How to Draw Complex Forms Part 4 - Major & minor planes like Michelangelo

so in this tutorial I'm going to share
something with you guys that I think is
pretty useful as well and it's in line
with this series about learning how to
draw a complex forms now in the last one
I did how to outline and sculpt smaller
forms as a part of a larger form now are
we going to go into drawing complex
forms as well but this is almost like
using a slightly different approach to
it but essentially you are focusing on
capturing that larger form by focusing
on the smaller parts of it now in this
tutorial we're going to focus on my
major and minor planes the larger planes
and the smaller planes and first of all
what do we mean by a plane a plane is in
a nutshell a plane is pretty much a flat
surface just like that okay we're not
talking about volume it is what
comprises volume but when you talk about
a plane talking about a flat surface
just like that now in terms of what
makes volume what it is there are three
major planes so for example the best
form basic form we can think of to
exemplify this is a block or a cube
right I just refer to it as a block now
a block comprises of three dimensions or
three planes right now we're seeing
three planes you're seeing a test plane
the front plane a side plane and we're
seeing the top plane now these are three
flat surfaces that are perpendicular to
each other right now why is this
important well this is important because
when you were drawing things it's good
to just like when you're doing a linear
perspective and drawing solid or
volumetric forms you know things that
have three dimensions that have depth
has mass and volume
they have three major planes now of
course this three dimensional form right
here it has three pairs of planes so in
other words there's a front and there's
a back right there's a right side and
there's a left side there's a top and
there's a bottom so we're seeing six
this cube or block has six planes but
right now only three are visible see so
it's very useful also when you're
drawing things to envision that thing
in as being a part of a volume that has
these major planes so for example I can
think of something like this say for
example this has you know we're seeing
three planes here one two three
of course when we join organic forms
like the human body for example you
won't necessarily see things as
straightforward as this so for example
it may not appear like this it may
actually appear something like like so
see see but I'm still envisioning this
as this has this three major planes see
that's what you're talking about
three major planes so this in itself can
also be broken down into a more complex
form where it has you know many surface
forms but the point is to focus on the
three dimensions the major planes of a
form and that's the key thing that we're
going to do so these are the major
planes now what are minor planes now say
for example we have something like like
this right again
you have something like this major plane
major plane major plane now what do we
talk about when you're talking about
minor planes well let's say we're going
to break up this plane into smaller
parts or it has indentations than if you
will so look it may look something like
this see that that's I'm what I'm doing
here is I'm making this simple plane
this top plane a little more complicated
so then you may have we're going to make
up we're going to break this up into
minor planes so this major plane has
been broken up into minor planes
I'm going to break up this plane as well
so I may look something like this
see that and then even this side I'm
going to break up this plane so we have
one two three major planes and what I've
done now is I've broken up all these
major planes inter minor planes see so
now the form looks a little bit more
complicated it's almost like you can
imagine this as a is a paper bag that's
kind of crumpled see so the thing is I
have started from the basic to the
complex now imagine if I hadn't seen
this and I just saw this as is the point
is you learn to see this complex form
you use some simplify it or break it
down to this so it helps you to
understand the overall thing that's
going on so in other words all that's
going on here is simplify to this simple
plane here all that's going on in the
front is this right here so for example
let's say all of this side was in shadow
like that see so that means all of this
side would be in shadow but the thing is
because it's broke this major claim is
not broken up into these minor planes
you would see little distinctions and
each of these inclinations you have here
or called or referred to as minor planes
and that has been my approach to
explaining this and it helps me a lot
and it helps the students that I teach a
lot so here we have this plane this
third plane plane three broken up into
these minor planes same thing with this
this front plane right here is now
broken up into these smaller minor
planes
see that
so you can end up actually looking you
know having something that looks nothing
like this simple block that we have here
well the point is this is really and
structurally the same as this thing okay
so in other words when you're looking at
when you're looking at this you should
still feel like you know this is 3 this
is 2 and this is 1 you're drawing this
complex form you should still see this
as 3 still see this as 2 still see this
as 1 and it will really help you a lot
to simplify things that you're drawing
because you're seeing all the busyness
all the information that you see here
you're just seeing all of this as
belonging to the front all of this is
belonging to the top and so on and I'm
going to give you an I'm going to show
you an example of how that can be
visualized using the fit yeah so in this
example I'm going to draw a make a
drawing of a figure by Michelangelo
again because he does really wonderful
in figure drawings and I'm going to have
