall in a realistic way. Do not draw this structure in with dark lines—it shouldn't show in the final work.
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Create the major shapes. Use medium pressure to create guidelines that break the drapery down into its major components. Work from least detailed to most detailed. Visualize the drapery as a series of interconnected planes.
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Create minor shapes. Detail smaller shapes inside the larger planes. Keep them in proportion to the main forms of the drapery.
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Add the shadows. Drapery shadows tend to form as large, bold shapes. Fill in entire areas of shadow in the folds. Try to maintain strong contrast; this helps imply the form of the drapery. Pay attention to lighting direction. Improperly shadowed drapery will look out of place.
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Add midtones. These aren't strictly required; many drapery drawings use only the shadows and the white of the paper to show form. These drawings may look harsh, though. Place midtones between the highlight and the shadow, and blend them into the shadows. This technique is helpful when drawing soft fabric, like velvet.
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Tips & Warnings
Most clothing folds fall into “X” and “Y” shapes.
Heavier fabric has more sculptural folds; light fabric bunches more.
Copy old master drawings to improve your drapery technique.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
