How to Draw Complex Forms Part 5 | Major vs Minor Forms Video Lecture | Develop Drawing Skills: Basics to Expert - Art & Craft

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okay so in this tutorial I am going to
follow up on that series I was doing on
how to draw a complex forms and I'm also
going to this is also going to be like a
two-part video because I'm going to
introduce concept and then I'm going to
elaborate on it afterwards
now and the series on I I did on
teaching you guys about drawing complex
forms I did one where I showed you how
to combine forms how to look at complex
form in terms of major and minor planes
and so on now in district or to
introduce the idea of understanding
complex forms in terms of dominant and
minor forms or you can think of it in
terms of major and minor forms or a
dominant subordinate or major minor
forms now what does that mean I mean
major and minor in terms of size okay so
for example let's say we have I'll use
an example that I did before in a prior
tutorial let's say I have this circle
here alright let's see I have this all
right now and let's say we have another
one you could have one attached to it in
some way so let's say we have this and
this and another one now the point I'm
trying to make here is this is large in
this and these are small now the thing
is I am kind of working backwards okay
because if you're looking at something
that you're drawing you may not see this
but I'm trying to have you understand
this is the way you should think what
you may actually see may be something
that looks like this
you see what I'm saying so what I pretty
much did was just attach these four
forms to this circle so you have one two
one two three four actually maybe I
attach to one in the back like that so
this one is here this is here and so on
okay so we have one two three four five
smaller forms attached to this bigger
form now the point I'm making is you may
be drawing something and you won't you
will see this now you're thinking like
okay I am drawing this how should I look
at it now the point I'm making is it
makes it simpler for you when you think
of it in this way see so you should see
this in terms of that I usually do this
before because I'm trying to reinforce
the idea of dominant and minor forms so
what do I mean I mean well you will see
this form as being a larger underlying
circle this is the major mass and on top
of it you have these smaller minor forms
or subordinate forms so this is what
dominates and this is very important
especially for like figure drawing where
the body is made up of all these larger
chunks and underlying large our
underlying chunks and on top of that you
have all these smaller forms now you
know when you're beginning to draw
sometimes you're not aware of thinking
like this okay so you can get lost in
all these little you know the little
smaller forms you're seeing like like
this
you know you're seeing all these small
forms and you're not really getting the
idea that you should try to ignore them
and pay attention to what's underlying
in other words this larger circular mass
is what you should be focusing on this
thing okay focus on this the largest
circle underneath and not the little
bumps you could have a million of these
on top of it okay you could have a
million of them doesn't mean you pay
attention to every single one and the
idea is that you should try to keep in
mind that there's always a bigger
picture okay and that's one of the it
goes back to what I've always talked
about about simplifying things that you
see okay so for example the same thing
can happen with a with a cylinder or a
block like that see so you'll find a lot
of forms in the body and in things that
you draw especially natural forms where
you can feel this larger underlying
cylinder this larger underlying rounded
form this larger underlying block but
you don't really realize it because
you're seeing all these small forms on
top of it you get distracted the same
thing happens with the arm okay
when you look at the arm you know it's
really just a cylinder but you can get
caught up and seeing the bicep you know
you may see the bicep up here you know
see the triceps in the back you know and
before you know it this will look
completely different so you can end up
with looking something with something
that looks completely unlike what your
you're thinking so what I'm saying is
you know you may not notice that there
is a cylinder underneath this whole
thing okay
and you will get lost in all the little
details and so on but I'm trying to have
you think and realize that you know what
don't get caught up with all the you
know the little bumps in
stuff like this that's going on on the
surface see don't get caught up with all
of this feel the cylinder underneath and
that's why a lot of times you know like
I mentioned like you start with small
forms underneath and don't get too
caught up with the little forms that you
see on the surface of things
see what I'm saying so before you know
it this looks completely unlike anything
that I had started with it's a lot more
complex now see and and even if you were
to shade it which is what I'm going to
be just discussing after this you know
as a part two of this video how to think
of like when your shading forms how you
you use this approach in terms of like
you know major and minor forms so you
can have something like this you know
where you have light and shadow going on
and you're not even aware of this even
further distorts the whole idea of
thinking of complex and you know complex
form in terms of major and minor forms
you see what I'm saying so I'm saying
you know think of this even though it
looks like this you know still think of
it in terms of major in minor forms in
