In this first class we look at how drapery works, how the understructure dictates the surface design of the material. From there, we will break down the simple architectural features and identify them with a naming convention. We will then take sample reference images and break them down into line drawings with a fully realized topo wire frame design indicating the surface changes and surface orientation from the viewers’ perspective.

This week we break down another very important list of architectural devices, the seven folds, why they happen and how, and developing a short hand then a long form design process for both line drawing and rendering.

This week we step back for a moment and go over value schemes and how lighting works, different contrast points and value/key structures. Then we will copy the reference lighting rendering on our wire frame to completion. Once the rendering has been accomplished with a certain level of success, we will invent a different lighting scheme to develop a sensibility to invent form and dictate invented lighting in a general sense.

With a stronger understanding of how to map folds and why they exist, we are not going to tackle different CUTS, or clothing types. This will help us identify with how to draw “typical, or generic” clothing and how to quickly map it. This will be our first attempt at summarizing all of the fold types in the same drawing, if they happen to apply. Keep in mind that the folds you have learned are like a chart of what you will commonly see but might not always appear because they are CUT dependent.

This week the focus is on clothing that has a lot of the classical cut within. Women’s fashion has always been much more dynamic and expressive, experimental and flamboyant. So it goes without saying that women’s fashion will have many more technicalities to it’s shape language, it’s cut and sew assembly, and its range of materials.

From dresses to tank tops, bodices to lace stockings, tight pants to paramilitary fatigues, we learn about the unique tension points of the female form and how the body influences the cuts of clothing we costume fit our characters with. We will develop a process utilizing the mannequin approach learned from the analytical figure drawing classes. From the mannequin we will then develop a well-designed line drawing pushing the architecture of the drapery over the perspective of the figure.

From tight pants to baggy skate pants, flannels to t-shirts, suits to jump suits, we learn about the unique tension points of the male form and how the body influences the cuts of clothing we costume fit our characters with. We will develop a process utilizing the mannequin approach learned from the analytical figure drawing classes. From the mannequin we will then develop a well-designed line drawing pushing the architecture of the drapery over the perspective of the figure.

Now that we can identify materials by their tensile strength, their reflective properties, their surface qualities, and their textures or prints, we will explore rendering characters from already existing movies from the new Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings films. Here we will learn how to layer different materials over each other and how each previous layer influences the top most materials and their surfaces.