you see how I would use the same concept
in terms of breaking off the major forms
the major planes of the simple form into
you know the minor planes and then as a
result of that that you will develop a
more complex form so you're basically
comprising a complex form based on
simple planes or major planes ok and
whenever you're thinking of the major
planes you're just thinking of a basic
block front back side top okay and
that's the basic idea so I'm just going
to sketch out the the mass here and I'm
going to try to do it step at a time so
that way you see the thinking that's
going on so say we have a mass that
starts out like like this see that
that's the major torso okay you're just
going to draw a torso so you see so I'm
going to keep breaking this up and
you're going to see how I'll derive at
the actual complex form so say we break
this up like this see so here this is
the first phase of breaking up this this
first major plane I've already created
broken it up into two here see that all
right and this side plane I'm going to
break it up as well so let's put a
little shadow here so you can get an
idea that this is the side plane alright
so now you see the clear separation so
now I'm going to make this side plane a
little bit more complicated so let's say
we have it like this
I'm sure you're already starting to see
that separation
you
see so that's basically showing up that
the different planes are broken up so
it's really just imagining this whole
thing as just a major block side plane
front plane and even the front plane
just like I have here I'm breaking this
up the chest see here you have basically
it's going like this see it's over and
down over and down now I'm all I have to
do now is just go in and start refining
this
you
so essentially what's going on is this
is the major block of the mass so you
have one plane going like this another
plane going like this see and all of
this is in the side plane and all that
takes place on this side is part of the
side plane see so this plane is facing
in this direction and this plane is
facing in this direction so I'm not
getting caught up too much with all the
little minor things that are going on
yes within this plane this is the little
border yes there are forms going like so
and like so and like so but overall they
all are part of this larger side plane
and all that's going on as far as you
know with your forms are going over here
and going over like that all of them are
still a part of this larger front plane
see and once you start doing that just
like with the arm for example see up
here of the bicep that's one plane and
the Lord the other plane starts here and
this is the dividing line see so all of
this will be in shadow all right it's
facing downwards and all of this is in
one plane that's facing the light and
that's that's the basic approach that
you have towards it and once you use you
know you think of it in that sense it
simplifies the process for you a lot it
makes it a lot easier for you and you
know you'll see how far it will take you
now let's say for example like I'm going
to show you a really quick drawing here
of a of a leg justify
so basically all of this is the side
plane okay
and this is the top plane so it's facing
like this and mind your the way the
thigh is that this line isn't always
definitive this doesn't always stay the
same this line can actually change so at
some point this line may actually be
here or be here depending on the angle
of the thigh in respect to the light
source okay or the angle of the light
what like what angle the light is coming
in from so based on the position that
this leg is and the light source the
angle cuts right here because when you
have a cylinder like this you know
depending it where the light and shadow
separates depends on where the light
source is if it lights which is closer
to this side then more than likely the
light and shadow line is going to be
here if the light is more behind like
this then the light and shadow line may
be somewhere here see so when it comes
to a cylinder that's why it's good to
sometimes simplify forms with a cylinder
because you're not restricting yourself
if it's a block like this that edge is
always that edge but where the cylinder
is not fixed and that's why sometimes
it's good to sketch figured figurative
forms with a cylinder and not with a
block because afterwards you can
determine where you want to put the
light and shadow line the line that
separates the light and shadow so going
back to this example this is where he
actually makes that separation and
you're going to see how I will this is
the major plane and this is the other
major plane but I'm going to break up
this major plane into small flip smaller
planes minor planes based on the the
muscle the muscle mass or the divisions
of musculature on this side
you
but you have happening here is this is
the top plane of the thigh okay it goes
along this line and here is the side
plane of the thigh
it's almost like this and this of course
is facing this way and this is facing up
like so but what's going on here is that
the this major side plane of the thigh
is not broken up into these smaller
planes see right and here you have you
know different areas of light and shadow
but mind you they're all on the shadow
side of the thigh it's almost like this
this is the top side which is in light
up here and this is the side plane that
so these are the two major planes of the
thigh and everything conforms to those
two major planes same thing like I did
here everything conforms to these two
major planes this front plane and the
side plane of the torso and it goes back
to this basic thing that I've mentioned
here you have the major clean at the
front in the side plane and this plane
can be broken up into these minor planes
but the key thing is to pay attention to
pay attention to the major planes that
dominate the entire forms and once you
do that you're fine