Exercise from 6th of July 2016. Pencil on an A4 paper. The task has been executed vertically, bringing into light some unevenness and uncertainty.
CIRCLE OF BOXES
Rapidly draw a circle of boxes in free-hand. Instead of drawing a single box, a circle ensures that a number of angles are exercised. Also, in contrast to just drawing separate drawings of cubes, the circle helps in assessing how well the exercise has succeeded. Any underdrawing should be avoided.
I have found this exercise useful at times when a sense of flatness overcomes my drawings and I feel I cannot adequately position shapes in space.
Aims:
1. Develop a sense of three-dimensionality to drawing.
2. Question the idea of "foreshortening" as a special case.
2. Contemplate on how the existing lines of the drawing itself assist in aligning the rest of the drawing.
Further reflection:
I have accepted that as long as the exercise is completed properly, it does not matter if the lines are strained or suffocating for the resulting picture. The result may not be a work of art or a graphic design, but research material.
The cubes are all in the same plane, which can be limiting. I change the horizontal wheel to vertical from time to time to track mannerisms and prevent them from arising.
I make notes on unsatisfactory points, also about the overall direction of how the drawing was completed. Personally I often seem to complete the circle as a "pincer" motion from both sides, front to back. Such a tendency can then be adjusted.
I have long worked with the exercise without checking how the shape would look in an unified perspective with the shapes receding into depth. The computer animation at the top of the page demonstrates such a result. If the exercise is developed in this direction, it can be noted that compared to the computer image the hand drawn wheels are bulbous from the back "corners".
