I did an art demo at a nearby elementary recently and some of the kids asked about drawing clothing. Here’s how I broke it down for them using one of my Black Panther pieces.

It all starts in the wrinkles

When drawing clothing, start by looking out for the areas of tension that create the wrinkles and folds.

In some cases, these manifest as compression wrinkles, caused by the tension or force created by a moving body part, like the wrinkles on Black Panther’s jacket near his armpit and elbow.

The hips, knees and ankles are also common areas for these kinds of wrinkles.

Other times you’ll see them as hanging folds which usually appear on fabric when it's clipped on both sides.

Think roman robes and how they are draped across the shoulders.

When drawing capes, robes, curtains or long dresses you might see pipe folds, which happen when a loose piece of fabric hangs freely. When clothing such as a dress or cape wraps around the figure, creating the folds, pay attention to its movement in relation to the figure itself. Pay close attention to how tension or force like a gust of wind causes changes in the folds. 

Now that you’re aware of the different types of folds start thinking about how light, value and patterns impact the folds in a piece of fabrics.

Find The Patterns

Each fold or wrinkle has a very similar breakdown of light and shade.

Identify the highlights which would be the strongest areas of light, the mid-tones and the form shadows which would be the darkest areas in the fold or wrinkle.

If you look at fabrics in this manner you will start to recognize a basic pattern which is that each fold is a small cylinder with a highlight, middle tone and a form shadow.

Using a strong light source will make this pattern more apparent. Soft lighting will subdue well defined shadows and highlights.

Think Tonal Values

Having the right range in values becomes paramount as you attempt to create dimensionality on a flat surface.

Sometimes bright colors can change our perception of values.

A good practice is to look at your reference point in grayscale in order to clearly see tonal transitions.

Final Tip

The last tip is to avoid patterns, at least at first. A detailed pattern and the curvature of the folds can sometimes muddle what’s really going on with the fabric.

If you’re a beginner stick to the basics at first until you feel more confident then venture into simple patterns. Just keep in mind that patterns curve with the roundness of the form and folds so parts of the pattern will appear and disappear with the folds.

I really hope this helps. Please leave comments below with any additional questions and try to get back to you as quickly as I can. 

Your friendly neighborhood marker slinger,

Ivan