Thinking Shapes

"Copying the model with out awareness would be like copying a novel to learn how to write novels."

Walter Stanchfield

We are all here because we have been told that we are good at drawing.  we have a natural talent for interpreting what we see onto paper.  The next step is to move from copying what we see to understanding what we see.

So you sit down to draw an object, say a nose, foot, or maybe just a teapot. you put your pencil to paper and start drawing. What is the first thing your pencil starts doing?  for many of us, we automatically see and draw the "outline" of the object, interpreting what we see into lines.

There is nothing wrong with this. we somehow have to see a complex 3D object and translate it into 2D in a manner that we can easily draw on a paper with our pencil.  The overall result - a drawing of a foot, face or teapot might not change. how we think, read see the object as we draw can.  As we learn to "see" better and more accurately, we will be able to better draw what we see or even what we have stored in our head that fuels our imagination.

Even though you are drawing lines, start training yourself to see shapes.  Start thinking in 3D, not just 2D.  when you see an object from the front, wonder how it might look on the back or at a different angle.  how do the shapes you are seeing all fit together.  This will be essential in helping you to draw objects from more than one angle without always needing reference and helping you draw more accurately from your imagination.

Some steps:
1) before drawing, just study the object for a second. break it down into familiar shapes, shapes that you feel that you could draw in your sleep from any angle (a sphere, a cylinder, a cube, a cone... maybe eventually a jelly bean shape, or a sphere cut in half) and correctly in perspective.
2) Float these shapes together to form a basic blockout of your object.
3) you know these shapes, remember? you could draw this same cluster of shapes from any angle.

you are now understanding this object further than its basic contours. plus, while you might forget the contours, you can remember the basic shapes that make it up and better draw from memory.

Rad How To - Breaking down the head

Rad How To - Breaking an object down into simple forms