It’s been a while since our last lesson! It is now 2026, and I hope everyone reading had a good and safe holiday season. That being said, my own resolution this year is to get through a big chunk of our foundational lessons and move into the more advanced methods, such as perspective and lighting, before this year closes.
With that, let’s first recap our last practice method from a few months ago. In August we went through the first lesson on what I call “Form Sculpting,” in which we took the fundamental forms that we memorized and added an ‘S’ or ‘C’ curve to the overall shape (mainly the “face” or plane closest to the viewer). That is shown below.
NEW “SCULPT” METHODS
In this lesson, we will go over our second version of sculpting these same fundamental shapes, along with our new sculpted forms. When it comes to this next step, the challenge for our perception and visual memory will be a little bit higher, however, we will have a solid foundation to fall back on so that we don’t get too stuck in any parts of the process. First, let’s go over what exactly makes this “Form Sculpting 2” exercise different than the first. We will still be utilizing the previous ‘S’ and ‘C’ curves, but now applied to smaller portions of the shapes to render even more versions of them. These different applications also have their own unique names: Bevels, Convex, and Concave forms.
Now that you’ve been introduced, let’s dive into the Bevel first. The Bevel is a very simple concept used in everyday construction, carpentry, and sculpture work. They are typically applied to edges, like the corners of furniture or architecture, most commonly. Excluding the mathematic process behind Beveling (we’ll get to that later on), the simplest way too understand these, is that they change a corner (a straight, or sharply pointed edge) into a smooth [curved] surface. This can be done in a few different ways; today we’ll begin with two of the most familiar and applicable ways, the ‘S’ and ‘C’ curves.
Now, if you look both images above, you’ll see the top simplified (2D) examples, just to get us used to them. In these, we use the guideline technique mentioned in the previous “Shape Up part 2” lesson to apply these bevels to corners of our choosing. Then, if we apply them to the same 3D versions of those shapes, we see the change in form is much more apparent. Don’t fret if the difference is not fully apparent to you right away. There are some important elements being communicated to our vision and brain here that we have not yet delved into; this makes the full perception of these forms trickier for the novice at first. This is specifically due to the higher numbers of planes in shapes/forms like the Hexagon, Rhombus, and Trapezoid shown above. However, remember that we are not only working to understand drawing shapes and forms, but we must also experience them enough to become a steady part for our Visual Library, this is the memorization mentioned in previous lessons. As with the exercises we’ve gone over, this specific exercise should be practiced as much as possible (meaning focus your intentional practice on what you can perceive and understand first, and the rest will follow eventually as you improve with those forms which you’re already familiar).
CONCAVE
At this point let’s address the next important type of these “Sculpting 2” exercises. As we’ve seen with the bevel examples above, what classifies these aspects of a bevel is a curve. As mentioned above there are basically two types of curves when it comes to 3D, a Concave or a Convex one. A great way to remember which is which is to think with Concave about cave a being a hole, and with Convex being the opposite. Concave-ness then is the experience of Depth. Thus with this exercise we’re thinking of “carving” caves into our 3D forms; creating depth where there wasn’t before. Remember this for later lessons and discussions on composition, but understanding depth is paramount to understanding making art, as depth is experienced more as a lack of physical substance where it would be. It is understanding what we cannot see, which defines our ability to mold what we can see.
Below are some examples of cave forms made from the Fundamental 3D shapes we’ve been using (don’t worry, we are close to “graduating” from these shapes). If you look closely you’ll see the same helpfully colored “Order of Lines” and “Guideline” tools used in the previous lessons as well. (See Lesson 3 “Shape Up 3D” part 1)
Starting with the Cube (a square is the foundation) in the top left corner, we see our aforementioned Guideline tool, but also with that is an eye to denote the direction this cave is facing. As mentioned in the previous lesson, within direction lies the beginning sense of perspective. For now, however, this is all we’ll need it for. Starting with the corners of the shape (at the opposite side of that guideline), we’ll draw lines parallel to that directional guide up to the top of the shape. After that, next in our Order of Lines will be the [Turquoise] lines which connect those corner lines. These, for ease of learning, should be drawn from the initial lines toward the outline of that shape, parallel to the outline across from them; this should create an “deeper corner”, from which you’ll begin to perceive the adding of depth as you go. After a couple times memorizing these examples, try to draw them facing the opposite direction – as many directions as you can imagine, really – of the ones in these examples to expand your perception.
After going through each of these examples, I’m sure you noticed the adding of light contrast; simply put, the deeper into a cave you go, the darker it will get. Thus I added some shade to the deepest parts of each of these forms. Light, Shade, and Perspective are obviously very important parts of this process, but we have just a couple more lessons before we really dive into those subjects. So, for now just focus on the memorizing of these representations of the fundamentals. An important thing to remember while practicing them, however, is all of our previous methods of practice are applicable to the next. I’ve made a few examples below of this by combining the “Sculpting 1” practice method (adding ‘S’ and ‘C’ curves to different planes of the fundamentals), with this lesson’s method of “Cave Building.”
So, if you find yourself at a loss of ideas to start with, using this practice method, begin with some of the last exercises you stopped at and apply the new exercises to those. As you get into the groove of working on them, the ideas will begin to flow.
CONVEX
Now, when it comes to a form being Convex, it will be the opposite of Concave, as we discussed briefly above. Convex-ness would appear more like a protrusion, or a bulging type of form; it is an extended surface, coming from another surface or form. This specific aspect of Convex-ness is a big link to learning and understanding not just the more complex forms, but of light, and perspective in later lessons. For our current skill level, however, let’s look at what this means at its most simple.
That’s right, Convex-ness, just like Concave-ness, can take any form and shape, curved or not. Meaning essentially the simplest versions of convex forms can be our 3D fundamentals stacked physically atop each other, as shown above. Keep in mind, when doing these exercises, to keep your line weight light. This will make them easier to erase when you make any errors, and then you can darken the outlines when finished.
WHAT’S NEXT
Just as mentioned in our last lessons, all of these exercises build into a more complex or advanced version of the previous ones. Especially the concepts practiced in this lesson in particular will connect us to a deeper understanding of how the harder concepts of light and perspective connect. Remember, these practice methods we are discussing here are mostly not from the imagination. We are learning and memorizing the actual physics of light that we experience daily without even noticing. This may sound a bit daunting put that way, but it is not. Again, you experience and interact with this every single day. You are naturally an active participant in the physics of light already, so imagine your ability when it becomes intentional. We can and will reach that level.
For the next post I’m preparing a collection of what I call applied practices. They will be a gallery of my own personal application of all the exercises we’ve gone over so far; after which will be our first lesson in the next set of methods as we learn to practice and apply Perspective. With that, we have completed our methods for Shape and Form learning! Congratulate yourself, as you’ve made some big steps in learning already. The full foundation is closer to being laid completely, upon which we will create shapes, forms, concepts, styles, and worlds all our own. Until next time…