clothed figures
ARRANGEMENT OF CLOTHING COMES TO APPEAR AS IT DOES HELPS US TO TRANSLATE IT TO THE VIEWER WITH A GREATER SENSE OF CLARITY”
movement of the hips and legs. You could also think of its form as that of a truncated cone. When the model takes a seat, the
front of the skirt comes to rest on her thighs, which are now horizontal (and pointing toward the viewer in our drawing). As gravity pulls down on the skirt, we see the formation of a shallow fold running front-to-back between the model’s thighs. The line that designates the skirt’s
bottom edge (A) can also be used to describe the sectional contour of the model’s thighs. Let’s move on to a more slightly
complex area of the skirt’s folds (B). Here, an area cloth projects out from under the model’s left leg in a flattened, triangular expanse. That simple description might serve well enough to create an adequate drawing, but to form a better graphic statement, we need to develop an understanding of how and why the form originated. Let’s return to our description of
the skirt as a cone that’s been cut off at top. When the model is standing upright, gravity, pulling down on all its points, will cause the cloth to fold upon itself in vertical furrows. These furrows are bordered in turn
by conically shaped forms suspended from all the outermost points of the model’s hips. The rearmost of these points are the model’s buttocks (see figure 2). (Incidentally, this will be true of any model, no matter the model’s gender, or his or her particular size or shape.) In setting up this pose, the model
was asked to deliberately shift to her right when sitting down, and we can see the result of that shift in the fold pattern. The conical folds in the skirt, although now flattened by gravity upon the surface of the sofa, still point toward their points of origination at the model’s buttocks. Lastly, let’s consider the very
complex fold pattern that appears 56 Artists & Illustrators
FIGURE 4 This sketch shows that ‘compression band’ effect in action. Notice how the band compresses even more in front of the pelvis than it does at the sides
“LOOKING FOR CLUES AS TO WHY AN
where the thighs intersect with the front of the hips (C). There are a number of dynamics at work here, but by breaking them down into simpler cases of cause-and-effect, we can make better sense of them. The first thing to recognise is the
presence of what I call a ‘compression band’ around the waist. This band is made up of a series of interlocking projecting and receding pyramids that are composed of joined triangular planes. It appears wherever a tube of cloth is compressed, and thickens the general outward profile of the garment in this area. A simplified illustration of this pattern can be seen in figure 3. In our first example, this
compression band is further subjected to three more effects. Notice how the compression band is even further compressed in front of the pelvis than at the sides; this is because the cloth was squeezed between the tops of the model’s thighs and the forward surfaces of her hips when the model took a seat (figure 4). Another phenomenon at work is the
telescoping of the skirt into itself in the same area. Remember when we described the skirt for ourselves as a cone of cloth? Envision the top of that cone sinking into the lower part of itself, as described in figure 5, and you will be able to see the same dynamic at play in the finished sketch. Lastly, we notice that the
compression pattern is not evenly aligned in front of the model’s hips. It has skewed toward the right side of the drawing, because the model, as we noted before, shifted to her left while she was sitting down. Looking for clues as to why an
FIGURE 5 A telescoping effect also takes place when skirts, trouser legs and sleeves roll up. Picturing this as a simple cone helps you to better understand how the clothing behaves and draw it accurately
arrangement of clothing comes to appear as it does helps us to translate it to the viewer with a greater sense of clarity and order. This same knowledge can be used to draw imaginary figures in similar poses, or to capture the essential appearance of clothing that only briefly passes through a similar disposition. Michael Massen is the author of The Artist’s Guide to Drawing the Clothed Figure: A Complete Resource on Rendering Clothing and Drapery, published by Watson-Guptill, priced £22.99.
www.michaelmassen.com
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