This exercise was also more difficult than I expected - the results are on pages 53 and pages 63 - 69 of sketchbook 5). Before embarking on the exercise I looked at drapery studies by Albrecht Durer, Degas, Michlengelo and various more modern artists. Some examples are on page 68 of sketchbook 5.
The first part consisted of drawing 15 minute sketches of folded fabric using line only in soft pencil or charcoal. Initially I felt overwhelmed by the number of folds and got easily lost. I also was somewhat confounded by the instruction to use line only when my instinct was to do a tonal study to describe the crests and troughs of the various folds. I tried using various weights and thicknesses of lines and also using contour lines to describe the folds.
I looked at an online course "Drawing the Draped Figure" with tutor Matt Weigle. Through this I leaned to identify the prominent types of folds in the fabric and to be more selective with which folds to draw as it is impossible to draw every little crease and fold.
I did make a step forwards with this exercise but drapery definitely still needs more work as it is very challenging.
My favourite part of this exercise was the five minute sketches of different parts of the fabric in 5cm squares. identifying individual folds in a more abstract way took away the feeling of being overwhelmed by the mass of fabric and allowed me to concentrate better on representing the form. I tried various methods using coloured pencil, drawing pen, ink, charcoal, conte' and water-soluble media.
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