How to Draw Clothes
Today we'll learn how to draw clothes, so you can dress your characters from head to toe by combining them with our previous articles on how to draw hats or still shoes. T-shirt, pants, dress, sweatshirt, we'll cover all sorts of different clothing types. Let's go!
THE CHOICE OF FABRIC FOR THE DESIGN
To draw clothes properly, you first need to choose the fabric of the garment to deduce some essential characteristics. Is it velvet, or fine cotton, denim, elastane, linen, leather, or silk?
This choice can vary:
Material: gravity affects the fabric, and depending on the material, the folds will not look the same. They will be more or less significant, more or less tight, etc.
Thickness and weight: a material such as silk will be airy, very thin and flowing, plus this type of fabric does not mould and allows air to pass between the skin and the fabric. In comparison, a winter garment made of wool will have to appear much thicker in the pattern. An elastane fabric, such as that of leggings or tank tops, moulds to the body and leaves little room for creases because it stretches over the skin, fitting perfectly.
Transparency: is it an opaque fabric or does it have elements of transparency? Sometimes white fabrics can appear somewhat transparent when they are strongly exposed to light.
Texture: we can draw a texture for leather, enhance light reflections for latex, and conversely not put any texture at all for simpler and woven fabrics like cotton.
Cut: oversize, tight-fitting, fitted, straight... Even women's and men's clothes have their own subtleties of cut.
CLOTHING ACCORDING TO CHARACTER BODY TYPES
A garment is more than a sewing pattern, it is not flat and must adapt to the body's volume.
The edges of collars and sleeves, the tops of skirts and pants should not be drawn with straight lines but with curves.
Then ask yourself the question: for what character morphology?
It's quite simple, but it immediately adds more realism; if the person has curves and/or is wearing tight clothing, the fabric will usually look more taut on their skin.
We can then draw fewer folds in the belly, arms, and legs area for example, while keeping some folds on the tension areas: where there are generally seams, as well as the hollows and folds of the body like the armpits, the groin... or even at the waist level for a top that would be tucked into pants.
The slimmer the person drawn and/or the looser the clothing, the more it is possible to draw the garment with less tension on the fabric and more vertical folds to transmit the gravity acting on the fabric.
DRAW A T-SHIRT STEP BY STEP
Let's compare the morphologies with drawings A and B:
1/ For the design of a simple cotton shirt, I start with the rounder silhouette (A): I draw a geometric shape that widens towards the bottom in construction lines.
For a thinner silhouette (B), I simply start with a rectangle. It can be wider at the top for broad shoulders.
Let's start the illustration: I draw the collar of the t-shirt in black on the silhouettes.
2/2Based on my construction traits (or on your own character), I adjust the t-shirt to the shapes. The bottom of the t-shirt is a curved line, tighter for drawing A and more fluid for B as it is less snug against the body. The shoulders may also appear more rounded on drawing A.
I also start with a small mark for the seam at the armpit level.
3/3 I draw the sleeves. They are wider in drawing A, and hang lower in drawing B. Like the bottom of the t-shirt, the sleeve opening is drawn with curved lines in all cases.
4/4 Iclean up the construction lines.
5/5 With fine lines, I draw the folds of the fabric. They are light because I chose a cotton garment. You can alternate lines and oval shapes to draw them.
For a rounded feminine silhouette (A), mark the lower part of the bust and draw a few folds in the centre, then the armpits with many closer marks. Note that the folds are generally very tightly grouped around the tension points and that the garment adheres to the skin.
For a more masculine and slender silhouette (B) the pleats are wide, slightly less marked at the armpits and very vertical at the bust because gravity makes the shirt fall.
6/6Here is the final clean drawing. I add gray shadows to indicate volume by placing them in the folds, collar, and sleeves.
DESIGNING A WOMEN'S OUTFIT
If you want to draw a feminine outfit with a small top and wide, flowing pants, here are some drawing steps.
1/First of all, on a sheet high enough to allow me to draw the character full-length, I begin to draw his silhouette.
2/ Draw thin straps in the middle of the shoulders, and a round neckline at about the height of the armpit fold.
3/3I start drawing the sides of the top by following the shape of the chest.
4/4I draw the seams of the garment with a thin wavy line.
5/5To show that the fabric is thin and light, I draw a multitude of pleats at the bottom of the top.
6/6I add pleats with slightly oval shapes and lines, following the edges of the lower part of the top.
7/7I erase the construction lines below and then I can add details or patterns; here I am drawing the borders of the collar and the hem of the bottom of the garment.
Let's now move on to the pants while continuing with this design.
8/8I draw the pants band at the waist level. I'm trying to follow the shape of the belly, you should not draw a straight line.
Then, I follow the shape of the hips on the sides of the garment. My viewpoint is from 3/4 so the angle of the hips is more pronounced on the left than on the right.
