Drapery Fundamentals by Proko

Proko Drapery Fundamentals is a self-paced online course by Steven Michael Hampton that teaches you to draw cloth convincingly on the human figure. It covers tension points, the six active fold types, inert folds, costume design and shading, all tied back to gesture and figure construction. When checked, the course had 38 lessons and just over 18 hours of video, with more being added. The first six lessons are free, and the full course costs $125 as a one-time purchase.

Drapery is a subject many artists avoid, often by keeping their characters in tight clothing. This course treats folds as a system you can learn and predict rather than copy from reference, and it completes the set of figure courses Hampton teaches on Proko.

What You Will Learn

According to the official course page, the course covers:

• Gesture as the foundation for clothing
• Tension points, where fabric hangs from or pulls against the body
• The six active folds, including pipe, diaper, compression, spiral, zigzag and flag folds
• Inert folds and wrinkles
• Silhouettes and storytelling through clothing
• Lighting and rendering cloth
• Texture, and quick sketching of drapery
• Designing drapery from imagination, with examples from art history

Who Is Proko Drapery Fundamentals For?

Proko lists it as suitable for beginners and intermediate artists, although you will get more from it if you can already draw a basic figure. It is a strong fit for character designers, comic artists, costume and fashion illustrators, and figurative painters who want clothes to sit naturally on the body.

If you cannot yet construct a figure, take Introduction to Figure Construction first. The opening section here reviews gesture and construction, but only briefly.

Course Structure

The course is organised into these sections:

• Introduction to Drapery (6 lessons): an introduction, gesture and figure construction for drapery, constructing the back of the figure, a figure review project and a long critique
• Pipe Folds and Diaper Folds
• Compression and Spiral Folds
• Z, Flag and Inert Folds
• Costume Design
• Shading for Drapery
• Bonus Videos

At the time of checking, Proko said new lessons were being released every week, so the final length may differ from the figures above.

Price and Access

The full course costs $125 as a single payment, with no monthly fee, and Proko says purchase includes lifetime access. Buying several Proko courses together gives a bundle discount of up to 15%.

The six lessons of the introduction are free. Premium adds extended and exclusive lessons, video demonstrations, assignments and downloadable videos. Assignments submitted by the deadline may be included in critique videos, though feedback is not guaranteed. Refund requests go to Proko support within 30 days and may be reviewed if more than a quarter of the content has been downloaded.

About the Instructor

Steven Michael Hampton is an educator, painter and art historian with around 25 years of experience teaching drawing and anatomy, including at Art Center, LCAD, Blizzard Entertainment and Lucasfilm. He is the author of Figure Drawing: Design and Invention and Gesture Drawing: Dynamic Movement and Form.

Things to Consider

• Time: Over 18 hours of video so far. The course is still growing, so expect more.
• Materials: Any drawing materials work. Hampton uses Photoshop with a default round brush and a Wacom tablet.
• Prerequisites: Comfortable figure construction. Hampton's Gesture Course and Introduction to Figure Construction are natural lead-ins.
• Reference: Photograph your own clothes on a chair or a friend to practise the fold types.
• Feedback: Post your work in the Proko community. Critique selection depends on submitting assignments on time.
• Beyond figures: The fold types also apply to curtains, flags, bags and fabric still lifes, so the course is useful for environment and prop work too.

Start the Course

Interested in learning with Proko?

Start Drapery Fundamentals

For the full syllabus and pricing of Proko Drapery Fundamentals, visit the official Proko website.

Looking for more ways to learn? Browse all courses and learning resources on Good Stuff Weekly.

Last verified: October 16, 2026