Assignment - The Secret of Simple Forms
450K views
lesson video
Assignment - The Secret of Simple Forms
courseThe Perspective CourseSelected 2 parts (141 lessons)
-6%
$261.32
$278
You save $16.68
assignments 543 submissions
Vera Robson
Much to learn...
LESSON NOTES

Understanding Illusions

Creating depth involves techniques like overlap and atmosphere (things fading into the background), which are straightforward. However, foreshortening, diminution, and convergence to vanishing points require practice.

The Key Skill: Simplifying Forms

To master advanced techniques, focus on reducing complex forms into simple ones you can draw in any position. This skill is essential for drawing from imagination rather than copying.

Copying vs. Understanding

Copying details helps you notice specifics but doesn't enable you to redraw in a new position from memory. Simplify the object and practice repositioning it without direct observation.

Drawing Objects in Any Position

Draw the object as a simplified form, like a box, then draw it again in a different position. This exercise helps you grasp the structure and master the line systems that determine perspective.

The Importance of Line Systems

Understanding a box's three line systems is crucial. Once you position a box, these lines solve all other lines. This concept applies to both objects and settings.

Start with Simple Forms

Before tackling complex forms, practice with simple, blocky ones. Objects with many parts can overwhelm beginners. Begin with shapes like blocks, wedges, cylinders, toruses, and spheres.

Notes on Spheres

While spheres are simple, placing precise ellipses on them is advanced. Accurate ellipses stem from understanding boxes. So, mastering boxes first aids in drawing spheres.

Introducing the Blob Approach

Try the Blob Approach, a method of starting with a shape and adding cross-contour lines to define it. This helps you sculpt a simplified version of your object.

Upcoming Lessons

We'll dive into the science of form: orthos, axes, eye levels, picture planes, and more. Experimenting now primes you for these concepts.

Continue learning about Perspective in the premium course!

DOWNLOADS
mp4
assignment-the-secret-of-simple-forms.mp4
147 MB
txt
assignment-the-secret-of-simple-forms-transcript-english.txt
6 kB
txt
assignment-the-secret-of-simple-forms-transcript-spanish.txt
7 kB
file
assignment-the-secret-of-simple-forms-captions-english.srt
11 kB
file
assignment-the-secret-of-simple-forms-captions-spanish.srt
13 kB
ASSIGNMENTS
  1. Choose an Object: Select something relatively simple or box-like in form, such as a household item or a geometric shape.
  2. Initial Drawing: Draw the object in a three-quarter view without focusing on detail. Seek the basic structure as if it were contained within a box.
  3. Repositioning: Without looking at the object, attempt to draw it again from a different angle. This challenges you to understand and mentally manipulate the whole object.
  4. Iteration: Repeat this process at least three times, each time choosing a different position. Aim to show it foreshorten in various orientations.

Don't forget to share your work with the community!

This assignment is designed to help you break down complex objects into simpler, manageable forms, which is a crucial skill for mastering practical perspective.

Deadline - submit by January 20, 2025 for a chance to be in the critique video!

