Rotations, Spirals, and divisions with ellipses (Concept drawing)

Rotations for hinges can be accurately drawn using the techniques in my last post with ellipses drawn on surfaces by drawing along ellipses. Drawing a shape on any of the axis's presented by the ellipse can represent a door at any angle of the swing as an example.

To subdivide an ellipse, draw a half circle parallel to the ellipse drawn on a surface. Divide this half circle into even “pie slices” with a protractor or just eyeball it. Then, draw parallel lines through the intersecting points of the circle over to the vertical line of the ellipse, and then connect them to the other end of the surface following the vanishing point. Mark the intersection of the ellipse and the lines previously drawn and connect them to the center for perfect divisions on the ellipse. According to Scott Robertson, “being able to subdivide am ellipse will help with drawing things like spiral staircases, equally spaced links on a tank tread, hour positions on a clock, or teeth around a gear” (Robertson 16). These techniques are shown in this drawing of a gear that I drew. 

Question: What careers go with the style of concept drawing and drafting?  

Ellipses and Circles (Concept Drawing)

Drawing circles in perspective:

                Ellipse anatomy- An ellipse has a minor and major axis, the minor axis cuts the ellipse in half across its narrowest section, and the major axis cuts it on the widest section. When it comes to drawing circles in perspective, which turn into ellipses, the major axis should be ignored since it would almost never cross the actual center of the circle. The minor axis on the ellipse will always point towards the vanishing point to make a circle. This makes the minor axis like the axis to a wheel.

                Placing ellipses on surfaces- according to Scott Robertson’s rules, to draw an ellipse on a surface, “the minor axis is always perpendicular to the surface on which the circle will be placed” (Robertson 73). To place the ellipse on a surface, first draw a minor axis perpendicular to the surface edge, then draw an ellipse around the minor axis, then draw a box around the shape and match the angle of the ellipse up to the angle of the box, which should match with the shape of the surface this is all on. 

Basic shapes using ellipses on surfaces

                Where are some examples of where you could use this technique in a drawing?

Getting started: Drawing materials and Basic Techniques (Advanced concept drawing)

Getting started: Drawing materials and Basic Techniques (Advanced concept drawing)

Back in the day, I used to spend all my free time drawing, in the dark ages before I had access to electronics and never-ending entertainment (which is just up until the end of 7^th grade). Let’s take a journey back to those days and draw concepts from the mind to paper. Using a book from my favorite artist, Scott Robertson, I started drawing.

(Robertson, 12)

But wait! step one is to get the materials, basic materials for concept art as stated by the book calls for fancy pens, sweeps, dividers, and all kinds of other weird things that my broke self would never be able to afford. But I managed to dig a few musty looking artifacts out of my closet. A few drawing utensils, a metal straight edge, an eraser, and two templates for basic shapes.

None the less, read on! Because I'm gonna start drawing now. "Before you start drawing, clear some space and time to fully commit to the drawing. Have a clear work surface with tools at the ready" (Robertson 14) looking at my room, which looks like a tsunami had gone through with it, I decide it’s better just to pretend this step isn’t in the book. “Let’s look at the body mechanics that are necessary to achieve a consistently straight line, you only need to learn how to draw one straight line. After that rotate the paper to change the line direction. Without this technique, keeping the paper in a fixed position would lead to having to learn to draw an infinite number of straight lines”

(Robertson 14).

         Well that's a little strange, considering the fact that every other artist i had read up about have advised against the "rotato potato" technique (rotating the paper to draw lines in every direction) I start practicing lines, and only one direction because that's all I'd need. The book shows some techniques that I used here, drawing with the whole arm, drawing slowly, and ghosting the line.

Question: What is your opinion on rotating the paper instead of mastering all kinds of different angles of lines?