• We can now start to put all the simple shape ideas we have learned into practice, and draw a 3D representation of a vase. A vase is just a tube that is closed at one end. The surface of the vase is swollen and shaped to make it look more interesting than a tin can or a coffee mug! Let’s imagine a 2D sideways view or elevation profile of a vase and place it between two upright, parralell lines – these represent the walls of a cylinder or the outside of a tube. If we sketch out a 3D cylinder we can draw a 3D representation of the vase “inside” the cylinder. The Video explains in more detail: With the axis going through the middle as a guide, the 3D profile can be drawn by imagining a series of ellipses that give shape to the vase. If you can draw a cylinder from any angle, then you can draw the Vase from any angle too. VaseTask: Draw your version of the vase, as was explained in the video, building the drawing up from inside a cylinder, Try drawing it from different angles. Maybe try a different shaped vase profile? Look around you for objects that have been thrown or turned. Look at them carefully. Work out where the central axis runs through the object. Try draw the objects. The index for this course is at http://www.shooraynerdrawing.com/..

  • Turning a piece of wood round very quickly on a lathe has, for a very long time, been been a simple way to add style, shape and decoration to what would otherwise look like a stick!

    Chairs and table legs, candlesticks and wooden bowls have all been made in this way, so it is good to understand the method of manufacture if you want to draw objects that have been made this way. Pottery is made in the same way.

    With a lathe, wood or metal is removed as the source material is spun around, revealing the finished object that was “inside” all along! A potter spins the clay around and shapes it into an object that is uniform around it’s central axis. In the next lesson we will put this idea to work as we start to combine all the simple shapes you have learned, to create more complex drawings.

    The index for this course is at http://www.shooraynerdrawing.com/..

  • Why are spheres so useful when drawing? Well… many objects, people’s heads for instance, are basically spheres. If you fix in your mind, those three lines, that encircle a sphere at 90 degrees to each other, then you are well on the way to drawing 3D representations of almost any object you will ever want to draw from any angle you wish.

    Task: Get yourself a ball and draw the three lines at 90 to degrees to each other onto it with an indelible pen or something similar. Use this model, and the sphere in a cube idea, to draw lots of wireframe drawings of spheres. Really get this idea clear in your head. Soon you will be able to imagine a sphere, turn it inside your head and draw what you see. It’s all practice and brain training.

    The index for this course is at http://www.shooraynerdrawing.com/..