How To Draw A Piece Of Cloth With Folds

Drawing folds on cloth seems quite complicated and holds many beginning artists back. However, using these steps on how to draw folds on cloth it becomes much easier.

In clothing magazines or in a modesty shop you will see lots of drawing of different styles of clothes. A question must be in your head on how to make those folds or how to draw folds on cloth. Manga artist and other artist who love to draw humans with clothes or fashion designers must have master drawing all those folds. It takes mastery and practice to draw beautiful folds on clothes.

How are these folds made? These folds are results of stretching and pulling of cloth. When you draw folds on cloths, take into account the direction of the fabric where it is going to be stretched or pulled in. Once you know the movement you want for your cloth then everything will put into place with no problem. It is also important to bear in mind the shape of the figure underneath the fabric.

Here are some steps on how to draw folds on cloth. There are few basic types of folds that you must know first.

There are folds that flow downward and being pulled down by gravity. These folds usually hang loosely and you can observe these on long shirt or cape. There are folds that not only pulled but also stretched to the left. And the more it is stretched, it become more horizontal. And some folds are nested within one another; these folds are done on joint areas like the arm. And there are folds that are pulled on different directions, these are complex folds.

There are simple and common folds that are usually used like big folds. How will you draw big folds? First thing you will do is to draw a line with hills; these hills will soon become the folds. Then draw another line with hills beneath the first one. After that draw a straight line on the hill tops to the hill valleys and you’re done. Then erase the covered area. The X and Y folds are pretty common also. These folds are used on chest folds or on trousers and on folds on the end of long pants. 

How will you draw a towel hanging on a chair or a curtain? The folds on these are usually pulled downward to the right. The use of shading and mastery of shading is very important to do these folds. The shading will give more structure to the subject. You must shade on an area where to cast the shadows or along the fold line. It will help you if you see actual folds so that you will know where to do the shading.

How will you draw folds that will look like a bow or sleeves? These folds are somewhat complicated because the folds will overlap and nested within each other. You will notice in a tie that the area where it is tied, the cloth cluster up. It takes lots of details to draw this. Usually, the cloth is shaded around the folds of the cloth. The thickness of the cloth must be considered also.

These are some example on how to draw cloth with folds. At first it may be hard for you to do it but with much practice you will surely perfect these folds. It is also important to observe actual folds so that you will know how to manipulate these folds when you draw it.