Importance of geometry in art

Artists, whether beginner or advanced, are always excited and curious to learn the ways by which they can make their drawings more attractive and realistic. But it doesn’t seem possible with whichever exercise they pick. If you are one of them, we have got a secret for you.

We are talking about “Geometry” in pencil drawing. As surprising it is to know, there is a great deal of the importance of geometry in art. Club geometry with “light and form study” and you can easily bring the realism in three-dimensional pencil sketches on a flat two-dimensional paper.

It is a common thing to not like or completely hate math, but if you love pencil art, you should know that geometry and other such math concepts are actually very useful in realism. Let’s see how geometry is important in art and how we can use it.

• Understand the geometry in objects

Before drawing any object or from any reference, stop for some time and observe it thoroughly. You need to understand its geometry — find the shapes your figure has, like spherical, conical, cubical or any other form and trace it down on your paper. You can even use the grid method to identify the structures or shapes your object has.

• Identify and draw the shapes first

To identify and draw the figure, you can use the tracing paper, with which you can lightly sketch in several basic shapes to create the rough outline of the figure which will be like a close estimation of shape and form.

Now you can darken the lines and then put more realistic lines to later erase the guidelines for a clean image.

• Add detail

When you have understood the solid geometry, you can proceed with the details like shading and shadowing, adding or experimenting with the light, and playing with the tones to give it a three-dimensional look.

Remember, that are no awkward angles in the object or reference, there are only different shapes. This is how you will also learn to make realistic pencil portraits. For example, on observing a human face you’ll find that it is filled with spherical shapes from forehead to chin and that’s where you would require geometry. If you know how to shade a sphere, you can easily handle the same with a human face; it would look more interesting and realistic.

Then come certain elements of the face like a pimple on a human face that would require your visualization power to see which geometrical shape it resembles the closest. Once you understand that it resembles a cone shape, just like the mountain, you will automatically render a cone giving it an appearance of a pimple. The same thing happens with wrinkles on the face when we laugh or cry or get angry, beards and mustaches, and even dimples.

For learning hyper-realism, it is of the utmost importance that you master to draw freehand, drawing geometrical objects and detailed pencil sketches using shapes, like in all the world-class art academies. If you want to learn the same, you can register yourselves with some of the best online drawing classes. You won’t only learn the technical aspects but also get the guidance of the best mentors and strengthen your power to imagine.