TX
•
7d
I tried drawing this chair from some different angles. I drew some simple guidelines to help, but it was almost entirely done by intuition. The final piece feels like there's something off, but I can't tell exactly what, since I don't really understand the principles behind it. I feel like the hardest part of changing angle is the first step: correctly drawing the outermost contour of the object in the new angle.
Akil Krishnan
Drawing my Apple Watch was really hard, I just couldn't find the lines and I had to keep trying... things got very hairy and difficult to see my own work very quickly! Also, I wasn't able to place any curved shapes in there, the heart sensor is way off, along with the watch band! I think I understand the game we're playing now though, we need to solve our understanding of the space that we're casting first, only then does it start to take form.
Bo Han Qiu
•
14d
Such an interesting exercise! It reminded me of a design sketching class I took in college, where we also drew the same object from different angles I spent quite a bit of time in the sketching stage working out the proportions, placement, and relationships between the forms Most of my usual drawing focuses on representing what I see in front of me This time, there was more of a process of actively arranging and constructing the shapes
Neill
•
14d
Love the vehicle, is it original? It looks liek someone compressed a classic Cadillac, then converted it for flight.
Shannon
•
19d
tried doing a ft-17, before going further with details & more. something looks off to me but idk exactly what or why. can i get a critique/tips i built the chassis first then added the treads after
Shannon
•
25d
did a quick sketch before bed. will do a lot more
Shannon
•
24d
did a cleaner study today, planning on doing more angles plus the handle/antenna at different angles too
Sven
•
1mo
@brimarie
•
13d
I love your examples, great work!
Jasper Meadows
Mun AlAzmi
•
1mo
This took longer than I thought it would, lol. I will try different angles, but I do wonder how to train my eyes to catch a tilted line? I’ve noticed my lines tilt and i don’t see it until I complete drawing the whole box.
Ariann Art
•
1mo
Just some of the many experiments I've been sketching while trying to understand all that's been shared. This has been an amazing learning experience so far and I can't thank you enough Marshall!
Anthony Derfler
For this assignment, I grabbed an old Transformer I had lying around from when I was a kid. Even for your average vehicle, it's pretty boxy, so it was perfect. It also has the bonus of having a lot of sentimentality for me- these robots are what got me into drawing in the first place. Top left is the reference image, the rest are from imagination
Chuck Ludwig Reina
Nice work! Keep at it with that truck. I think that is a great tool and benchmark for you. Also don't be afraid so use the whole page for these technical drawings. I think you could make a really cool drawing of this!
@lymnph
•
2mo
I'm not sure if I did the assignment right or not. If I didn't do it correctly and didn't do a good job, please help me out and give me critiques on it. Thanks.
Kendall Smith
I believe you did the assignment correctly. I think two things you can improve on are: (1) Proportions - Measuring the width and depth as multiples of the depth (eg. The length is 1.5 times the height) might help keep the sharpener from seeming like it's changing shape from one drawing to another. (2) - I really struggle with intuitively drawing boxes. I found this game that's supposed to hone your intuition about boxes in perspective. It's pretty cool. https://practicedrawingthis.com/perspective-drawing-game/
Ana
•
2mo
I tried to draw from a mini model of a tuk tuk I have. It it tricky to keep to the convergience lines, but I still look at them and most of them seem off. I don't know if those are proportions or what,but something doesn't feel right.
@wonkbunny
•
2mo
I tried with a tissue box.
@fifiyellow
Sandy
•
2mo
Tried to follow mon barkers example. The blobs threw me off a lot, it was almost easier to just draw the box from the reference instead of the blob. Which is interesting because a few weeks ago I could only draw the boxes with blobs! Progress!! (even if it’s out of order 🫠)
@kenada97
•
2mo
I decided to pick my guitar and broke it down into boxes. fun exercise
Hussein Abdallah
Picked my journal, water bottle, and my ps5 controller. started off very simple and got more complex. i will try with more complex forms in the future!
Lorena Faria
on the top left there`s my observation attemp and then in the others i was just doing assignment. I hid the controller and tryed to do it just from memory
Adonan
•
3mo
My First time rotating objects with no ref x_x my brain melt, it's almost like a puzzle huh. Here's my Attempt on free-handing it (sort of).
Bex
•
3mo
This is my timer in a box. I’ve always struggled with this exercise - I’ve done it a few times before, and I never feel like I can do slopes particularly well. I know I didn’t do a great job with how the face of the timer slopes back at the top, but I think I did get a little better as I went on. I also struggled with how to give the box uniform dimensions in each angle. I hope that becomes a little clearer as I go on. I’m going to continue with more simple forms before I continue. I also don’t fully understand the blob approach, but I’ll wait until the next lesson for that.
Help!
Browse the FAQs or our more detailed Documentation. If you still need help or to contact us for any reason, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!