Why Does Everyone Tell You To Practice Drawing Cubes And Cylinders???

Line and Color Quick Start Guide: www.thedrawingcodex.com/quick...
Why does everyone keep going on and on about drawing the basic forms...
Cubes... Cylinders... Spheres... Cones... Pyramids... It seems to never end.
What use is this to you? Will it make you better? Even if you want to draw cool stylised art?
In this video I cover all of these questions and more!
If you want to learn how to develop your own simple line and color workflow check out the Quick Start Guide above! It has all the brushes and tools I use to create images like this in Photoshop.
Happy Drawing!
Tim Mcburnie
Learn Drawing and Illustration from me: www.thedrawingcodex.com
Portfolio: www.timmcburnie.com
www.artstation.com/tim-mcburnie
/ timmcburnie
/ timmcburnie

[@lulamidgeable]

This is so spot on. I've made myself do a lot of shape and perspective stuff but only in small time frames, because I found it so boring. But even the way I've done it has had a big effect. I think due to consistent practise 4/5 times a week even if it was small amounts of time. I always tell myself - it's doing the really boring stuff that makes me a better artist. But it's true!

[@pentachronic]

I've heard others say that you should always draw geometric forms as a warm up exercise every day. This way it becomes ingrained and you end up refining it over time. I plan on doing this.

[@williammclean6594]

I tried to do draw a box because it was just like basically the boring geometric shapes and everything but it was so boring I had to quit like after a week I couldn't even stand to do it for like an hour a day you eventually get to draw fun stuff but it takes forever to get to that part of the program

[@Simon-et4hu]

@@williammclean6594 hey! An hour a day is a lot for drawing boxes so don’t feel bad for not doing it for that long. I looooove perspective (maybe that’s rare) and I couldn’t do boxes for an hour. Unless it’s for rendering light, color and textures on them because it’s more stimulating but then it’s not just about the perspective.

[@socratesmmxii]

all of this really resonated with me and really makes me want to pursue McBurnie's other lessons. He may already be one of my favorite online instructors out there

[@TheDrawingCodex]

Thanks Carl! I’m glad this one resonated!

[@donidewit]

I really hate practicing the fundamentals, but every time I have a problem with drawing something at a certain angle (i.e. a hand), it's always that damn cube that saves me in the end. Not the friend I wanted, but the one I've always needed.

[@Bizarro69]

I do this stuff for the entire day and enjoy it because the tenth cube I produce can be made into a building and then I really get to see how much I get it. Then back to shapes for the next three. Slowly going into more complex stuff but always from the shapes. I never get bored. And it's a bit of a puzzle to figure out why my mind just isn't understanding certain angles.

[@aaronamadeus928]

I like to draw "snakes consisting of spheres and cylinders" and really try to push the perspective and making it move close to the camera and far into the third dimension. Or I make these forms interact in a physical way, like bowling. It's more fun for me this way and I sometimes use it for warm-ups when I really don't know what to draw, but I use these forms more to push perspectives than for shading.

[@nochipmunks8692]

i never stuck and watched 30mins youtube video , you’re that good , i just love your channel

[@TheDrawingCodex]

Haha nice! Thanks! That is high praise :)

[@Thezellofamily]

I like drawing rocks for this sort of practice, because they come in all different shapes and sizes. Sometimes rocks are spherical and sometimes they're triangular and sometimes rectangular. And rocks can be found in a lot of backgrounds of the more interesting things, so unless you're exclusively doing portraits, you're doing to eventually need to learn how to draw a rock. At least that's my logic.

[@brent8182]

Rocks are my Achilles heel. I want to be able to draw them but can not for the life of me get the planes right, without over shading and making it way to busy.

