The Assignment: Drapery Study
The drapery should hang from at least 2 points creating 2 “hubs”. Kimon Nicolaides in his book “The Natural Way to Draw” describes drapery hubs as follows:
| . . . Wherever the drapery is held, either against the wall with a thumbtack or on the figure as it is at the knee and the elbow, that point becomes a hub from which the f olds radiate. As a simple demonstration of this, pick up a piece of cloth from the floor with your right hand and hold it at arm’s length. The folds all radiate from the particular place where the cloth is held. Now pick up another point with your left hand and hold it somewhat away from the right hand. You will immediately see that you have two hubs and that some of the folds move from one hand to the other. The other folds also radiate from those hubs, attempting to drop to the floor. | ||
Some ideas for your painting include: a simple drape, drape with still life, clothing or draping on a figure.
Consider that every fold has at least 3 surfaces (a combination of the following):
- Top (lightest)
- Right Side (grey)
- Left Side (grey)
- Base (dark grey) can also be viewed as an undercut
- Drapery Study by Ginger Dean
Ginger Dean Art 