FORM AND VOLUME

These first posts on the basics of drawing might seem a bit boring and initially misleading, but they are fundamental to understand form and to draw in 3 dimensions...so enough of those flat-looking drawings!;-)
Don't be too hasty about starting to draw your first lines, drawing is like playing a music instrument, it takes exercise and commitment.
So don't hate me too much and be patient, I can assure you, this seemingly redundant information will prove to be useful!
These are the foundations of the building you want to build!
I myself realized the importance of this information only at a later stage, but it accelerated my learning process significantly!

One of the recurring terms of this blog is volume:

Everything that surrounds us has its own weight and mass.
How is it possible to give weight to a drawing? How can I describe form to suggest mass on a sheet of paper without it appearing flat?
The only way is to understand volume and the tricks to "fake it" on paper.
Volume is the portion of space occupied by the object we want to represent...every object fills a specific volume, replacing air or water.
In 200 BC Archimedes discovered that an object immersed in liquid moves liquid in relation to its volume...but this happens in air as well!

In mathematics, the elementary volumes are each calculated with a specific formula.
Without going into details, to calculate the volume of a solid object, you must project or extrude a face (or 2d portion) of the object.

For example, to calculate the volume of a cube you have to multiply the area of one of its faces by its height or depth.
If you're trying to visualize this operation, imagine a cube with one of its faces "extruded", that means a plane (Fig 1A,2A,) that is stretched out repeats itself like the pages of a book, creating the illusion of a 3D form with its own volume (Fig 1C,2C)

This is just the "concrete" used to build the foundation of a "solid" (no pun intended :P) way to start learning the basic concepts of drawing.
Absorb these concepts because they will be frequently referred to, and we will use them in all our drawings, in some way!
These general principles are the key to overcome the difficulties we face while trying to represent form, even the most complex ones!
At this point, a distinction must be made: what is the difference between Difficult and Complex?

Everybody says drawing the human body, a hand or a foot is a difficult task, but THIS IS NOT TRUE!
Everything that surrounds us, organic and inorganic, sentient or insentient, human or "alien", presents the same challenges, but differs in complexity.
The obstacle to be overcome to face any kind of drawing lies in the understanding of the form and its transposition from the 3D world that surrounds us to the 2D plane of the sheet of paper...once this is clear, drawing a cup will be as easy as drawing a human foot.

The only difference between the two is in the complexity of the form given by the element that composes them.

If you don't have the "key" to form, drawing is Difficult, if you do, it becomes Complex, therefore only requiring exercise and commitment.
And the key lies in the understanding of concepts like Form, Perspective...and Volume!

Translation by Ryan Lovelock