Tutored Life Drawing Blog Week 32: Fat and Skin Folds (Patreon)

Fat and skin work together to define many surface features of the body. Fat is present under the skin in a thin layer around most of the body, smoothing out a lot of the definition of muscles and providing protection to more delicate structures such as blood vessels and nerves. The skin wraps around the entire body and therefore plays an important role in our observations – this lesson is going to focus on how the skin folds and interacts with fat, but there are many other properties of the skin that affect what is observed and drawn.

Neither fat nor skin can articulate on their own. They are subject to the movement and position of the rest of the body. However, they are anchored in place, and have a consistent structure. This lesson looks at the characteristics of fat and skin folds, and some ideas to keep in mind when drawing these elements of the figure.

Image above: 'Charlie'

Characteristics of Body Fat

Fat is present in many areas of the body – this lesson is going to focus on subcutaneous fat and how fat interacts with skin. Subcutaneous fat sits between the skin and muscles, and tends to more readily (but not exclusively) amass in more defined fat pads, which are loosely supported by connective tissue.

The visibility of muscle and bone is highly dependant on how much fat there is. This varies between individuals on the whole, but is also variable within the body itself. Fat tends to more readily deposit around the hips and torso, and less so at the extremities. Joints and bony landmarks tend to accumulate less fat too.

A body with less subcutaneous fat has more visible muscle and bone features, though these are still 'smoothed' out by small amounts of fat. Even when there is more fat, surface forms are still affected by muscle and bone – such as skeletal landmarks, or places where muscles compress forms.

Fat pads are more defined areas where fat accumulates. These are present alongside the general layer of subcutaneous fat the body has, and are tend to still be visible in a leaner figure because they perform specific functions – such protecting vulnerable areas such as nerves or joints, like the fat pads on the hands, feet, knees and armpits do.

Some skeletal landmarks visible on the figure. These areas have little skin or muscle, so the bone is more visible.

Fat pads influence the shape of the body significantly, and they vary from person-to-person depending on lifestyle, hormones, and genetics, though the general structure and placement is fairly consistent. Changes in shapes and forms contribute to individual likeness. (Previous lessons on anatomy include the placement of fat in specific areas of the body.)

Some major fat pads of the body. Fat pads effect the forms of the torso and hips significantly, but also protect other areas like the knees.

Characteristics of Skin Creases and Folds

Skin creases create visible lines on the surface of the body, and may also form a dip in the surface. Creases tend to leave a line on the skin, even when stretched out. The lines seen on the palm are an example of creases – note that these are a fixed anatomical feature rather than a changing or acquired quality, like wrinkles or scars.

They play an important role in the appearance of the surface forms of the body as many features are defined by skin creases. They are often important for allowing joints to move without being constrained by the skin. Creases are one element that can create skin folds.

Skin folds are produced when there is excess skin between naturally occurring creases, or other anchors that hold the skin in place, and are where the skin folds over on itself. They do not need creases to appear, especially when parts of the body compress or bend, but creases can lead to skin folds. Some skin folds help define certain features, such as the eyes or genitals and other may help with mobility or provide protection. They can be the result of creases or connective tissues that that help anchor the skin, or stem from soft tissue structures, such as fat.

There are many skin creases throughout the body – above are just a few significant ones.

The relationship between skin and fat is important here, as in some areas, the presence of subcutaneous fat can fill in a skin fold, giving it more volume. If there is more fat, the fold will become more prominent, with more skin, whilst the crease remains relatively anchored. This can vary from person to person.

Skin creases can help define some features with forms that are bulked out by fat such as the breasts and buttocks.

Because of the lack of rigidity in the skin, the weight of the fat will pull a skin fold down, though the tension of the skin resists this somewhat.

Fat can form or result in skin folds. Folds may appear on top of concealed creases, such as the breasts and belly, but smaller folds may also be the result of excess skin 'bunching up', especially on top of flexing muscles.

Drawing Fat and Skin

Because fat and skin has no means of internal support, they hang off the more rigid parts of the body, with only connective tissue anchoring them. This behaviour means that gravity plays a major role in the form and surface of the body.

Where there is nothing to support it, soft tissue hangs from the body and is contained by skin, resulting in rounded out forms. If something gets in the way, such as a surface the body is seated on or pushing against, then compression occurs, flattening these pliable forms. For more on the effect of gravity on the body, see Lesson 17 – Weight.

Surface features can change quite dramatically due to the behaviour of fat and skin. The volume of skin folds will move with different poses and due to gravity.

Without anything to compress against, soft forms will hang as they are pulled down by gravity (blue), but when blocked by other forms or objects, will be compressed (orange).

The appearance and form of skin folds is likely to change with different poses. Folds may appear and disappear depending on the orientation of the body – reclining poses may see these features smoothed out. Stretched out forms have fewer skin folds whilst compressed ones have more. If a skin crease is present, it will still appear as a subtle surface line even on a stretched out form.

