Drawing the Draped Figure

George B. Bridgman

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780486138121
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

Many art students and professionals have mastered the art of depicting unclothed figures, but still have trouble accurately rendering clothing or other forms of draped cloth. Part of the problem — before this book came along — was that there was a lack of concise and simple instruction on the subject, and much that was written was too vague to be helpful. This comprehensive, well-illustrated book was created to solve the problem.
In these pages George Bridgman — a longtime instructor at New York's Art Student League and one of the nation's foremost teachers of figure drawing — offers expert advice on depicting draped figures. "Clothing is none other than a drapery arranged around a body that is beneath it. To express the multitudinous forms it takes, one should learn to express in a direct way the different characters of folds, for each one plays its individual part as distinctly apart as actors play their different characters upon the stage."
Students learn the characteristics of seven different kinds of folds and how to render them, including pipe, zigzag, spiral, half-lock, diaper pattern, drop, and inert folds. Mastery of these principles is the key to realistic portrayal of garments, as well as the proper rendering of cloth in still lifes. The straightforward, easy-to-follow text is illustrated by 200 of Bridgman's own sketches and diagrams, reproduced from pencil renderings in crisp halftones. Art students, teachers, and professionals alike are sure to welcome this inexpensive republication of a practical, hands-on manual by a master of figure drawing.

THE SEVEN LAWS OF FOLDS

MANY teachers and art students should be glad to have some definite knowledge of folds and should be pleased to have some idea that explains the principles which underlie the various forms that take place on the draped figure. To make this clear and as simple as possible, diagrams are shown by way of illustrations that are founded upon important truths. These primary principles are built upon the theory that each fold has a different function and character.

There has been a great lack of concise and simple understanding on the subject. Much that has heretofore been written, has for the most part, been vague and of little educational value.

The diagrams on pages eight and nine come under the head of geometric or working drawings and represent seven distinct characters of folds, each playing its individual role in the story of the draped human body.

One can make a code of laws to be governed by, but every one of these can be changed or eliminated, still one should know these laws so that they may be used as such or deliberately broken.

PIPE

ZIGZAG

SPIRAL

DIAPER

HALF LOCK

DROP

INERT

DRAPERY

DRESS materials in themselves have no form. When lying on the floor they conform to the floor; thrown over a chair they take the contour of the chair on which they rest; if on a hanger or hook, the folds descend from their support. Drapery therefore, is nothing definite in itself as it depends entirely upon that which lies beneath. Drapery may encircle, it may fall or it may be drawn upward. To realize this is the first step to the understanding of drapery. There is no sameness, no monotony, every fold has a distinct character of its own. To show this vast difference in folds take the figure of Victory as an example. First, the diaper pattern which in this case falls from its fixed points of support at the shoulders is the simplest of all folds to understand. Next, a spiral fold is drawn around the receding hips; opposed to this spiral is a fold of a totally different character. It is irregular and zigzags from side to side. Below this another distinct type of fold appears, known as the pipe or cord fold. Beneath this another type emerges, called a half-lock. This in turn shares its form with that which lies prone upon the floor and is known by the name, inert. There is also the fold that is carried away from the body by its movement or by the air and is known as the drop fold or a piece of flying drapery.

THE DIFFERENT CHARACTERS OF FOLDS

EACH fold has a character of its own. If but one formation was used, the design would be monotonous and insipid. If drapery is drawn upward it causes one kind of fold; if allowed to fall, another form of fold is created. Folds passing from one point of support to another make distinct arrangements such as zigzags and half-locks, while others as they meet, die away and are known as the diaper pattern. One is angular in formation, the other spiral or rhythmic. The formation of folds must be recognized as a law, as folds are of such complex character it is difficult to observe these facts.

PIPE OR DROP FOLDS

IF A piece of cloth is held up or nailed by one corner and then pulled from the other corner, tubular forms radiate from its fixed point. Whether the cloth is woolen, cotton or silk; whether it is thick, thin, old or new, the same radiation, the same tube or pipe-like forms are always prevalent. This is a distinct fact, therefore it must be recognized as a law as it is something that repeats itself often enough to be recognized as such, something to look for, something you expect to find.

These radiating cords or summits as they descend from their points of support are the simplest forms in drapery and are the first to be understood. A simple cord fold will descend and then divide into two or three other cords. As these diverge from each other, the original cords may make room for two or more within them, then these may again divide, making two or more until they flatten out. The breaking out and divergence of these primary folds is simple but of extreme importance. The pull as...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• FOREWORD
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• RHYTHM
• THE SEVEN LAWS OF FOLDS
• DRAPERY
• THE DIFFERENT CHARACTERS OF FOLDS
• PIPE OR DROP FOLDS
• ZIGZAG FOLDS
• SPIRAL
• ARRANGEMENT
• DIAPER PATTERN
• HALF-LOCK FOLD
• DIAPER
• DROP-FOLD
• INERT
• LOCK FOLD
• KNEE
• VOLUME
• DROP AND FLYING FOLDS
• HALF-LOCK
• ARRANGEMENT OF FOLDS
• ARM AND FOREARM
• DRAPED FIGURE