Drawing Winter Wear!

Hello! I’m Murphy, and this is how I approach drawing winter clothes! In this tutorial I cover:

> Developing an understanding of clothing structure

> Visualising 3D garments on a 2D character

> Drawing folds

Here are the tips I share in the video:

Structure

> Draw your character, and then draw the clothes on top of them!  

You don’t want your characters to look shrink-wrapped in their winter wear! This gives you a guideline to build your clothes onto.

> Use a new layer for every garment, they’re stackable!

I always do this and it helps so much, especially if you’re playing around with different looks, you can mix and match!

> Look at reference, from different angles. 

I’d also recommend first copying* photos of clothes to familiarise yourself with shapes and patterns, it helps to build a library in your brain to dip into anytime you want to draw something similar! 

 

*When copying references directly, always be aware of who they belong to, and how not to misuse them. No need to post what might be someone else’s photo/drawing, they’re just practice!

Folds

Folds are possibly my most favourite thing to draw. They can be tricky, but keep in mind a few guidelines and you’ll be able to tackle them easily. I’m gonna break them down for you in 3 ways:

 

• FixedVSfallingfabric

  • TheTube:Howfabricwrapsaroundthearm/leg

• Commonfoldshapes/patterns

FIXED POINTS

Breaking clothes into “fixed” and “falling” categories will help you with understanding the shape and direction of the folds!

 

I'd recommend looking at paintings with sheets in them (a lot of old still life paintings will have them), or even going so far as to string up a sheet yourself and have a look at the way the folds behave when you move it around. 

THE TUBE: HOW FABRIC WRAPS AROUND THE ARM/LEG

SLEEVES, I always found them difficult (how do these folds work!?). First thing we have to recognise is that the sleeve is a tube around the arm: it bends and twists in much the same way. It’s the same with pants!

 

Different fabrics will also bunch up differently: Again, looking at reference will help a lot to understand folds!

COMMON FOLD SHAPES/PATTERNS

Once you break down folds into basic shapes you’ll start to understand how fabric bunches and folds around different forms. Notice how you can recognise repeating patterns in pants-legs or the necks of sweatshirts!

Watch the video for bonus tips and to see the full process :) And that’s it! I hope this tutorial helps! Happy drawing everyone <3