[@JH-pe3ro]

Something I've noticed about my own constructive practice is that - with rare exception - I don't use the boxes and cylinders to start an illustrative drawing. I use them to supplement and correct what I already have on the canvas, but what I put down initially is all shape: A figure in a certain pose is just something I either observe from a reference, or memorize from a bunch of perspectives. If I get focused on form too quickly, I lose the shape and it gets out of proportion - so I avoid doing that. Instead, I do a second pass where I add ruler lines(which in digital, with straight line or polygon tools, is really, really fast), and at that point I can correct towards a box or towards a cylinder and figure out some planes for shading, and then I can do another pass where I go back to freehand and loosen the lines again while adding detail, and then another pass with rulers, and at that point, the drawing is probably tight enough to do finished rendering over. Obviously, the better I am at the initial shape the less I have to rely on my rulers, but as soon as I do bring them out, some errors become obvious that weren't before. And doing breakdown studies over existing images, I'll turn to the boxes and cylinders to do that, because that tells me how to construct things in the way another artist did. But if I have to achieve some kind of strange scenario like a character's elbow thrust towards the viewer foreshortened, I'm going to get a reference to do that - I'm not going to use constructive geometry to figure it out, because I'd be guessing far too much at the initial shape. Yet I see tutorial after tutorial that vaguely alludes to using construction to build figures and scenes, but leaves a sort of open-ended suggestion that if one simply puts some boxes onto the page, you will suddenly be able to draw any figure you want. It's not so - you have to have initial proportions that are worth working with, and those are going to come from reference. I think of the technical studies as the counterpart to observational studies: if you draw with sight-size for a long time and get used to measuring everything carefully, you get better at choosing the angle and length of your lines with an intentional process, and to recognize specific shadows, highlights and textures as intentional shapes. And if you learn to see cubes in everything, you get better at seeing what shapes more difficult forms make, and how to calculate values described by light sources and obstructions. You want some of both of that. And you want to learn active recall of things you've observed so that you can reinvent them on demand. The use of technology is key to the practice and also what makes this difficult: when we use a ruler or a grid, trace something, use computer graphics, or all the other ways we have of achieving accuracy and recall, we're introducing technology into the workflow; and when we do these studies, we limit the technology used to *make* the drawing, but we apply as much as necessary to *check* the work we did. Because the implication is that the technology is better than we are and sets the benchmark, and recognizing that immediately makes people both not want to go through the effort and to also actively disparage the technology as "cheating", because, after all - anyone could just use it directly, and then where's the skill in that? It's a way of scapegoating. But what it should be seen at, really, is a little game that, if you play it often, it moves some of the ability out of the technology and into your hands.

[@dertethra]

Thank you for the video!👍 I decided to work trough Scott Robertsons "How to Draw" a while ago because I want to draw some cyperpunk/cyborg stuff like Ghost in the Shell some day and I realized that I won't be able to do this without a deeper understanding of structure and perspective (and anatomy). I will rewatch this video if my motivation goes down.😉 Greetings from Germany

[@chiefterpleaf7467]

I found that practicing Scott Robertson’s how to draw and just pushing on really helped me get better with basic construction skills down the line. But, I do find that Robertson doesn’t seem to approach beginners too well; it’s so technical you get overwhelmed. To combat this, I found Jeremy Hunter’s Gumroad (who has a vehicle drawing demonstration with ModernDayJames) and it helped so much to have someone explain how Robertson was thinking. It really pushed me forward. Tim McBurnie resonated with me as well after I saw a video from his newsletter on how as artists we need to fail but it’s difficult to do because the education system most of us grew up on abhors failure. That didn’t click as a concept until he pointed it out and I realized why I freeze up so much and get lost in the Analytical side of art. Anyway hope this helps you out a bit because H2DR is extremely difficult!

[@thekeogh3908]

Looking phresh Tim! Glad I came across this right after some geoformy studies. Thanks again for all the resources!

[@bluecherry-hart4786]

Just found your channel and I am really enjoying your content! This one makes me think, when we practice our technical drawing skills our abilities improve from awesome guesses to fantastic estimates!

[@mrlefive5]

Thanks for that great vidéo. The color of those shapes is so nice. It really let you see the shading.

