CLOTHING: Introduction

"It isn't the clothes which define the clothes. It's the structure of the person that defines
how clothes look." ~ Totoro Sensei, from the section 'Makeshift Step by Step Drawing
Example'.

[1] As an intro, I will use the figures from Body

Notes1 and dress them up in as many different
clothing as I can fit on each person. So please
excuse me if they look kinda (make that
"atrociously") funny.

The first guinea pig is the medium built guy. I'll

be putting on him a T-shirt, a long-sleeved shirt,
jeans and boots (and a wrist watch).

Pay particular attention to the folds. I have

drawn what I think are the most common folds
in anime clothing. Notice how the folds change
when the fabric is stretched or folded.

Oh, have I mentioned to look at your clothing or

someone elses' clothing, if you haven't already?
See if you can identify the folds in this pic on
them.

[2] Here he is with clothing. The left pic shows his full figure in red. Study how and
where the clothes contour to the body, and where they don't (like at the shoulder
joint when streched and at the ends of his pants). The right pic is how he looks once
cleaned up.
[3] Now I'll be dressing up the lightly built girl
with a long-sleeved shirt (the ones that go over
the hands that look soooo cute ^ - ^), a vest, skirt
and socks. See some similarities with the guy's
clothes? This is what I mean when I say the
same principles are used again and again.
[4] I really feel sorry for this girl. There is no way I could clothe her without making
her look ridiculous. I suppose just try to look at the folds and how the clothes contour,
ok? -_^

Continued...
[5] More dressing up. Side view this time. And
with a jacket. Can you start to recognise the
different ways to draw folds yet? There aren't
many, I assure you (...but then my assurance is
often not very reliable ^^;).

[6] You can see that a jacket is more puffy than a shirt, and fits more loosely. Please
forgive the boots.
[7] Don't ask what these clothes are! I just want
to show close-fitting wear, non-fabric wear,
cape/shawl-like overwear, high-cut wear and
some decorations.

[8] After all I've done to this girl, I'm sure she'd run away if she could.

Getting back to drawing, notice the lack of folds in close-fitting clothes (though there
are still shading beneath the breasts). I drew the shawl as floating because otherwise it
would just slip off. See how I draw only a few major folds in the shawl. This makes
the shawl easier to draw, while still keeping the pic quite realistic.

You may wonder what the marks on her breasts are. Well, they're not clothing, but just
rough shading of her breasts. I should have only added it in the final pic, but I forgot
(gomen...).