Fabric folds. (Patreon)

This is my new text. The Folds. The subject for drawing and painting folds is quite difficult even from nature.  It is however a very effective detail of the composition, of course, with the ability to work with fabric.  In this composition, I deliberately selected a large enough piece for the fabrics.  For some reason I wanted to challenge myself.  I tried to introduce all this rhythm into a fairly geometric spot.  In this video I will demonstrate my method of painting folds of fabric.  As you could already see the sketch of this composition when I developed on the iPad greatly facilitated this process. Since I could just photograph the folds of the fabric I needed and make a collage.  Unfortunately, the physical world does not correspond to my idea of ​​how it should look in the my picture, so about half of it I just came up with based on the color and nature of the fabric from nature.

Well, the whole process follows almost the same scenario as for drawing the figure, except for the second step I just apply shadows and light separately.  The fact is that in the case of first applying a shadow and then gradually applying light over the shadow, the lights and shadows remain in nuance and do not differ much in tone.  If however you apply the shadow separately from the light, then the image will remains contrasting.

So the first step is transparent as usual.  I find the shape, define the highlights and shadows and this layer will give mobility to the next one.  Colors: raw umber and transparent oxide-orange lake.  The second step is an opaque layer.  First, I apply shadows.  Here is the difference from painting a figure.  I apply shadows only in those places where they remain and do not cover the entire surface.  Colors for shadow : transparent oxide-yellow lake, umber raw, raw sienna and ocher yellow.  Next I apply light.  Colors for the light: cadmium lemon, titanium white, yellow ochre and raw sienna. It's all about the not dried bottom layer, which is mixed with an opaque mixture for light, while forming a darker shade.  When I reapplied with the same opaque mixture, it comes up noticeably lighter,  and so, continuing to apply the same mixture, subtle shades are obtained.

Finally, I add more white to emphasize the prominent areas.

The last final step is glazing.  Not just a tinted glaze it also includes a transparent mixture of colors and an opaque one.  Yes, it should also be noted that I let the previous layers dry completely and then covered with a layer of shellac.  Recently, I have been using this varnish as a touch-up varnish as it has almost no stickiness and allows the paint to be distributed evenly.  So after a while after drying, I go over to the glaze or the third step.  First, a transparent mixture with the same composition as for the first transparent layer.  I cover through the entire surface of the fabric. I make the saturation of the more prominent folds a little.  Then I use a mixing brush to remove excess paint and give a more even finish.

Then I use opaque paint to create raised folds and depressions.  The opaque glaze mixture consists of the same colors as for the second step.  This strategy creates the illusion of silk.  After drying, I applied the ornament, but the ornament is not related to the formation of folds. However the ornament can enhance the volume effect.

Next month I will prepare a video about the process of painting a portrait it will be for sure  and I have not decided yet another texture or work with gold. Thank you.