terms of if you're going to draw this
still just see the cylinder underneath
see that first before you see all the
little bumps and stuff like that because
what a lot of people tend to do is
you're going to draw something like this
the first thing they go for is drawing
the little details and I'm saying it
makes it a lot simpler and easier for
you to think of the big picture what's
going on on a hole here what's the big
idea
so you think of this larger mass it's
the same thing when you're drawing the
torso if you follow the torso and or
parts of the body you'll get caught up
like say for example let's use an
example let's say I am going to draw see
my pencil is a little short I guess this
is the point where I could give you guys
a little clue and something I do see
this is like a click of the eraser
sometimes you can just stick your pencil
in there and it gives you more room see
just like that
and if you don't have like one of the
expensive pencil extenders you can just
do this see I'm using my eraser as it's
doubling as both an eraser and extender
at the same time because sometimes this
may be a little too short and come to
the drawer with I just take it in there
and dissect that see little pointer
there so say for example I'm drawing the
leg right now I'm the lower leg I'm not
gonna get caught up too much with
drawing the little details first no I am
going to first focus on say I'm gonna
draw the foot I am going to say I see a
cylinder here little cylinder like that
see that and notice I make it
transparent okay cuz it makes it easy
for me to feel the volume okay and it
may extend a little bit okay now I'm
gonna draw the foot so I think of the
foot as this little form here just like
that see now I am thinking of this
smaller the simpler dominant mass now
that's the thing to keep in mind is that
you're thinking of the dominant mass the
major mess okay the major mass the major
the lying mass but the major underlying
mass is going to be simpler okay now the
forms the smaller minor forms or
subordinate forms on top are gonna be
what gives it the complexity see so the
simplicity is just like think of like a
pyramid you see how simple pyramid is
think of a simple shape like that but
think about the intricacy that the
complexity that belies this simple form
okay we know well we have some idea of
how complex the structure of a pyramid
is but it just appears on the outside as
a simple thing like this so focus on
this simple okay and don't get caught up
with the immediate complex okay your job
as an artist is to simplify to make
things look easy see how dancers when
they're dancing they're thinking about
all the million steps that are involved
in a simple movement but from the
outside looking in when we see it
they're just jumping along and they just
look like they're gracefully moving but
they know the complexity that's involved
in those movements because you and I
can't do it okay
so I have a cylinder see I just have a
tapering cylinder like this in other
words it's just this okay
that's that's the leg and the foot is
this very simple block like form now
however the this leg has a lot of
muscles that's on top of it you know
this is the knee coming down here and
you have you know muscles from the from
the leg from the thigh that are
deposited the bones and attached to the
bones and so on so for example you may
have you know I'm gonna show you like
some of the forms like we know that the
calf muscle is back here the gas you
name is in so on and we have these
striations we see in the in the leg the
ankle is down here so I am going to
think of these muscles as these surface
forms as smaller forms like for example
this is one you'll see a lot right okay
and the the ankle can be thought of as
like a block you know something like
that
see what I mean so how would I put it in
well let's just say we start outlining
these form so you can just see what I
mean
and then you'll see how the smaller
forms start getting giving
staying complexity so now we know this
mass lodges into one here there's
another one here and there's another one
here okay so I am I am not necessarily
going to shade them but I'm just going
to show you how you think of them as
smaller form so I'm putting one form
here put in one form here there's
another form that goes here see what I
mean all the little tendons here I can
think of them as little tubes like that
see now as you start introducing these
smaller forms what's starting to happen
now you're noticing that the the contour
is breaking see it's getting a little
more complicated it's not as simple as
this is now you're seeing the little
bridge here from that from the instep
now you may go like that see she's
getting is getting more
three-dimensional
here's that toe I'm thinking of the toes
as like little forms like that see it
goes around like that see so same thing
here's the ankle you can think of it as
a little form here see what I mean the
form in the back of the leg this is a
tendon
you know Achilles tendon and then here
we going we're gonna see his little
muscle masses start appearing so there's
one there and here we have the calf
muscle just like that see you see what
I'm saying I'm thinking of the small I
think of the larger form first and then
how do these simple small forms are
attached to it or you can think of them
as being embedded into it
see that
small forms being embedded into it
see then it starts to appear to get more
complex here the bone is showing but
here where the bonus show may be
straight but you will notice that there
is a little bulge here and that's from
the muscle
this muscle TB essence here kind of like
bulging out in front of the tibia or the
bone right there okay so here we're
