How to draw velvet

Velvet fabric has the power to make your fashion illustrations look more classy and rich. Use it with the right design and you’ll get a truly glamorous collection. What makes velvet so different and special is its texture. The velvet textile is smooth and shiny but not not the same way silk fabric is. We will focus on texture later in this tutorial.

The first thing you need to know when drawing velvet is to use darker and more saturated colors (wine red, pine green, deep purple). Second, make sure the garments you draw are not tiny. Velvet looks its best on garments of a larger scale. Think full-length gowns, not mini skirts. The idea here is that we need enough space to draw soft, lush folds. Without further ado, let’s get started!

7/10

16 min

drawing paper
pencil
eraser
soft pastels
colored pencils

Step 1: Draw the dress silhouette

First, you need to find a good figure pose to draw your design on. In this tutorial, I’ve used one of the fashion croquis available at I Draw Fashion. You can download Figure Template #39 and follow along or draw your own croqui from scratch.

Once you have your figure template ready, you will need to draw the basic dress outline, as shown below. Draw the dress outline and make sure you leave some space between the body and the outline. Velvet is a thick fabric, it is not supposed to fit like a glove!

Step 2: Mark the folds of the dress

Use soft, curved lines to mark the folds that velvet forms naturally. In this pose, the folds would be around the waist. The hemline will also not be straight.

Notice how the hemline curves around the front leg. Try to “hug” the body with the dress silhouette.

Step 3: Add folds

Every fabric has its own signature features which make it what it is. The first step when drawing velvet is to make sure the folds are looking correct. Very specific for this textile is that it forms smooth folds that fall heavily, but also they create a lot of asymmetric and small creases around the body curves.

Step 4: Mark the shadows and the highlights

Take a moment to plan the placement of all highlights and shadows. Draw them with a pencil and don’t press too hard. Once you’ve got this right- half of the work is already done. The parts marked in blue on the sketch are the darkest parts of the fabric and the pink ones are the highlights.

If you’re a beginner artist please do draw this step lightly on the paper.

Step 5: Base color

For the base color of the dress pick something that is lighter than the final result you are looking for. Use colored pencils or markers to make the base as flat and even as you can.

Step 6: Add shadows

Now add a darker color over the dress avoiding the highlighted parts mentioned earlier. To make the fabric look more actual velvet, also avoid filling in the outline of the dress. Try to create a not-too-thin border around all edges except for the hemline.

Step 7: Blend it out

Now blend out the shadows by using colored pencils or pastels. If you are coloring with markers, you’ll need a colorless blender for this step. Blend the shadows out, slightly covering the highlights.

Make sure you leave some light. Don’t overdo this or you’ll lose the highlights!

Step 8: More shadows

Time for the second layer of shadows. The goal here is to surround each highlight with a deeper shadow. Don’t surround them all around though. One-two sides are enough.

Step 9: Blend again

Blend out the shadows you’ve just made. Aim to make them look smoother and deeper. No harsh edges!

Step 10: Add some texture

This step is optional but will add so much more realism to your fashion design drawing.
You will need 2 soft pastels: one with the color of the highlights and another slightly darker than the deepest shadows (you could use black too).
Wherever the fabric looks a bit flat add cloud-like shapes to create texture. Then take a napkin or use your finger to blend it in and out. Don’t overdo it and don’t go over the shadows/highlight!
This step can be also made with colored pencils. For more tips on how to color using colored pencils, click here.

I hope you found this “How to draw velvet” tutorial helpful. You can further enhance your designs with glamorous gold jewelry. Here is a link to one of our most popular tutorials – “How to draw gold“.
For more tutorials on drawing different fabrics check our tutorials in the “Textiles” section.

Happy drawing!