The Secrets of — Form!

Making an Object Look Real

Anyone, even you or I, can draw some sort of circle or square. But how do we make it look like the real thing? How do we make a reader feel as if he can just reach out and touch it? How do we stop it from just lying there, flat and one-dimensional, on the page? How do we give it length (pretty easy), width (not hard), and depth (this is the tough one)? In short, how do we give it the proper form?

Now that we've bothered to ask, let's see how Big John can help us find the answers...

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One of the main things that can ruin a drawing is the appearance of FLATNESS. Too many beginning artists, and even some old-timers, tend to concentrate on height and width, while neglecting the vitally important dimension of depth—which is just another name for thickness.

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To say it another way, whatever you draw should seem to have thickness. It should have bulk, body, weight. It should seem solid. If it just looks flat, it won't make it.

You've got to train yourself to think of everything you draw as being solid—as having bulk. John calls this "thinking through the object." Think all around it—think of its sides as well as its top and bottom.

Incidentally, don't get impatient with this elementary stuff. We know you're anxious to start drawing Captain America battling Dr. Doom, but even Buscema had to have all this preliminary jazz down pat first-honest. Stay with it for the next few pages and we promise you'll find it much easier to do the difficult drawings when you come to them. End of commercial!

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See the sketches on the opposite page? They serve to illustrate that most objects can be reduced to three simple geometric shapes—A) the SPHERE (or ball), B) the CUBE (or box), C) the CYLINDER (or pipe). As we move along, you'll see that most every drawing is based on one or more of these three key shapes.

Here we see a simple handgun, without which there could hardly be any comicbooks, or TV action shows, or movies. And, if you ever want to draw a Western strip, you'd better take particular note of the fact that the barrel is really a simple cylinder, the bullet chamber is a cylinder encased in a cube, and the butt is based upon the basic shape of a cube.

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Obviously, the outer shape is modified and altered to suit the desire of the artist and the purpose of the drawing, but the thing to remember is the actual sphere-cube-cylinder construction beneath a drawing.

Now let's consider the automobile. Notice how there's a large cube representing the shape of the body, with a smaller cube denoting the window and roof area. As for the wheels—cylinders, of course.

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The plane is equally easy. As you can see, it's composed of a number of simple cylinders.

The purpose of this little exercise is to train you to "think through" the objects you see, the objects you want to draw. Don't just see them as they are, but rather see them as made up of any combination of our three basic shapes. "Sphere, cube, and cylinder" may be the most important words we can teach you—next to Make Mine Marvel, of course!

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As promised, let's see how what we've learned relates to the human figure. In this quick sketch of Daredevil, notice he has cubes for a rib cage and hip area, while cylinders form the basic construction of his arms and legs. Even the little band around his thigh follows the form of a cylinder.

The same goes for faces. This one is also based upon a cylinder—which has been cut off at the sides.

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Below, on the left side of the page, you'll see two typical panels done in the Marvel style. Next to them, on the right, we've attempted to demonstrate what we've been saying for the past few pages. The top drawing is obviously composed of a sphere, plus a number of cylinders, with a cube on the bottom. The other panel depicts a flying car which, despite its unique and oddball shape, is nevertheless still based on our good ol' cube, somewhat modified to be sure.

The important thing about all this is to train you to think in terms of spheres, cubes, and cylinders whenever you see or draw any object. Once it becomes a habit with you, you'll find your drawings will begin to assume the proper form which seems to make them come alive.

Here's more of the same, just to make sure we've left nothing out.

And now, get your ruler, T square, and triangle ready, 'cause it's time for—Chapter Three!