seeing an example and you can have the
knee even end here as form like that see
it's like a block this is the edge and
it goes to the front see what I'm saying
so what's happening here is we're making
this simpler dominant underlying
cylinder here become a little bit more
complicated by focusing on it first and
then I say the thing is notice also here
the way I've drawn it I have given
attention to everything now when you're
shading of course you're going to be
paying attention to where the light is
coming from and where the shadows are so
I'm going to make sure like for example
what receives the strongest contour see
the back will be where the shadow is so
even though you're starting to shade
these smaller forms you're going to make
sure that the smaller forms also conform
to the larger forms underneath see what
I mean
and if you were to shade this you do the
same thing you'd make sure that say for
example if your shading a cylinder and
I'm gonna be doing this going in more
detail in the in the next tutorial
cylinder is shaded like that from light
shadow to light light to shadow this
slide would be darker and this side
would be lighter see so in the same way
I'm going to make this side beam shadow
and it gets lighter as it comes to the
front so the point I'm making is I'm
making sure that these small forms
conform to the larger dominant form you
see what I'm saying
I have to make sure these as much as
they look like I want to draw all of
them and give them all attention I
cannot see I have to give the attention
to what is important and that's why
sometimes you can look at a drawing and
be confused about where is the light
coming from why because people sometimes
tend to shade everything the same way
and you can't and what this teaches you
is to learn how to make creative
decisions when you're doing a drawing so
in other words you start learning about
okay what do I put emphasis on and what
do I do emphasize you see them saying
your emphasis on you have to always
emphasize the larger mass see and you
de-emphasize the smaller mass you see
what I'm saying so you you you make at
the end of the day yes you're going to
be paying attention to these smaller
forms and stuff but what what gets the
most attention is you know these the
larger form the whole leg and I get
caught up and the little small stuff you
know what I'll use one of the drawings
that I did before where I did like the
the torso like this
okay and I have this now what I did here
was just simply simplify the mass of the
torso here is that you add abdominal
area this is the flank the side this is
the slide going up to the chest now you
have to always remember the chest the
pecs like the chest muscles or really
just surface forms on this larger
underlying torso see what I'm saying
so the same way all these little muscles
on whatnot or smaller forms on this
overlying underlying cylinder this is
the underlying cylinder okay the
underlying cylinder under here this
everything is laid on so as as complex
as it appears that's what I'm thinking
about first this larger underlying
cylinder this and when I shade it as
I'll show you in the next tutorial
is that I am shading it based on what
happens to the overall cylinder and
those smaller forms conform to that so
whenever you drawing
whenever you gonna draw a complex form
like the body you know the torso like
for example that's why you see many
others generally start out or I
generally try to encourage you guys to
start out with the simple torso first
the simple mass and Eve and the thing is
I draw this but you don't have to draw
you can do it visually or mentally in
your mind but you in your mind you
should be thinking about this okay so
the larger the smaller mass is like of
the pecs in the one knot it it falls on
this see here's the the pecs here the
smaller abdominal muscles here see all
of these these are all surfaced forms
they're all surface forms that's why so
many artists can just create figures out
of their mind because these are just
surface forms once you got the the mass
correct
then the rest is really just playground
you can play with this stuff and do what
you want you can that's why if you look
at a lot of like the drawings of Ruben
they have muscles that don't exist
because they have the basic masses down
you see one muscle may be split in two
muscles you know and you're like what
kind of a person has it doesn't matter
because they have already have the basic
mass see I have the basic mass here
accurate and what follows all these
little fun forms these little surface
forms I call them these are the minor
forms and they're just your your
playground you can play you can make
these how you want you know you're just
playing with forms here at this point
see because you've had you have already
established a larger underlying mass the
simple major mass and that's the thing
that's tricky to get is that the major
mass is simple and this and the minor
masses are complex that's what gives it
the complexity we interpret complexity
as a lot of stuff going on okay
that's what complexity is so these
surface forms these smaller forms are
minor but when you look at a drawing
like this you'd think these are most
important no it's not the major mass is
what you focus on okay so um hopefully
that gave you guys some insight and you
can now that's something you can put
into practice whenever you're doing your
own drawing as I said I'm going to do
the two part two to this we're actually
show you we're we going to go into the
shading and someone now show you some
some more examples and elaborate and a
lot more but for this I just want you to
get the idea that you should always try
to focus on the bigger picture okay
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