how to draw folds in clothing

Updated June 1, 2022

Are you lot interested in knowing how to depict clothing folds on a character in a more than disarming way because your fashion designs announced unnatural or flat in relationship to the body? Having a good understanding of the diverse types of folds and how they wrap around the human form volition help you achieve better visual results when illustrating clothing.

Equally an illustrator, you lot'll need to know each of the fold names and how to draw the following six types of article of clothing folds.

1. Pipe Fold

example of pipe fold in skirt when clothes drawing

Pipe folds tend to occur on dresses and curtains. This fold happens when the origin point of the material is compressed or bunched together, which creates a series of semi-tubular shapes. The bottom function of the cloth that is hanging complimentary often has a wavy pattern to its appearance.

How to Draw a Piping Fold

From the point of support, a simple pipe fold is drawn as a modest cylinder that gets larger equally it falls toward the ground. There are reverse cylinders in between the folds to give a three-dimensional event.

two. Zig-Zag Fold

Zig-zag folds tend to occur where pants agglomeration up at the bottom of the legs or backside the knees. This happens because the textile is being compressed. Basically, these folds tend to alternate one another in a zig-zagged way, with areas that fold inward on itself.

How to Draw a Zig-Zag Fold

When drawing this blazon of fold, try to start with a quick and jerky zig-zag line that feels organic and non too uniform. In the end, this provides a more natural-looking event considering each fold has a unique character. Lock the ends of your lines with others to bring together two opposing forces on the fabric.

3. Spiral Fold

spiral fold in bunched up sleeve in clothes drawing

Spiral folds only happen on material that is beingness wrapped around tubular forms such as an arm or a leg. They frequently occur on sleeves that take been rolled or bunched upward.

How to Describe a Screw Fold

Use curved and diagonal lines to fit the rounded forms of the body. Wrap the material effectually the grade, widening the folds as they leave their points of back up. Don't parallel the lines or repeat the same direction and volume. Requite the folds a decorative arrangement instead. Radiate the material outward and upward.

iv. Half-Lock Fold

half lock fold in crotch of pants in clothes drawing

Half-lock folds tend to occur where there is an abrupt change in the management of fabric. You'll see this type of fold on the sides of knees when a person wearing slacks is squatting or sitting, causing an sharp change in the direction of the fabric popping out on the sides. Yous can also encounter these folds in the upper part of pants when the body is bending forward, such as when a golfer bends over in preparation to swing a golf club.

How to Draw a One-half-Lock Fold

When the turn you are making is at or about a right bending, make the lock sharp and angular. Make the locks more than round and dissolved when the turns are loose. Make certain the folds are logical by keeping them elementary and like shooting fish in a barrel to follow. If you lot're cartoon someone sitting downwards, depict a greater number of angles to express the sense of direction.

v. Diaper Fold

diaper fold in clothes drawing of a scarf

Diaper folds are a outcome of sagging in a textile between two support points. The amount of textile and the distance between the support points will dictate the amount of sag. Y'all'll often run into these types of folds on scarves and handkerchiefs.

How to Describe a Diaper Fold

Be aware of the up and down planes in the forms then that your diaper folds don't just look similar lines. You lot tin begin with a cross contour if this helps. Make the edges of the fold tighter in the center of the compressed point, and loosen them as they move toward the eye.

6. Drib Fold

example of drop fold in clothes drawing of handkerchief

Drop folds commonly occur where material simply drops off of a form to hang freely, such as a towel hanging on a claw. The overall expect of a drop fold is dictated by gravity and the blazon of form information technology's hanging off. This fold is ofttimes used in conjunction with other types of folds.

How to Draw a Drib Fold

Draw folds that radiate outward and down from the back up point. You lot can apply either hook-similar or cone shapes to get the right effect.

Some Helpful Tips When Learning How to Draw Wear Folds

Since folds visually support an action or move in a form past showing unlike depth and volume that is underneath a given material, it's important to get them correct.

A good identify to start when learning how to draw clothing folds is by studying human course and breaking down various body parts into simple shapes. By determining how they appear in three dimensional space, you tin can begin to apply clothing hemlines and edges that follow the contours of the body accurately.

Here are a few more helpful tips with learning how to draw habiliment folds:

When it comes to the edges of different materials, you'll want to maintain a sense of volume so the articles of wear exercise not appear skin tight. Be mindful of your line work and how you wrap a material's class around a specific torso part.

Once y'all have established how these hemlines and edges of clothing will be placed on the trunk, you lot tin can start blocking in articles of vesture. Specific types of folds depend on what part of the body the clothing is existence applied to.

Certain types of fabric fold differently, so spend some fourth dimension researching and experimenting with a variety of materials to proceeds a stronger sense of how they can be manipulated. The thinner the cloth, the more easily it can fold or crease. The folds will be shut together and arable. The thicker the fabric, the harder information technology is for folds to occur. If in that location are any folds, at that place are only a few. Too, the softer the cloth, the rounder the folds can be.

Try setting up a low-cal source to view how the six unlike types of folds are established on the form. This enquiry will help when information technology comes to rendering the textile.

Utilize highlights, centre tones, form shadows, and reflected light to go the three-dimensional expect you lot desire.

In one case you have get better acquainted with each of the fold types and how to draw clothing folds in relationship to the human form, you'll be able to combine them in a cohesive style and pattern more than convincing articles of clothing.

Whether you're a fashion designer, a painter, or an illustrator, it tin can really pay off to learn more than about Illustrator, Graphic Design, InDesign, and Photoshop. Pluralsight has all the tutorials you lot need, so check them out!