Drapery Study for a Seated Figure
Brush and grey wash on linen: folded cloth over the lap and legs
A drapery study executed in brush and grey wash with white heightening on fine linen, showing heavy cloth falling over the lap and legs of a seated figure. Deep troughs and rounded ridges of fabric are modelled with careful gradations of light and shadow, while the body itself is barely indicated above. The linen support is much worn and abraded, softening many of the contours.
On this page
Drapery over a seated figure's legs
The cloth is studied where it gathers over the thighs and drops between the knees of a seated figure, pooling in broad folds toward the lower edge. The seated pose is implied only by the fall of the fabric, the torso above left largely blank.
Folds modelled in light and shade
Broad washes build up graded tones from bright ridges to deep shadowed hollows, so that the fabric reads as solid, weighty volume. The exercise concentrates on rendering chiaroscuro on cloth as preparation for painting rather than on outline.