Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery: Solutions for Drawing the Clothed Figure by Burne Hogarth

by Burne Hogarth

Understanding how the body moves is the key to rendering clothing, as world-renowned artist Hogarth demonstrates in this unique book.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Nonfiction, Reference, Art Design

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Burne Hogarth started young. Born in 1911, he was enrolled in the Chicago Art Institute at the age of 12 and an assistant cartoonist at Associated Editors' Syndicate at 15. At the age of 26, he was chosen from a pool of a dozen applicants as Hal Foster's successor on the United Features Syndicate strip, "Tarzan". His first strip, very much in Foster's style, appeared May 9, 1937. It wasn't long before he abandoned the attempt to maintain the original look of the strip and brought his own dynamic style to the Sunday comics page.

In 1947, Hogarth co-founded (with Silas Rhodes) the School of Visual Arts which became his new direction in life. He was able to pass his unique methods on illustration to his students in the classroom and, in 1958, to the readers of his first book, Dynamic Anatomy.

Hogarth retired from the SVA in 1970 but continued to teach at The Parsons School of Design and, after a move to Los Angeles, The Otis School and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. During his years teaching, Hogarth authored a number of anatomy and drawing books that have become standard references for artists of every sort, including computer animators. Dynamic Anatomy (1958) and Drawing the Human Head (1965) were followed by further investigations of the human form. Dynamic Figure Drawing (1970) and Drawing Dynamic Hands (1977) completed the figure cycle. Dynamic Light and Shade (1981) and Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery (1995) explored other aspects relative to rendering the figure.

After more than 20 years away from strip work and being hailed in Europe as "the Michelangelo of the comic strip," Hogarth returned to sequential art in 1972 with his groundbreaking Tarzan of the Apes, a large format hardbound book published by Watson Guptill in 11 languages. It marks the beginning of the sober volume of integrated pictorial fiction, what is currently understood to be a graphic novel.

Burne Hogarth passed away in 1996 at the age of 84.

Reviews

[Eyehavenofilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well first of all Hogarth, the illustrator is a dynamic artist, there is no doubt about that. And I did learn something from this book, however... In my opinion, this is a book for beginners and it does explain kinetic forces, the push and pull of fabric, crossing wrinkles, compression wrinkles, hanging wrinkles, passive or lying wrinkles, wrinkle patterns, textures, and supposedly different materials.
For me there were just too many wrinkles. Everything looked like it was made out of cheese cloth and soaking wet.,or moulded out of papier-mâché, to represent wrinkles. By the 4 th illustration I just about had it, and began to get sick of the technique. I started noticing the obvious anatomical mistakes in the drawings. From that point forward I had to suspend my judgement and just concentrate on only what little I could get from this particular book.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book I constantly refer back to for drawing the clothed figure.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for beginners, which meant I felt a bit overwhelmed. Each page has a stunning drawing of some imaginative character in flight, mid dance or doing sports with their costumes, helms and skirts flying. There is no how-to whatsoever, and the explanations center around what points, or anchors of the body clothing wrinkles crease from. The word crotch was used a lot. You'd need to be decent at drawing anatomy and most textures already to be able to use the information. I would have liked to see more tips about how drawing specific materials should be handled. But the sheer variety of scenarios and drawings in the book makes it worth looking at even if your own sketching skills are amateur level.

One of the best points the author made was how art students are taught to draw the nude human form, but are usually given no schooling on drawing realistic clothing and costume, despite the fact that in most art humans are clothed, or household scenes contain draperies. This lack of seemingly obvious artistic training is what he set out to remedy, and if the drawings within are hyper-wrinkled, its probably just to show what we are all missing out on.

[Garth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been using this book for several years and it's one of the few that I always keep within arm's reach of my desk. Beautifully illustrated and superb commentary.

[Tim S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not especially reader friendly with its stiff wording and excessive jargon, the first half of this book contains what is probably the most practical system for understanding why wrinkles form that I've read. Simple, easy to understand, and something even novices like myself can begin incorporating successfully into their own work right away.

The rest of the book deals with specific cases -- wrinkles formed underwater, wrinkles appearing in old clothing, etc -- some of which is more useful than others. Still, taken all together, this really is one of the few worthwhile books of its type I've seen. Most instructional drawing guides tend to ignore or breeze through the important topic of clothing altogether, leaving it to the artist to figure out why wrinkles form the way they do. This will give you a pretty good foundation for understanding the hows and whys of it all.

It probably won't teach an experienced artist anything new but for everyone else, I'd say it's highly recommended.

[january · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is maybe one of the best books on folds and drapery, and learning how to draw cloth from imagination.
BUT
It's not a book for beginners. Hogarth's style is very particular and often not entirely accurate or true to life. The book also doesn't give a step-by-step explanation, but it does show all types of folds and wrinkles and how they occur.
So if you want to understand cloth and learn to draw it without references, it's the perfect fit, if you want to learn how to copy it from life and make it as realistic as possible, this really isn't.

[Dan Henk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, in my view, is one of his best books. It really helps you understand the mechanics of why things wrinkle and fold the way they do in real life. This is essential for the artist, especially if reference is not used.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

The purpose of this book is to help the reader depict wrinkles, folds, and drapery by taking a closer look at how the actions of the figure move the material they're wearing. Here is how the fabric is moving and why. If you're an experienced artist this book probably won't teach you much, but if you're just getting into art or struggling a bit with drawing fabrics, I do think it's worth picking this one up.

Examples in art books can be a bit extreme or look silly despite how useful the information is (i.e. one reviewers mention of the clothing looking like it's sopping wet cheese cloth). If an artist can't apply what they're teaching in a demonstration then the audience won't take it seriously, but I don't think Burne is a bad artist. Some his examples are extreme poses and the material can look funny, sure, but once I looked past the fact that this artists style differs from my own, I created work of my own that I was happy with.

Practice makes perfect, especially with a topic like drawing fabrics.

[Byron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Burne Hogarth is a superb illustrator, and if you're looking to admire his drawings, this book is a worthy purchase. However, it is not recommended for those wishing to learn how to draw the clothed figure. The illustrations rely too heavily on intricate detail to be of much instructional use. For beginners trying to understand how clothing works in relationship to the human body, simplicity is key. Studying this book could lead to new artists focusing on the wrong aspects and wasting significant time over-rendering.

[Moza Al Falasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great source for body movements, and fabrics' textures.
Liked that they did some close ups to the figures.
I recommend this book for artists and manga makers

[Serge Pierro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book for understanding how drapery and wrinkles on the human form. Not as "exciting" as some of his other books, but still has good information within.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must have reference book for any serious artist. It helps makes sense of the way clothing drapes on a figure in all sorts of movements. I refer to this one a lot.

[Hadji VanderVeer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burne does it again in form and space relation,with body movement in connection to fabric

[Martha Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be helpful when I first started drawing clothed figures. I think most beginning drawing students would find some of the illustrations helpful and instructive.

[Rachel]

I put this one on the back burner for now. I just don't have the time to go through it right now.