The Wall of Pain

Rob Howard, "Wall of Pain," plaster and fabric

Years ago, one of my teachers, Rob Howard, devised a fiendish way for his students to learn to draw folds in clothing. He made a wall of full-sized plaster models showing each of the kinds of folds that can be found in clothing, then required students to draw them accurately.

Leonardo daVinci, "Drapery study for a seated figure

As we did, and as anyone who draws or paints a human figure will soon discover, accurate rendering of folds can be torture. A study by daVinci provides a good example of a number of the types of folds that can be seen, as well as why they can be difficult to do realistically.

The Wall of Pain, as Rob called it, featured diaper folds, pipe folds, spirals, half-locks, drops, and zig zag folds in plaster. Students were admonished to master each kind and spend time drawing and painting each, as studies. The end result, he promised, would be added facility in figure drawing and painting. In subsequent years of practice based on various sources, folds in fabric became less mysterious.

My interest in drapery and folds in clothing grew in succeeding years as did my file of sketches and studies. The Wall of Pain didn't actually figure into those except as a challenging memory. Instead, I used sources from daVinci (above) and other masters aw well as material from illustrators like Albert Dorne and Norman Rockwell. Several of the best examples came from one of the books of the Famous Artists School, which both were involved in. Nevertheless the Wall of Pain stayed in my memory as a goad to improving my work.

Diaper folds, digital sketch

One of the basic ways fabric tends to drape is in diaper folds. Diaper folds are made when a fabric is draped between two or more fixed points. In the Wall example above and the digital sketch (right), the drapery is reminiscent of a hammock. Two examples on the left of the Wall feature diaper folds. In the digital sketch, it is easy to visualize a figure holding a towel or other cloth.

Drop folds, graphite study

Another sort of folds are called drop folds, which happen when a fabric hangs down or cascades from a support, like a shoulder or chair back, onto a surface. Imagine a towel draped over a bench, for example, and flowing onto the floor. This graphite example of drop folds was done from a photo reference, but later practice involved life drawings of similar arrangements. For me it was critical to spend time sketching as many differing examples of each of these conformations in differing weights of cloth (note the weight of the drapes in the daVinci drawing) because it trains the mind and adds to what some have called a visual vocabulary.

A similar kind of folds to drop folds are pipe folds, which are a result of a cloth hanging from a single support. Pipe folds have a columnar look--like pipes. In "Towel on a peg (pipe folds)," the relatively thin cloth hangs straight down, resulting in cylindrical folds. In the Wall of Pain pure pipe folds aren't seen, but there are a number of examples of such in several spots.

Complex folds, graphite study

There are many times when clothes fall into combinations rather than simple folds. In this graphite study I tossed a dish towel over a thin piece of plywood and sketched the result in graphite and chalk. Here the purpose was to work directly from the subject, the challenge being to make the viewer see the weight using a chiaroscuro technique. The folded cloth was arranged in raking light.

Knee and elbow studies (half locks), graphite

When drawing a full length figure it's important to understand the kinds of folding you will see on clothing (unless of course you're doing nudes). A good example in the Wall is in the lower right corner, where fabric was arranged over a cylinder and then plastered, representing, perhaps, an arm. The kinds of folds seen in sleeves and in trouser legs are similar at various levels of the limb. At the knee and elbow, half lock folds are common. Half locks occur when the fabric makes a deep pocket in the fold, as seen in Wall example. My own study of knees and elbows shows half lock folds as well. The elbow study shows a man's arm from behind in a typical suit coat, which the knee study explores half lock folds from the front.

Spiral fold study

Spiral folds are commonly seen in sleeves, and less commonly in trouser legs. A spiral may only be a single turn, but often two are three are present. In the graphite study of a sleeve there appear to be three or four. Spiral folds can be seen in shirts or blouses too.

Another very common folding configuration is the zig zag fold, seen often at the cuff end of trousers. Think of how jeans and boots look these days and you have a good idea of what zig zag folds are like, with the material buckling into folds going opposite directions. There were no "pure" zig zag folds in the Wall of Pain, but the study of a jeans leg posted here gives a fair idea of what they are like.

For me, understanding of the ways that fabrics bunch, fold, drop and puddle was fundamental to being able to draw more accurately. Rob Howard's Wall of Pain was one of the ways that the complicated subject began to gel in my work. And like so much, study and practice on the basics was crucial.

Study of a jeans leg (zig zag folds), graphite