I have another art thread but I post poems in there and I don't want to ruin it so I created this one. Also because I don't want to create a new thread every time I ask for feedback.

Anyway, if anyone wants to provide critiques of the art that I upload here, please do. I'd probably specify what I am trying to practice to make things clearer.

Thank you :D

Shading and drapery practice.

A way to draw folds and wrinkles is to start with the body under the clothes. Identify points where the cloth will bunch up because of how i.e. an arm is bent and anchor points where wrinkles will start like shoulders, elbows and knees. Find the flow of the garment from the body affected by gravity and motion.

There is a lot to how different fabrics will fold an wrinkle depending on things like thickness and hard- or softness.

In my redraw, the fabric have a lighter feeling to it.

One thing I notice on your drawing is that you have a lot of wrinkles on her knee. The knee would be an anchor point where wrinkles start, but the area where the knee presses against the fabric would be flat.

Thanks, I'd keep those in mind. I'd try going back to simpler shapes first before returning to more complex drapery.

More drapery + shading practice. Also background.

The edge of clothing marked with a green line don't make sense to me. Gravity would be pulling that edge down, ending up at something like the dark blue line. An alternative could make the length of that edge much shorter like indicated with the light blue line.

With a slight paintover using the shorter length the wrinkles on the body looks a lot more correct.

(also some adjustments to the sleeve and how the sleeve of the blue jacket bounces up at the top stopping it from sliding down more)

Sketching out the longer edge alternative I get this.

Have you used any references for this image?

Yes and no. I used an image for inspiration but drew the art using my imagination.

Water + some light practice

W.I.P

Still practicing

What's your source for this one? Might be easier to point out little things if I could see them side by side.

I don't have one sorry. I have a hard time using references... my phone screen is small enough as it is

What I did is I looked at random greek sculptures first then drew the art, I didn't exactly reference anything

Oof. Kinda impossible to learn drapery if you're just imagining it and making guesses, especially that much of it.

What are you using to draw? Learning from observation is the vast majority of training, so maybe we can find a way for you to include that that works around your limitations.

Edit: Just saw your followup. That sounds like a reference! References don't have to be exactly what you draw, you just need enough information to inform what you're doing.

At 4/10/24 04:26 AM, Skoops wrote:

I only use my phone for drawing digitally. Using a drawing tablet hurts both my soul, my hand, and my eyes.

You're doing pretty good if all you're doing is fingerpainting. Makes giving advice kinda tough though, since half of it's not going to apply until you use a pen or something pen-like.

For having something you can look at while you draw, thankfully anyone can make their own drapery reference. Hang a bedsheet or something like it , shine a light on it and go to town. That method has the added benefit of helping you understand how different-weighted materials fold and wrinkle differently since you'll literally be handling them yourself.

It's hard to apply proper line weight with fingers, though I guess I can make better results in that regard when going traditional. But it also has it's own downsides which makes me prefer drawing on my phone more.

Might try this one with curtains. Hope it works. I don't know how learning drapery is different from learning anatomy but I mostly just stared at photographs before drawing and just trying to use my mind's eye while drawing until I've gotten used to it. So I'm uncertain whether I can succeed drawing with a "live" reference.

Some progress

I like your art. Because of the title, I'm imagining you doing a training montage now.

Thanks! The thought of me moving in 100x speed drawing on a table is funny

Now knowing that you are using classic Greek statues as a reference I think that the red:ish piece of garment should just be a rectangular piece of cloth, like a very large scarf.

If it looks like it closes around the arm that might be because of limitations in making the space between the two layers of fabric (a guess).

To have a reference that you can look at while drawing you could lend a book with photographs of Greek statues from your local library.

Thanks, I'd go looking for more references

Wasn't satisfied with the previous line art. Also removed the big towel thing because it looked messy and distracting...

This will probably be my last revision of this piece's line art, since I won't go anywhere if I just keep on revising it instead of applying my knowledge in another work.

Anyway, I'd use this piece as a color/shading/lighting practice next.

Don't know if I'm doing this right...

It's done!

After staring at it for a while, I don't think I managed to make it look the way I wanted it to...

I guess I can still be better

Hmm shading don't really follow the implied form, lineart indicates a very wrinkled surface yet its airbrushed like smooth surface..what? Personally I'd like to shade clothes like a low-poly mesh first, then refine with a softer brush if needed. Also I suggest reducing contour lines and define folds via shading instead, looks much nicer that way🙂kinda like how the sleeves in the first one looked tho it might be unintentional.

Anyway lookin' good so far! I like folds 😎 If you got some spare greens or wanna 🏴‍☠️  I recommend getting this book, it changed my life 😁

Thanks, I didn't think about the shading that much in this one, unlike my other two drawings since I prioritized light more. I'd combine what I learned in the next piece that I will make (hopefully it shows)

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