Uploaded January 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Update 2021-08-30: see time stamps below and descriptions of various steps. Sketch a series of cubes in parallel projection (oblique, axonometric, isometric, etc). Start with isometric, then change the angles. Whatever you do, if you see more than one side of the cube, one of those sides cannot be drawn as a perfect square on the paper. Mention of binocular, stereoscopic vision and other types of projections: orthographic and perspective.
00:18 Shows a small milk carton (Gold Fish carton -- packaging). Get one for upcoming drawings. The carton is approximately a cube, about 3 inches on each side including the slanted roof part. The exact Gold Fish carton size is Net Weight 2 OZ (57 g)
00:57 Quick introduction about the three types of projection: orthographic, axonometric, and perspective.
03:23 Description of orthographic projection, showing the three planes of projection, first as a 3D model, then flattened to form a single sheet.
05:00 Description of axonometric projections
06:20 Description of perspective
07:12 Start drawing cubes
07:48 Draw title block at the beginning
09:56 Writing in title block, I actually forgot to write the number; only wrote the "#" symbol. Make sure to write the drawing number. This time, drawing the border, title block, and entering the text took about 3 minutes (ends at 11:05) -- see title block assignment page for correct sequence of information in title block.
11:03 Start practicing sketching the cube on a different sheet, not the one where you just drew the title block.
15:40 Every drawing is an abstraction, even when the object being drawn is a concrete object, a naturalistic object, an everyday object, and the drawing looks natural and resembles reality.
17:45 Try different angles besides isometric (30/30).
19:00 Don't do extreme angles at first, so to avoid drawing any face as a perfect square (while showing other sides of the cube at the same time). That's an unrealistic and "incorrect" view.
20:05 The above drawing would be "impossible". That is, possible to draw, but an impossible view in real life.
23:15 The only way to see both sides, kind of straight, is to turn the cube keeping both top and bottom hidden. Shows also how one should close one eye to get a simplified view since we always otherwise see in 3D, and have two pictures of any object at the same time. Shows also bringing the front of the cube all the way up to one's nose, then seeing just one side with one eye and the opposite side with the other eye, with the middle square in beween; or, an impossible view normally. Instead of a 3D picture of a cube, we now see two distorted pictures of squares on the sides and one connecting, thin vertical rectangle in the middle. It looks like a very strange perspective.
24:57 Explanation of binocular, stereoscopic vision (seeing with 2 eyes = seeing in 3D) by placing a finger (or a pencil) a few inches in front of one's nose and then closing one eye alternatively. The image of the pencil will appear to jump from left to right and vice-versa. But in fact, we always see both at the same time and our nervous system combines the two into a "normal" image. The images formed in each retina are also upside down.
25:25 In the video I say that the image "moves" from left to right. In reality, both images are still with reference to each respective eye. What changes a lot in the two views is the relationship of the observed object (finger, pencil, etc) to objects in the background, which changes dramatically and makes the object in front appear to "jump" instead.
26:10 Drawing and sketching cubes again.
26:28 Don't use eraser.
26:50 Keep one set of lines, the vertical, parallel to the edge of the sheet, so the cube looks like it's sitting normally on a flat, horizontal surface.
35:05 Examples of fun cubes (Scarpa's chains).
35:50 Bricard mechanism (Raoul Bricard)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Bricard
Update 2021-08-30: see time stamps below and descriptions of various steps. Sketch a series of cubes in parallel projection (oblique, axonometric, isometric, etc). Start with isometric, then change the angles. Whatever you do, if you see more than one side of the cube, one of those sides cannot be drawn as a perfect square on the paper. Mention of binocular, stereoscopic vision and other types of projections: orthographic and perspective.
00:18 Shows a small milk carton (Gold Fish carton -- packaging). Get one for upcoming drawings. The carton is approximately a cube, about 3 inches on each side including the slanted roof part. The exact Gold Fish carton size is Net Weight 2 OZ (57 g)
00:57 Quick introduction about the three types of projection: orthographic, axonometric, and perspective.
03:23 Description of orthographic projection, showing the three planes of projection, first as a 3D model, then flattened to form a single sheet.
05:00 Description of axonometric projections
06:20 Description of perspective
07:12 Start drawing cubes
07:48 Draw title block at the beginning
09:56 Writing in title block, I actually forgot to write the number; only wrote the "#" symbol. Make sure to write the drawing number. This time, drawing the border, title block, and entering the text took about 3 minutes (ends at 11:05) -- see title block assignment page for correct sequence of information in title block.
11:03 Start practicing sketching the cube on a different sheet, not the one where you just drew the title block.
15:40 Every drawing is an abstraction, even when the object being drawn is a concrete object, a naturalistic object, an everyday object, and the drawing looks natural and resembles reality.
17:45 Try different angles besides isometric (30/30).
19:00 Don't do extreme angles at first, so to avoid drawing any face as a perfect square (while showing other sides of the cube at the same time). That's an unrealistic and "incorrect" view.
20:05 The above drawing would be "impossible". That is, possible to draw, but an impossible view in real life.
23:15 The only way to see both sides, kind of straight, is to turn the cube keeping both top and bottom hidden. Shows also how one should close one eye to get a simplified view since we always otherwise see in 3D, and have two pictures of any object at the same time. Shows also bringing the front of the cube all the way up to one's nose, then seeing just one side with one eye and the opposite side with the other eye, with the middle square in beween; or, an impossible view normally. Instead of a 3D picture of a cube, we now see two distorted pictures of squares on the sides and one connecting, thin vertical rectangle in the middle. It looks like a very strange perspective.
24:57 Explanation of binocular, stereoscopic vision (seeing with 2 eyes = seeing in 3D) by placing a finger (or a pencil) a few inches in front of one's nose and then closing one eye alternatively. The image of the pencil will appear to jump from left to right and vice-versa. But in fact, we always see both at the same time and our nervous system combines the two into a "normal" image. The images formed in each retina are also upside down.
25:25 In the video I say that the image "moves" from left to right. In reality, both images are still with reference to each respective eye. What changes a lot in the two views is the relationship of the observed object (finger, pencil, etc) to objects in the background, which changes dramatically and makes the object in front appear to "jump" instead.
26:10 Drawing and sketching cubes again.
26:28 Don't use eraser.
26:50 Keep one set of lines, the vertical, parallel to the edge of the sheet, so the cube looks like it's sitting normally on a flat, horizontal surface.
35:05 Examples of fun cubes (Scarpa's chains).
35:50 Bricard mechanism (Raoul Bricard)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Bricard