[@Simon-et4hu]

Very insightful! There also neurology supporting all that so yeah this video is very grounded and practical. I love perspective (I learned it at school plus books) and as a result this set of skills for me is higher than a lot of others and I see the difference. If I draw a scene in a cityscape for example I will worry about the staging but not the perspective. You can get a lot of perspective intuition where it’s not perfect but you don’t have to overthink it and you know where things converge. It’s like the chaos vs order mastery loop. You draw with childlike abandon with poor perspective. Then you learn a lot of technical stuff and the next time you draw with childlike abandon but with better perspective and it gets even easier on you and you can do more of it! You spend a lot of focus at first to analyze everything but when you actually make a drawing it takes way less mental effort. I have seen it with anatomy too where learning some basic anatomy and drawing it a lot helped me get not question as much the shape of my figures. As well as copying a lot of poses makes you better at drawing people without thinking as much about it. Although I get that it is tedious! I can offer no tip to make it less so I haven’t figured that out. I do it as much as I can in small doses and I separate it with actual projects. It functions a little bit like watching your own replays in a video game, seeing your mistakes and then getting back in and nail that small part where you fumbled last time. It is so satisfying! So maybe that’s the tip? Reduce the amount of time between the tedious practice and good examples of your progress. Transform cubes to houses and cylinders to trees, etc. That’s also important because you can get stuck in an endless loop of just practing and making studies and never anything else. Basically all what Tim says ^^’

[@zionaea3094]

Great tips Tim!

[@m.i.miller8008]

Excellent Video. Thankyou.

[@carodame9419]

great class - thanks for sharing

[@f-gikyo4170]

I enjoy drawing cubes due to watching a video that shows a good excersice to get them correct, then starting to understand how to make the perspective work. when I have pen and paper I often draw basic shapes just to get stuff on paper

[@DeWaynesArtDreams]

When I first started trying to learn how to draw, I had already been learning photography, so I bought a bunch of blocks and balls and took photos of them under various lighting situations, so I could study the light and shadows on them. I still have those photos on a hard drive somewhere.

[@anthonywyndham]

:) I am introducing my year 8's to this stuff next semester....wish me luck hahahaha

[@wildfood1]

I just bought a set of geometric forms and put them in a shadow box and I'm seeing shadows I never saw before. Now I just have to learn to properly render them! I put off learning how to do this far too long.

[@Icanonlycountto4]

I recently got some transparent shapes to practice with. The kind made for 3rd graders😂😂😂 I love using them though

[@theowlspirit]

It’s like having a cylinder for the forearm. Then a sphere for the elbow. Then a cylinder for the bicep area. Then having a sphere for the shoulder AND THEN draping a cloth over it. That’s the part that is missed when explaining.

[@chungah_5537]

Hey Tim, in relation this sort of constructive, perspective-y fundamentals type of drawing - would you ever do an entry into the drawing codex talking about the materials you’d use to draw stuff like this traditionally? Things like ellipse guides and french curves and drawing vanishing points off the page? If not are there any good resources for this kind of thing?

[@johnaquino7619]

So - Training the body and brain at drawing geo forms is kind of "installing" an "app" for your brain which then does more of the technical calculations for you while you're consciously drawing the final form that is based on imagining the linked shapes. Also, by making the technical part of the process more boring, it can help keeping the artist from getting as emotionally distracted by the enjoyment of making the art, so they can focus on drawing more accurately. Is that close to it?

[@seokinchung]

Learning how draw/paint, well doing anything "art" in general is very confusing and intimidating in the beginning and if anyone jump into doing overly complex thing for skill set they have in that stage will most likely make them fail miserably. Cube, cylinder, sphere is the least confusing subject matter and it is easier to break down the process into more simple bite sizes that is easier to understand and follow and allow people to experience small success which will gradually expand to achieving bigger and more ambitious goals. And also it is possible to "grade" if it is done right or wrong in very objective standards, which is also very less confusing to beginners. .....And...... hey how are you going to do more complex stuffs when you can't even do simple and boring things such as cubes cylinders? :)

[@AxariamYT]

By chance do you know the brand / place where you bought those shapes? Been looking to get some for my learning.

