This is an essential skill that a designer need to train. If you want to be able to draw things fast and create from your own imagination, think in 3D. Decompose what you see in basic shapes and volumes such as circle, ellipse, sphere, cube, cylinder, cone. Assemble them, then go into the details.

TIP 50

Train your 3D vision seeing anything in transparency

weasel
CHOU-TAC CHUNG – WEASEL

Let me illustrate that case first. If you ask a kid to draw an elephant, he will naturally look at the contour and try to reproduce what he see flat on paper.

blue-clayBut if you give him some clay, he will roll the clay to cylinder for the trunk, make some little cones for the fences and other simple shapes that he will bend, cut, trim, twist, flatten. He will then assemble all these to reproduce the whole thing. Note that even if you show the side view only of the elephant, the kid will naturally create both side with the clay. It shows that the elephant is not anymore just some 2D contours, but a volume.

The brain naturally tend to think in 2D when we want to draw on paper. To represent something in volume we switch our thinking to 3D. A-Matter-of-Loaf-and-Death-Wallace-and-Gromit
WALLACE AND GROMIT – A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH, 2008

See also  How to Draw Sections (on Spheres + Ellipsoids)

So here is the trick for a designer. It is to sketch on 2D, but thinking in 3D. If you ask a designer to reproduce something on paper, he will decompose it in multiple simple shapes in his mind and reassemble the elements on paper. To do that, he visualizes each shape as transparent volume. The next level is to be able to rotate them in his mind. Then he could reproduce that thing in different angles.

Magic right ? It is not that easy, but it is really worth to train toward this direction.
This tip deserve some tutorials. I will prepare some. However, if you are interested, you can still let me know. :)

Let me know your point of view.
See you tomorrow for the next Tip of the day !

4 comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hello! I'm Chou-Tac, a Product Designer from France.

If the sketching methods I’ve acquired aid me in my life and in my industrial design career, I believe that they can also help you reach your dream goal as a student or professional designer.

Leave a comment in the blog or send me an email at choutac@thedesignsketchbook.com : )

Chou-Tac

Trending

Last comments

  • Derry: “22, Riva, Google Search, perspective drawin problems, i want to change my mindset about sketching.Jun 15, 23:46
  • RoZ: “1. I’m from France and i’m 22 years old 2. I need to improve my drawings 3. Google search 4.…Jun 15, 22:30
  • Andrés: “1. I´m from Colombia and I´m 49 years 2. I love to learn something new allways 3. Chat GPT brought…Jun 15, 06:36
  • Simona: “Hi, I’m Czech living in Italy, I’m 42. I graduated a few months ago in product design. I would like…Jun 14, 22:06
  • Simona: “Hi, I’m Czech living in Italy, I’m 42. I graduated a few months ago in product design. I would like…Jun 14, 22:05
  • Smash Karts: “This tutorial is fantastic! I loved how you broke down the steps for drawing a cube in 2-point perspective. The…Jun 14, 03:57
  • Chou-Tac: “Love that answer. :)Jun 14, 00:32
  • Chou-Tac: “That is a beautiful goal you have Mayhiv. :)Jun 13, 13:03
  • Foxy: “I love art and sketching. It heals me.Jun 12, 11:58
  • Foxy: “I love art and sketchingJun 12, 11:57
  • Mayhiv: “I’m from spain but living in Germany. almost 40 years old. I want to become Children llustrator. I discovered via…Jun 9, 03:31
  • Khushi: “I love to sketch,Jun 8, 19:19
  • Chou-Tac: “Yes, 2015 Antonis. Thank you for your support since the beginning of the blog!! :))Jun 8, 15:12
  • Chou-Tac: “Sure you can Leo :)) I invite you to try this tutorial. It is great for beginner to get instant…Jun 8, 15:10
  • Abdurahim: “From Ethiopia,20 year old B/c I have interest You tubeJun 8, 05:07
  • tpink: “NSW in Australia 50+ learnt art at school have more sketch books with 1 to 3 drawings in them then…Jun 8, 02:17
  • LEO DOHOGNE: “Chicago-78, To prove to myself I can draw more than stick people. Everything. I found you site in an internet…Jun 8, 01:46
  • Antonis: “Sweden / 46 New ideas and problem solving. Old follower. No problems. Want to evolve.Jun 8, 01:39
  • Keagan Degoede: “hi! Im from south africa , im 17 years old. im going to do mechatronics after school and i have…Jun 7, 22:55
  • Shravani shashank shende: “I come from india. My age is 21yrs . Because I am a product designer. And i want to improve…Jun 7, 13:35
  • Adi: “Accra GH, 37 yo. Learning to sketch for industrial design. Research looking for some, sort of product design workbook.Jun 6, 13:29
  • Chou-Tac: “Ola Miguel, Que tal? Estoy de acuerdo que dibujar con el mano esta mas la libertad de communicar con las…Jun 6, 01:00
  • Chou-Tac: “Awesome Bria! Congrats for your new job as an Art teacher! I am actually relocating to USA, and considering looking…Jun 6, 00:56
  • Chou-Tac: “Hey Mary, Singapore, so cool. I used to live and work there (Charles & Keith) for quite a few years.…Jun 6, 00:53
  • Chou-Tac: “Hey Joshua, please thank your colleague for the recommendation :D. Let me know how it goes. You may find this…Jun 6, 00:51
close-link
Start Sketching Today Step-by-step!

GET YOUR DESIGNER STARTER KIT NOW!

The
close-link
The
YES! I NEED THE BOOK!
Send me The Book
close-image