Find Out How to Build 3d Shapes From the Cube!

Not only that, we will explore how the cube will exist in perspective and its relative position in space.

How? It’s very easy. But first, take out your graphics art program of choice and draw the 3d cube in previous your previous learning without worrying about perspective for now.

I will get into how perspective works a bit later.

Let’s get started with the learning!

1. Building 3d shapes with the cube

With your cube, I want you to make the guide lines that will divide the cube up into its basic measuring system. That means dividing it in half and in diagonals on one side of the cube and then repeat it all around for the sides that you can see.

We are going to use this to build the three primary 3d shapes that are used in everything you see around you: the cylinder, the cone, and the sphere.

You need to use your imagination for the next step. You should ask yourself where the edges of the 3d shapes meet up within the cube. The first two shapes, the cylinder and the cone, are simple. It’s the sphere that takes a bit to think across.

For the sphere, you need to use the middle of the cube as a starting point as that’s the thickest point of the sphere. Thus, it will touch the cube in the middle. As it is a perfect cube, you can do a perfect sphere easily.

Once you got the proper outlines, use your tools to see if you can give it some depth by coloring it in. We will talk about depth later on but it’s not a bad idea to see if you can get ahead of yourself in the meantime!

2. Building 3d shapes in perspective

Depending on how much you know about perspective, do whatever you feel is comfortable. For example sakes, I will use the one point perspective method. Of course, feel free to start with two point perspectives or even three point perspectives.

Regardless of which once you choose, it’ll still achieve the same goal in mind: manipulating the shape to fit a certain angle or eye level.

To start off, from your canvas, draw a simple one perspective guide. Use one of the basic shapes that you have already learned. Match the corners of the cube with the shape that you will draw.

It may look funky, but that’s how the shape will look like given that perspective point! This is the best way to render 3d shapes that are not cubical in nature.

For example, parallelograms or trapezoids easily mimic cubes that seem to exceed the rule that each corner of a square is less than 90 degrees. That’s just it! They are still shapes confined in the cube!

The advantage of knowing this is that it doesn’t get you confused with where the proper vanishing points should be. Just put whatever shape you need into the cube and trust in the cube for all perspective measurements!

3. Expanding on 3d shapes

But sometimes, just extending or flattening the cube may not be enough. The shapes just don’t match up correctly. What do you do in this instance?

You can actually start combining the cubes of different sizes that’s inside the larger elongated rectangle. Even with complex objects, you will discover they are just different shapes formed together.

For example, if you draw a martini glass, you still get the same shape within the confines of the square. But in order to get the proportions correctly, we need to separate the parts of the martini glass into manageable sections.

In these sections, you will need to know how the shapes interact with one another to get the whole object. There are some shapes you have already dealt with, while other shapes require a bit of imagination to figure out.

Obviously, you’re not going to draw every single guide line there is. That’s why you need to practice imagining the shape in the cube.

4. Moving forward

Learning how to do 3d shapes in perspective is difficult. Sometimes, it can look weird. When that happens, ask yourself if it confines within the shape of a cube. If it doesn’t, rethink how the shape will look like when it’s in a cube.

As mentioned before, squares that look like they have different vanishing points or in which the corners are less than 90 degrees are not really squares. They are parallelograms, diamonds, or trapezoid shapes using the perspective points confined in the cube.

Always measure proportions with the square and perspective with the cube! Combine your knowledge in these areas with properly created grids, with your digital art tools, and you will create wonderful digital paintings.

Keep that motivation level up to not only continue learning these concepts, but to combine them as well!

Return from 3d Shapes to Digital Art Techniques.
Return from 3d Shapes to the 2d Digital Art Guide.