Review of Clothing Folds and Creases by Michel Lauricella

This post is a book review of Clothing Folds and Creases authored by Michel Lauricella published by Rocky Nook within the series MORPHO Anatomy for artists. Read what I think about the book.

Disclosure: Ad. The book is a sample of my choice from Rocky Nook. The post is not endorsed by them, or the Michel Lauricella. I wrote it entirely myself and it represents my own 100% honest opinion.

Clothing Folds and Creases Follow Simple Logics

Michel Lauricella argues in his book that clothing folds are either hanging, falling, created by tension, flexion, and form-fitting, or combination thereof. In other words, the fabric follows the laws of physics. Consequently, one can draw them by reducing the problem to simple geometric figures, and how a fabric would behave in response to the physical forces.

A Great Resource for Sketching Clothing for Artists at all Levels

The author covers the subject of drawing clothing folds and creases under consideration of the underlying anatomy, and motion of the body. He well explains the underlying forces by identifying what happens with the clothes under a given condition. He supports the evidence of his arguments by easy-to-comprehend sketches, and illustrates the concepts by various drawings (see photos for examples).

Lauricella covers creases and folds from head to toes. This means he covers the various clothing pieces from hats, and caps, over shirts to jeans, trousers’ legs, wraps, skirts, and saris.

Analysis of the Underlying Physics Followed by Application

Lauricella starts with an analysis of the underlying forces on various geometric forms to provide the theoretical background. By reducing body parts to their geometric forms, the material becomes easy to understand. This introduction to sketching folds and creases is followed by applying the concepts to the clothes typically worn on the head and neck, torso, upper and lower limb in the following chapters.

My Take-Away from my Review of Clothing Folds and Creases

The author well succeeds in both explaining the problem and conveying the solution. As pointed out, for instance, in the general drawing instructional book by Brent Eviston, becoming good in tackling the problem takes the student’s efforts to exercise and practice the new knowledge. Michel Lauricella ‘s book permits students to bring their fashion sketches to the next level.

Therefore, I can recommend the book to everyone who wants to become serious of creating realistic sketches of outfits/people or their clothing design ideas.

The pocket-size book is available directly from the publisher at Rocky Nook for $14.95, and worth its money. You can also buy the book on Amazon.

About Michel Lauricella

Michel Lauricella is a French visual artist, and the author of the best-selling series of books on human anatomy, Morpho! Clothing Folds and Creases is the eighth book in this series. He has taught morphology for 20 years, at the Émile Cohl School in Lyon, City of Paris ‘ Atelier des Beaux Arts,  Gobelins School, and Lisaa both in Paris, the Atelier in Angoulême, and Fabrica114 Studio in Paris.

Photos: N. Mölders

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