[@mariannejensen349]

I am on a state, where I am observing objects, animals.... ('how can I re-do the sunlight, through the tailfeathers of a Kestral hawk) and earlier today, watching a video, where a mannequin was tilted forward, and the camara angle was from above, that was where I noticed, 'the arm is a cylinder form'. But at the same time, still aware that it will take a lot of time for me still, to be able to redo it on paper. Sometimes, I just draw to draw. Emotions illustrated, states of mind, experiences. What matters to me, is that I get things down on paper, and get it out of my body. I have this comic, I want to make. Or rather, I have been suggested to make it. I have the story, I have bits and pieces of it in mind, but certain aspects still need to be worked through, before I can be satisfied with it. -If that satisfaction ever will come, of course. When I experience things getting too complicated, I leave it for a bit. Think a bit about it, until I can come to the state where I can break it down to more simple forms and try doing it again

[@MT-gv8ns]

Ok, ok, ok, back to Drawabox but without the mentor reviews: too much like work ;-)

[@azertyqwerty2503]

great vid tim i have a question does it matter if i learn to draw just boxes and not perfect cubes

[@TheDrawingCodex]

Learning to draw an accurate box (all sides equal) is actually part of the challenge of fundamental perspective. It requires unlocking the knowledge of measuring in 1 2 and 3 point perspective. These techniques are common for industrial design level perspective training... and were use a lot before CAD tools over for technical drawings, to draw objects from a plan that were accurate... think architecture etc. It's possible to take a floor plan and a side view and combine them to draw a proportionally accurate house in 3D... but you need to know how measuring works in perspective. 99% of perspective tutorials skip this because it is very boring and tedious and new artists and students hhhhaaaate it (ask me how I know :). But if you do learn this extra aspect of perspective it helps to unlock many other key ideas and will make you better at drawing... It's something I want to explore at some point on the channel. There are some tutorials on youtube that do go into detail with measuring points though. The key is that learning to draw as accurately as you can (both in precision and in technical accuracy with things like measuring points... makes your guesswork much better. So the more technical your study the easier it is to draw accurately while sketching around. let me know if that helps. Start by doing a little bit at a time, technical study like perspective is best folded into your actual work so you know how to apply it. think 30 min a day or so max (IMHO). Over time you will understand the concepts and it will become easy. But it is rough in the beginning!

[@skyhavender]

I have a mentor that tells me to draw this stuff but i just cant apply it to my own stuff. 😢 And i dont know he doesnt seem to correct or tell me when i have done something wrong or what i really need to work on. I will say he is doing it for free which i think most of you will say. "Get out now!" And trust me i am thinking about it cus he never tells me what i need to improve upon or give me any real pointers to get better att say drawing a box or a cylinder. The more i draw the more i realise that some people can draw and others just cant. There's a reason its called the 99% and the 1%

[@moge2228]

fine... I'll go practice some cylinders I actually really like this channel I'm just being funny

[@TheIbdeathskull]

Where did you get those shapes?

[@TheDrawingCodex]

On amazon. Not sure the same ones are available anymore. They are made of foam, you can try searching for geometric solids or something similar. They are often used as a teaching aid for young children etc. You can often get wooden ones too.

[@rambodranjbar8477]

I'm watching this video for 3 minutes and he already knows me

[@MerlinCross13]

I don't know when to move on from boxes to something else. And more to the point, every time I look to see "Okay how do I move on" it's just hard cut to fully fleshed out muscle mass fully attached to a skeleton structure that ripples with motion. ... did.... did I miss a step?

[@TheDrawingCodex]

yeah I think doing these exercises with primary form and learning fundamentals in a 'dry academic manner' is best done a little at a time. I recommend spending most of your time trying to draw the muscles that ripple with motion... even if they might suck in the beginning you are learning how to improve them with the fundamentals otherwise we just keep drawing boxes for no reason.

