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#122 - Another Way To Practice Drawing Boxes That Can Be Very Helpful In Constructing Boxes Quickly Later

I want to make YouTube videos about drawing exercises in the coming period. I wanted to do them with a particular angle in mind: I wanted to highlight an aspect of the drawing exercise that you might not have considered before.

This video is an example: people often practice drawing boxes, but have you realized there is more than one way to do that?

I used to draw boxes by focusing on the top rectangle of the box first. The four lines already define two vanishing points. Then, I would pull lines perpendicular to that surface to create the perpendicular rectangles that define the third vanishing point. Then, I would construct the bottom surface of the box, which had to adhere to the original two vanishing points.

And then I saw someone do it entirely differently.

That person outlined the box first, and only occasionally did they add the inner ribs when they clarified things. It’s not easy to make the switch, initially, as you have to make a mental model of the box as you try to figure out where you are on the box as you place the ribs that define the outline. You go from a surface at the front of the box, along a rib pointing away from you to the surface at the back, draw a rib or two, and then traverse back to the front view along a rib.

Initially, it is mentally taxing until you get the hang of it. But it’s fun! It can look fabulous without the inside ribs or with these inside ribs hinted at subtly.

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