Course Highlights


Seeing Inherent Shapes in Your Drawings

Take a look at the images displayed below with an eye for the shapes that combine to form the overall subject. Print each image and using a pen or pencil, draw the basic geometric shapes and any other well-recognized shapes (e.g. kidney bean, diamond, spade) over top of the image. This is an important step in the drawing process. By developing your eye for the inherent shapes in a subject, you will take what is a seemingly complex subject and break it down to its essential shapes, making it a manageable drawing subject.


Water Bottle

Flower Pot



Coffee Pot

T.V.



When you have identified all the shapes you can in each of the images, compare your markings with the ones we have identified below. Keep in mind that your answers do not need to be identical. If you have seen a few original shapes of your own, that's great. What matters is that they help you break down the subject into more manageable shapes to simplify the drawing process.

Image 1: Water Bottle – comprised of 2 cylinders. (One large cylinder for the body and one small cylinder for the cap.) Ellipses create ridges above and below the cap and a semi-circle forms the plastic loop which acts to attach the cap to bottle. Ellipses are circles, flattened somewhat for the sake of perspective, making them similar to ovals.

Image 2: Flower Pot – an upside-down cone, cropped towards the tip forms the pot. An ellipse creates the plate on which the pot rests. Spades of different sizes create the leaves.

Image 3: Coffee Pot – formed with one large sphere, flattened at the top. On this landing is a smaller, flattened sphere which forms the knob on the lid. An ellipse renders the metal detailing on the side of the pot. For the handle, one can see a partial kidney bean shape, cropped at the bottom.

Image 4: TV. – The set is made from an adapted cube. To draw this set, you would draw a 3D cube that incorporates the entire set, including the angled backing and than adjust accordingly with the overall proportions in place. A series of straight lines would effectively render additional detailing required.

Other pages of interest

The importance of symmetry
Slow down: Don't be too quick to erase
Seeing inherent shapes in your drawings
Seeing spaces, shapes and proportions
How to change your perspective in your drawings

 

 

 



 

 

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