Begin with a red rectangle. Use mesh tool to create folds adding a darker color. I also created a one-ended gradient in the lower right side to give a stronger lighting effect.
Continue over entire the entire rectangle. Use control points to give curvature in folds. I pulled one side of the curtain to the right to give a ‘view’ backstage.
I added a little creeper for scale! He later adapted in the final version to a more realistic person.
I needed a image of a red theater curtain for a graphic I was working on, and luckily stumbled across this Illustrator tutorial. Lately I’ve been working on my Illustrator and Photoshop skills in particular, and find a great deal of the online tutorials very helpful in gaining a broader knowledge of the programs. Check out the screen shots of the process of my curtain above, which I later customized more afterward to fit the design more specifically.