This is a very helpful tutorial on drawing folds in clothing that Elfwood Artist Risto-Matti J. Kääriäinen made for me. Now, several years later, one of the things I am most commonly complimented on in my art is the way I draw folds in fabrics. I owe almost all of my ability to him (as he even points out, some of it is practice) and I hope this tutorial helps others as much as it helped me. I do not have his permission to repost this, though I will see if I can get it; he might not check his Elfwood e-mail or anymore. All images, even the colored anime girl, are copyrighted to him! If you like this tutorial, he has a CG tutorial up as well--designed for PSP, but probably will work in nearly any layers-based graphics program.

Here is the original tutorial; I would have felt bad editing the text without asking, so try to pretend your name is Sän. hehe

Hello, Sän! Here's some advice and theory on fabric folds. First of all, a step-to-step example on doing the folds to a simple pose.

Here you see a sketch of a pose. It's not that good, but it'll do the job.


I have now sketched the outlines of the fabric of his clothing. The main point of being able to figure out the folds of the fabric is to know where the fabric is taut (tight) and where it is loose.

I have marked with arrows the taut points of the clothing. I believe this is quite self-explanatory? When you are figuring out the taut points of clothing in a certain pose, feel free to take that pose yourself to feel where the taut points are. Here, the red arrows indicate the main taut points, and the blue ones, lesser points.

Now that we have the taut points figured out, we can begin to sketch the folds. Remember: The folds always radiate from the taut points, and travel either to another taut point, or if there isn't one, descend due to gravity. Let me explain. Here I have marked with lines the paths of the folds. Look at the knee. The lines radiate from the taut point at the knee to all directions. Some travel to the other main taut point at the buttock, some descend down with gravity.


I have now drawn the folds and inked the picture. It sucks and the folds are off, but you get the idea, right?


Now I'll try to show you how to apply the taut point method to a more difficult case.

The black arrows indicate the taut points of the cloak-thingy. You could figure out those, couldn't you? The white lines between them are the fold paths that are relevant. The blue ones are paths that could exist, but are overpowered by the stronger, white ones, or cross a taut area. In general, folds never cross a taut point. They either bend to avoid it or just end.

For an example of folds avoiding taut areas, look at her bodice. The brighter green arrows indicate the strongest taut points. The darker green indicates points where the tautness is lesser (Though taut anyway; The suit's tight all around! Wow... o_O) Now, as you know, folds never cross the really taut areas. So either there should be no folds in the bodice, or then they cross the less taut area. In this case, I decided to do some folds because it looks cool. The folds are in the area where her bodice isn't drawn so tight, mainly her waist and across her hips. Now for another rule: Folds are wide and sparse in the loose areas, and narrow, tight and dense in the taut areas. You can also see how the drag of the gravity (indicated by the big white arrow) causes the folds near the hem to bend down.


This is the basic. I have to say that after that, for me at least, it's pretty much a matter of practice. I know it sucks when people tell you that (:-), but it's true. I never had anybody to tell me anything, I just practiced enough. Of course, the learning process is much easier and faster if you do get some advice. I suggest you look at pictures, look at yoursef in the mirror, use reference. And practice. Drawing fabric folds is a sort of skill of the hand. No matter how much you know, it doesn't help if your hand doesn't have the skill. Also, after you have practiced some and looked at pictures, you'll start to have a good supply of folds you "know", ie. you'll see a certain type of pose and think, "I know exactly what kind of fold that sleeve there needs."

I hope this helps you, Sän. Please, if you have any questions, ask me. Also if you would like me to help you with something else (computer colouring?), I'd be glad to. I want to share my skill.

©Risto-Matti J. Kääriäinen 1998 - present. All rights reserved. Please contact artist for information regarding use of images or text in article. He is probably already going to kick my ass for posting it--no use having him kick your ass too. :)