Wanderlust Collective

TRAVEL INSPIRATION ARTFAQ CLASSES

What The Heck Are Charcoal Folds??

Mar 16/The Wanderlust Collective/

Art Class, Artist Spotlight, Inspiration, Charcoal

Leonardo da Vinci

History

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 1452 near the Tuscan town of Vinci, the illegitimate son of a local lawyer. He was a painter, inventor of all things scientific, and architect. He was largely self-educated, and filled dozens of secret notebooks with inventions, theories, and observations.

Da Vinci received no formal education beyond basic reading, writing and math. His father appreciated his artistic talent and apprenticed him around the age of 15 to the sculptor and painter Andrea del Verrocchio, of Florence. Today, he is best known for his painting Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

Introduction

Taking a note from Leonardo da Vinci, I wanted to share a clip of drawing the folds from my course Portrait in Charcoals. I show you step by step how I achieved the folds by playing with the light and dark shading.

Charcoal Course

Produced by The Wanderlust Collective

“Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.”

Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci Folds

Leonardo learned from Verrocchio to make drapery studies on fine linen in brush and ink and gouache in order to reproduce the flow and fall of drapery around the body. The most popular one Drapery Study for a Seated Figure was one of nineteen exhibited at the Louvre museum in 1989. Looking at this picture you can see the amount of observation, detail and time that went into creating this study.

When drawing folds it’s the same basic breakdown of light and darks (values). Look for the darkest areas in the shadows, the shapes within the shadows and the lights. Observe that each fold has a highlight, mid-tone, form shadow and reflected light.

"Where Do We Go From Here?"

I challenge you to take a photo of a fold, be it from your hanging curtain, bedspread or shirt, and draw out the shapes, then go in and start shading the darks and sculpting the form. All you need is a piece of paper, pencil and eraser to start. I bet you will be surprised that with a little practice, a lot of observation and determination you will have achieved something really cool! As always, I love to hear from my followers. Leave a comment below, send me your creations and join our Facebook page. We all need some inspiration in our lives.

Happy Drawing!