How can I render realistic velvet folds in digital painting?

[Scarlett.A]

I’ve been trying to get better at rendering realistic fabric folds in my digital paintings, but my velvet textures just look like soft plastic. I can’t seem to capture that deep, diffused sheen where the light gets swallowed in the creases.

[Jack.R]

Velvet read better when the sheen was soft and diffuse, not a sharp highlight. When I kept the brightest specular off the creases and let the light diffuse into the folds, it stopped looking like plastic.

[StephenA]

I did a small test with a couple of glaze layers over the folds and pushed the shadows darker in the creases; the depth felt more real, even if the texture elsewhere still looked flat.

[Stephen.H]

Sometimes I think the problem is the lighting setup more than the texture itself; switching to a softer, warmer light and a larger source changed how the folds swallowed light.

[Evelyn.D]

I drifted away from a piece, came back and started doubting whether the fold lines themselves were giving away fake depth; I adjusted the scale of the creases and how light hits them, but I'm not sure I solved it.