How do I get realistic fabric folds in drawings without stiff shading?

[Nora59]

I’ve been trying to get better at drawing realistic fabric folds in my character illustrations, but I keep getting stuck on how to handle the transition from a tight sleeve to a loose, draped section. My attempts either look too stiff or just turn into a muddy mess of shading. I’m not sure if I should be focusing more on the underlying form or if my brush settings for soft shading are part of the problem.

[Luke45]

I used to be all wrong about that transition. I started by blocking the arm as a cylinder and separately planning the looser fabric, then I drew a clean seam line where the sleeve ends. The moment I kept the shading softer near that line but sharper along the creases, it stopped looking muddy.

[JustinVS]

Brush settings were the quick rabbit hole for me. I swapped a soft brush for a harder edge for the creases and built up with small, directional strokes. A couple of deliberate highlights on the top of the draped part helped it read as fabric, not air.

[Steven_H]

Are you sure the real problem is the fabric, or is the pose and weight off? Sometimes the issue is that the arm is in a stretch that makes the seam read wrong.

[Jack10]

I remember getting frustrated and just sketching a rough silhouette first, then coming back with a few crisp lines for the edge where tight becomes loose. It was slower, but it helped separate the masses without turning muddy.