The Treatment of Drapery in Art

By George Woolliscroft Rhead

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• Language: English
• Publisher: DigiCat
• Release date: Aug 16, 2022
• ISBN: 8596547187387

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CHAPTER II

Table of Contents

FORMATION AND STRUCTURE OF DRAPERY

Table of Contents

Structure of the folds of drapery

The simplest system of drapery folds is when the material is suspended curtain-wise from two points of support. The lines of the folds radiate fan-like from both points, and the folds form a series of festoons more or less regular, or a succession of folds preponderating alternately on one side and the other, and gradually melting or disappearing in the mass of the material. The precise character of the folds will necessarily depend upon the heaviness, harshness, or lightness of the material employed. We select a heavier material as best adapted for demonstrating the structure of the folds, as it is this in which the principles of light and shade are most easily grasped. Often the continuity of the fold or festoon breaks upon itself and forms a subordinate fold, making the drapery more angular. (Fig. 3.)

Fig. 3.

—Showing arrangement of the planes round the eyes of the drapery.

The folds of drapery may very well be likened to a series of ridges or hills with valleys between, each fold having its body, its base, its apex or ridge, with the corresponding grooves or valleys between.

Drapery suspended from two points

Fig. 4 illustrates the simplest possible arrangement of one or two folds. In the first the edge of the material forms a complete festoon, and the fold breaks off suddenly at the base, forming a deep cavity. The second is less continuous, and, from the weight of the material, breaks about the centre of the festoon, forming a subsidiary fold, the festoon becoming more angular, and the base of the fold being less sudden, and dying away more or less in the general mass of the material.

Principles of light and shade

In all systems of light and shade there are five things to be considered—high light, half tone, deep shadow, reflected light, and cast shadow. In the profile view which is given (Fig. 5) it will be seen that the first fold or edge of the material offers the greatest amount of projection, the second less so, and so on until the general plain of the material is reached. The ridge or summit of the fold is that portion which receives the highest light, according to the amount of projection. A certain amount of high light will, however, be received in those parts of the cavities of the folds which are immediately opposite the light. In this instance (Fig. 4) the largest area of light is near the base of the first fold. In theory, the ridges of the folds, being nearest the light, and nearest the eye, will receive the highest light; but in actual practice (and this will be more apparent in material of a highly reflective surface such as silk or satin) the greatest amount of light will be in the cavities, as light reflects more into a concave than upon a convex surface. The strongest dark also will be found to be, not upon the edges of the folds represented by the deep shadow, but in the cast shadows which are less affected by reflected light.

The amount of reflected light will, of course, depend upon the degree of projection of the folds, the amount of light received, and upon the near proximity of other folds to which light can be reflected.

Upon referring to the study of a standing figure by Sir Edward Poynter (page 12), which is really a study of drapery suspended from two points, since the mass of folds starts from the left shoulder of the figure, falls into festoons, and is caught up on the right arm and wrist, it will be seen that precisely the same principle is demonstrated. Indeed, the principle of drapery folds under these conditions never varies, and the folds can always be counted upon to behave in a similar