STACKING YOUR OVERLAPS

“Good illustration demands a particularly high degree of draftsmanship. If a student illustrator fears he is on the way to achieving a greater aptitude than he will ever need to employ, he is almost certainly wrong. Greater knowledge can and usually will result in a better illustrator. - Robert Fawcett

Good drawing deals with understanding. Understanding of drawing is best brought about by absorption, by constantly looking at other drawings. By studying, appraising, and analyzing, one develps a set of standards that not only begin to satisfy and enrich but which also begin to define who one is and what his work may become” - Robert Fawcett

 I loved these posts by Rad Sechrist and found it very useful for adding dimension to a character.

Stacking overlaps comes from your shapes having volume. the contours on those shapes dictate the volume of the shape and how it is turning in space (such as towards or away from you).  Think of a can, either angled towards you so you are seeing inside of it or away.  choosing to draw the contour lines that best define the shapes (also meaning you need to understand what shapes you are drawing:), especially as they intersect other major shapes will give a sense of real volumes interacting. not just lines.  Which lines you choose to draw, emphasize or thicken will help some shapes come forward and push others back, thus giving a hierarchy or "stacking" to your shapes.

Follow these links to Rad's posts.

1) http://radhowto.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-i-do-when-i-have-to-storyboard.html
2) http://radhowto.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-i-do-when-i-have-to-storyboard.html
3) http://radhowto.blogspot.com/2010/01/quick-anatomy.html

Here are some examples in which the artists have used stacking shapes to organize and clarify their drawings.