9/9 I reduce the lines down to foot height, maintaining a flared shape as this is a fluid pair of trousers, therefore with a lot of fabric, regardless of my character's build.
10/10 I draw the separation between the two legs.
11/11 With rounded lines, I make the lower part of the trousers and add vertical pleats. They are smaller and narrower near the band, and very wide at the bottom. Unlike the narrow trousers, in this position the knees are not marked by the pleats, the only tension points are around the band.
12/12I draw a knot on the ribbon, you can also add a belt.
13/13I erase the excess lines and then I add the shadows in the folds, and the drawing is finished.
DESIGNING A SWEATSHIRT
1/ I sketch a silhouette: the torso, the position of the arms, the beginning of the legs... At the base of the neck, I draw a collar.
2/2 Because sweatshirts have a rather thick fabric, I draw the fabric well above the shoulder line. The same applies to the beginning of the sleeves, which I draw rounded. For the bust I make wavy lines. The armpits here are not marked..
3/3I continue the drawing with the sleeves. Note that the sleeve seam is closer to the body, to mark the thickness of the fabric around it. The pleats fall a little in on themselves at the elbows, so I draw a series of small 'c's, sometimes inverted, to suggest the volume of the garment.
4/4I finish with the details of the sleeves and the lower seam, which tighten the garment against the skin.
5/5I clean up construction lines.
6/6To add a bit of life to the drawing, I draw the shadows: under the arms, and any area that can help show the shape of the clothing.
It can be seen that with a thick fabric the folds are more rounded than elongated.
DRAWING A DRESS
I want to design a short, ribbed, and light dress here.
1/I start with a silhouette, then I draw a V-neck, and carefully follow the shoulder line for the upper part of the dress as the fabric is thin.
2/2 To draw the chest, I simply follow the shapes of my character's body.
3/3 I draw the lower part of the dress, and the same applies if I want to draw a skirt: I start by marking the hips and then redraw the upper part of the leg with a curve. For the lower part of the skirt, I draw 2 large bows at the front and 2 smaller ones at the sides to suggest the back of the dress.
From the previous base, you can add any type of sleeves, patterns, or belts.
4/4A small fabric belt defines the waist, and I add ruffles to the sleeves.
5/5 I chose to keep the design simple with a slight ribbed pattern which I draw with mini strokes on the tension areas defined by the character's pose: under the chest, the upper part of the thighs (not the lower because the skirt is flared) and near the armpits. When a fabric has a weft, such as wool, or in this case a ribbed fabric, it is not obligatory to draw the weft everywhere, but it can simply be suggested in a few places.
6/6I draw a large bow that is a continuation of the belt.
7/7I clean up the construction lines.
8/8I adding values to the shadow areas.
DRAWING A SHIRT
We will compare the design of a shirt based on the musculature of a male character.
1/ I start from two silhouettes, with fairly similar legs and faces. For the collar design there is no difference, but the shoulder width can be increased on the more muscular character because the deltoids are more developed.
2/2 We emphasise the shoulders of the muscular character by drawing them rounded. Where the fabric falls on the arms of the slender character, on the right, the sleeves will be narrow, marking the shape of the arms more distinctly.
Similarly, the shirt is more fitted on the right, and more flowing on the left across the torso.
3/3I draw the seam of the shirt, where the buttons are located.
On the slender figure, the pectoral muscles are less defined, and the seam line appears to undulate continuously, whereas on the right, a demarcation can be made between the pectorals (a slightly curved line that follows their shape) and the abdominals (a slightly more vertical line).
4/4 In this case, the clear definition of the folds is essential to understand the morphology: the folds are looser and wider on the left, suggesting that the fabric is not tight against the body. The points of tension will be the shoulders/arms and elbows.
In the drawing on the right, the folds follow the shape of the body: the folds are shorter and narrower, going towards the armpits and under the pectorals. The rest of the folds are fewer and thinner.
5/5Finally, I add shadows by accentuating the angle of the pectorals on the muscular character and emphasising the vertical lines more on the slender character.
DRAWING PANTS
1/I draw the outline of the legs.
2/2I place the waistband of the pants just below the hips. I draw the details of the fabric bands that allow the belt to pass through and the trouser button.
3/I draw the upper part of the pants following the outer line of the leg.
The fabric flares out slightly at the pockets.
At knee height, I draw pleats on the one that moves, creating tension points.
4/4 I draw the rest of the trousers. At the lower part, the fabric curls slightly, creating wide and narrow pleats.
5/5 With long, thin lines, I draw the numerous pleats: they are mostly horizontal because they follow the curve of the legs, as the fabric moulds slightly. The pleats lengthen towards the various seams and the crotch.
6/6I clean up the unnecessary lines and add the shadows.
And there you have it!
You can also search for or create different patterns: floral, abstract, striped, checked... but don’t forget to pay attention to the shape so as not to design a "flat" pattern, but one that fits well the shape the fabric takes.
Illustrator and writer: Vincyane