[@MerlinCross13]

@@TheDrawingCodex Hello hi yes, I am drawing boxes for no reason because any next step seems to be so far above boxes that I feel dumb. Like jumping from normal math into calculus. I feel like there's a course or tutorial or pages I missed but NOPE just here, you should instantly know how to draw fully fleshed out muscle groups, chop chop, we expect this from you. WHEN did you expect this from me? Am I in the wrong class? ....back to boxes I guess cause that's all everyone tells me I need so I must not be boxing right.

[@Darknight0681]

Honestly, I think the issue stems from the fact that let’s be honest, we have egos that tell us that basic fundamental shapes aren’t necessary to know. Despite EVERYTHING being made up of the primary three. Let that ego go, and you’ll start making progress in ways that you would’ve never suspected beforehand.

[@DazzlingAction]

x ray mode for artist.

[@ReimPrim]

I especially hate cylinders but I love cubes, although i really just wanna skip the cylinder part and hop into anatomy the amount of artists who have begged me to get my ass back to the basics and stay there until I master it is insane… well. I can survive another week i guess.

[@pentachronic]

Good stuff. So basically build a vocabulary before trying to write complex sentences!!

[@ZhifftNuxx]

What is a 123 read?????

[@nikkieyeque]

i dont think we teach technical skills well anymore. When i was in art school we had to learn to draw freehand a straight line down a page without a ruler, and it had to be accurate to the point that you could not tell the difference. it took a very very long time.....

[@minseokwon6484]

I think It’s because we just now use cg to render our story or concept, there is a lot of job that doesn’t really needs traditional draftsman ships, ex) 3d animator, modeler, lighting, story board artist. I saw a lot of professionals who are amazing at what they do, but really bad at drawing. I personally wish for increase of the demand in line and color (or just line) artworks.

[@nikkieyeque]

@@minseokwon6484 true. I also think there has to be a recognition of the skill required by artists that create by hand. The same way that you can play a physical musical instrument or create music digitally.

[@ainakharie3154]

Drawing freehand without ruler created confident line. This will help many things. For exp sketching design quickly.

[@theowlspirit]

The way u do this is make two dots. Start at one dot. Look at the other dot as you are drawing the line. Your hand will follow better when you are looking at the second dot than following the line.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

There's not any point to that level of accuracy. If you want a line that straight, that's what straight edges are for. A hand drawn straight line should have ever so much deviation to it, otherwise, you might as well just get a straight edge and draw thing. It is worth recognizing that just because something was taught in the past doesn't mean that it's necessarily worth learning now any more than the reverse being true. Much of what was taught is genuinely helpful and worth the effort, but some of it isn't. Being able to draw from reference is far less important if you can go to where the thing is naturally and just draw that. A hundred years ago, a thing that's a couple towns over might involve a very inconvenient car ride over where the car might break down several times en route. Now, you're likely to get there and back in an hour.

[@Markerton]

why lisa why lisa why

[@Kxz716]

He even looks like a drawing.

[@kaylenedawnbuteaufitnessbu2282]

Did you know, and as artists, I hope you can relate to this, that the neuro tests make the elderly with no art or interest in art draw a cube with no instruction or a reference. Betty Edwards says people cannot draw cubes without instruction. I'm almost finished with my graphic memoir of how I used my health and fitness knowledge to stop my mother with mild dementia from forgetting me, and it worked. I tricked her off caffeine, then no prescription meds, forced her/tricked her/incentivized her to drink water, kept her away from high fructose corn syrup and other poison, because they made her mean and delusional, and kept her away from gluten. I'm always curious to know what artists think of this fact? My book is about how the right hand is not talking to the left hand with many aspects of our health, and people should use art to help with their caregiving.

[@indescribable9664]

The idea of the right and left hands is interesting.. I read the other day that the two hemispheres are joined by something.. and some person needed a surgery in his head so they cut or did something to that thing that joins the two hemispheres together.. as a result, the two hemispheres began to work separately, individually from each other..

[@madlycan]

currently trying my best to pick up inking with a brush. just trying to get simple shapes done consistently improved all my drawing and painting regardless of the tool. I never would've believed how much of a difference practicing simple forms makes....