Russian Drawing Course Part 4: Geometric Forms

[New Masters Academy]

Join Ukrainian-born artist Iliya Mirochnik as he passes on a 250-year-old academic method preserved at the Repin Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia and seldom taught outside of the Academy and never before on camera.

The Russian Academic drawing and painting approaches were uninterrupted by the modern art movements that transformed representational art in the West, and as a result, they provide a unique and clear lineage to the greater art traditions of the past. As a powerful approach that is both constructive and depictive, it combines the two methods that prevail in contemporary representational art.

In these three drawing Courses, we have set out to condense the entire program, spanning over eight years into a logical, step-by-step procedure. We have made improvements and added resources and exercises to explicitly drive home the concepts that are required to work in this approach.

We have also structured the course so that it is not only useful for professional and experienced artists but also artists with no drawing experience whatsoever.

The first course: the Fundamentals is our most comprehensive beginner-level course to date, including everything you need to get started.

In this lesson, Iliya will train you on one of the most important elements in the Russian drawing approach: form. Using simple geometric forms, you will learn how to correctly describe three-dimensional volume in your work.

You will learn how to draw the cube, cylinder, and cone from observation as well as how to construct these forms from imagination. Then you will combine both approaches and construct the forms from observation.

The New Masters Academy Coaching Program directly supports this Course. If you enroll in the coaching program, you can request an artist trained in the Russian Academic Method including Iliya Mirochnik himself. Click here to enroll in the Coaching Program.

Materials

• Graphite pencils
• Kneaded and Hard Erasers
• Sanding Block
• Utility Knife
• Roll of Paper, Smooth Sketchbook paper
• Staples
• Staple gun
• Easel
• Light source

[anya]

Dear Illiya, Thank you so much for your wonderful lessons. I am getting a huge amount of knowledge out of them and feel very lucky to have you as a teacher.  Chapter 5 drawing the cylinder. Don’t you need to take a comparative measurement of the square after you have the initial angles to make sure your cylinder is in correct perspective? Chapter 16 drawing the cone. When you truncate the cone at an angle shouldn’t the axis be the same as the full cone? Thank you Anya Yeatman

[Kankan Das]

Sir, I’m having a little bit of trouble in constructing the cylinder… Actually, it is happening when I’m using a live cylindrical object to measure perspective….. Help is kindly requested…

[marcin.mucha]

This method of constructing the circle is not really correct. Imagine dividing the square horizontally and vertically into 16 pieces. Then the radius is 8. But the 8 points you marked are at a distance sqrt(4^2+7^2)=sqrt(65)>8 from the center, so they are just a tiny bit too far. I guess they could be good guidelines, cause the difference is very tiny, just remember to go sligtly closer to the center.

[Koncar]

One small note: I believe that in this videos the term ‘ellipse’ is not used properly – ellipse can be cut in two symmetric parts.
I am not a native English speaker, but I believe that when Illiya uses the term ‘ellipse’ it should be understood as ‘oval’.

[Daniel Daigle]

Hi Koncar, I dont think its intuitive, but a circle in perspective is generally considered a conic section (an ellipse).
The confusion may be that the major and minor axis are not always the tangent points
There is still some debate about this, but you can find more information by searching “circle in perspective conic section proof” and include the term “projection”
some of these can get math heavy
I hope this is useful

https://www.math.utah.edu/~treiberg/Perspect/Perspect.htm

[Daniel Cairns]

So Iliya’s top ellipse fits into his cylinder seven times, for a total of eight “sections.” Dividing our rectangles into eighths is pretty easy—just cut it half three times, right?
What about when my top ellipse fits into my cylinder 10 times, for a total of 11 “sections?” Do I divide my rectangle into 11ths? Is there a quick and easy way to do this? I feel like I’m spending more time with the math of this project than the actual drawing.

[Daniel Daigle]

Hi Daniel, As a rule of thumb I recommend that you start by dividing it in half first, then subdivide so you will always have even sections. That way you have less to think about.
But for me to better understand your question, can you please share the chapter number and time stamp?
I’m not sure what you mean by the top ellipse fitting into the cylinder 7 times, do you mean cross sections?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by Daniel Daigle.

[Brittney Bach]

I can’t tell which sides he’s measuring with on the box with the sticks. He holds two at a time but I can’t hold them both together.

[Brittney Bach]

Is there an easier way to remember all these lines? I’m confused. Is he drawing lines from each corner of the quadrants to build an ellipse or not?

[Brittney Bach]

What does truncate mean?

[Daniel Daigle]

Hi Brittney, Truncate means to shorten, typically by removing the top.
Think of a tree that gets chopped down, its would be truncated. hence tree-trunk.

if you were to truncate a cone it would look like a tapered cylinder
The pyramids have been truncated when they lost their golden caps
if you were to truncate a sphere it would have a flat spot

hope this helps

[Brittney Bach]

doing this assignment is beyond frustrating 😒

[Daniel Daigle]

Hi Brittney, I recommend practicing value scales like this
you could start with 3 tones. dark med and light
then keep subdividing until you get to 9 values
keep in mind that 123 are grouped as dark, 456 are grouped as mid tones, and 789 are highlights

Also remember that the core shadow is not sharp, Its smooth transition
just like the space between day and night on earth, there is sunset and sunrise where its in-between day and night
I hope this helps 🙂

[Brandon Wilson]

I believe that this is the holy grail of drawing courses. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I have yet to see any other instruction that so clearly demonstrates the basic skills well enough to move on to the next level. The explanation of measuring proportions,  building structures, sharpening the pencil, preparing the paper…. everything in this course is so valuable. I can’t wait to completely immerse myself in practicing all 90+ hours of this course. Looking forward to seeing your Russian painting class hopefully soon! I feel like if I can master these techniques I can make a living doing this for sure.

[Author]

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