Skin creases can be quite subtle, and a little harder to draw than more obvious folds. They tend to be thin lines, and when drawn too heavily, look harsh. Excessive skin creases tend to make the skin look more wrinkled than it is. It is fine to leave out skin creases if they are too delicate to draw, though including them offers a useful indicator of form.

Skin folds changing with pose.

There are a few ways to make crease lines appear less severe. This can be done by making sure the lines are much thinner than those used for more significant contours. However, other ways to draw creases include using lighter marks or broken lines, that produce the appearance of a line with lots of smaller marks.

Skin creases and folds on the limbs. The creases on the back of the knee deepen into a fold as the leg bends further. Some other creases also appear on the inside of the elbow, hands and feet.

Skin creases can be variable and change in thickness, both between features and along a single line. Typically a thicker line indicates a deeper crease or the start of a small fold in the skin. Try to follow the surface direction the crease is on, allowing it to wrap around the form.

Here the creases of the backs of the knees, which are more stretched out, are drawn with a thinner, light line compared to the slight skin fold of the buttocks.

Where creases become skin folds, using broken or feathered lines can help allow marks to transition from contour lines to cross contours that describe the volumes of the fold or surrounding forms. The creases trace the surface, but skin folds have their own volume, and there tends to be a transition between them. Consider the surface directions that are being used for cross contour lines – do they align with skin creases, or travel between them? Does switching direction help clarify where the forms between creases are being stretched, or compressed, approaching the development of a fold?

It can be difficult to make the difference between creases or skin folds versus form changes due muscles clear. Creases and folds have definite contour lines – such the small skin fold across the belly here – and can be contrasted with muscles that are rendered with more 'feathered' cross-contour lines.

Application in Artworks – Creases, Folds and Form

The creases and connective tissues that anchor the skin and fat play a significant role in shaping the forms of the figure, especially when there is more fat present – if not, the skin would hang off the body and the fat would sink. Here the fullness of the forms of the figure are highlighted with sculptural brushstrokes.

Folds deepen as they are compressed and pressed together. Here, this is indicated with deeper shadows (in some places the shadows are reddened) or darker contour lines, such as those indicating the elbow creases. Active muscles tend to cause the fat and skin to 'bunch up' on top as well – this is noticeable here around the neck and shoulder in particular.

Lovis Corith 'Nana' (Source: St. Louis Art Museum)

This etching shows how skin folds are formed by a twisting pose, with the surface forms being compressed. These are a great example of how marks can be used to show the softness of the transition between the contour for a skin fold into the surface of the surrounding forms. Lines may feather out into the surrounding forms, split in two, or be overlapped by a patch of hatching lines.

Capturing these subtle transitions between contour lines and surface lines can help indicate the surface textures of skin and the softness of the forms of the body. Skin folds often act as a transitional area between these two different kind of line.

Rembrandt – Dana at the Bath (Source: Minneapolis Institute of Art)

Key Points to Remember About Fat and Skin Folds

• Skin folds are the result of excess skin, and may be small, feature defining folds, or much more significant. Fat can 'fill in' skin folds.
• Skin creases are fixed lines on the skin – they can cause folds to form, but are not the only reason we see skin folds.
• Take care to differentiate skin creases and folds from other forms – these features tend to produce contour lines.

Over to You – Creases and Form

Recommended Materials: Any

Further Reading: Lesson 2- Contour, Lesson 17 – Weight 

Exercise 1: Palm Creases Study

There are a great many creases on the surface of the hand that allow it a wide range of movement without being restricted or hindered by the skin. These play a key role in the visible forms of the hand, especially the palm side, and are also a good example of how creases behave.

For this exercise, draw some studies of your hand – preferably the palm side – in compressed poses. Look for how the forms of the hand swell up and change with different poses, whilst the creases remain relatively defined. How do creases transition to folds, and how can you describe this with your surface marks? Sometimes a crease will be visible before becoming compressed at some point further down its length, showing a clear change.

Creases of the hand. As the fingers fold in, the creases deepen to skin folds, which outstretched digits still have lightly visible creases.

Exercise 2: Skin Fold and Form Studies – Standing vs. Reclining Poses

Another way to learn how fat and skin folds interact is to draw the figure in a varied of poses, especially contrasting standing and reclining poses, where the difference in the influence of gravity is most significant.

Keep an eye out for how the forms of the body change – fat has a significant effect on the forms we see – and how skin folds are anchored, even though they will change with different poses. Are skin folds appearing and disappearing entirely, or does some indication remain in other poses? How does skin and fat flatten in reclining poses?

The figure in different reclining and standing poses.

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Further links

>> Watch the Week 32: Fat & Skin Folds main lesson HERE (Student & Life Tiers)  
>> Watch the Week 32: Fat & Skin Folds demo HERE (Student & Life Tiers)  
>> Practice your drawings with our photo set HERE (Student & Life Tiers)

Find links to the whole Tutored Life Drawing Course HERE