Here are some isometric drawings I made! I wanted to focus on getting my lines to travel the same way and to look neat on paper. At first I was just putting down simple lines but then I realised I wanted to add a little bit of shading to make it clearer which way the faces of my objects were facing. So far I've just copied isometric illusions I have found online and in doing so I feel I have gotten much better at using my straight and triangular rulers. Now I want to start experimenting with my own illusions and hopefully submit them too!

Hi Marshall, Sorry about the delay but here are my humble attempts at isometric optical illusions. I hadn't used protractors and set squares (triangles) since leaving school so getting used to not drawing freehand was half the challenge, haha. I hope these are not too rudimentary. In the 1st 3 images, I used an isometric hexagonal 'cookie cutter' type of form and then played with the overlap at the midpoint to fake the view between looking up at it and looking down. In the next 3 images, I was reminded of an illusion I had seen in my childhood in an encyclopedia of pipes that looked connected as well as disconnected at the same time. In mine, the view could be either looking from outwards to in from the top set, or the bottom. I decided to omit the overlapping surfaces towards one end of the entire unit and vellum-ed over the missing lines, as well as one version of just one side being shaded. In the final 3 images, I drew a 3x3 grid of squares with one set of diagonals drawn in for them all. I then vellum-ed over a thickening of angles and shading of sides to give the impression of 3 boxes forming from a combination of diagonals and sides. I also did a version where one half of each square was shaded in to look like a grid of pyramids.

Right off the bat, those illustrations from your advertising days are absolutely stunning. They're precise, realistic-looking and so beautifully rendered! They look so tactile! And it's blowing my mind that you achieved that level of rendering on the photo filter disc image overnight. One of my profs from my uni days was instrumental in instilling the habit of keeping a sketchbook and drawing regularly within it. I have a sketchbook but I'm nowhere close to as regular as I should be. Additionally, I run into the problem of doing the opposite as you describe in this video with sketchbook drawings which is to do less thinking and be 'uncareful'. I tend to want to get it right as soon as I put pen to paper but I realise now how futile a mindset like that is. I'm so grateful for videos like these as they not only teach process and technique, but also discipline.

I have a question about this piece. In the video Marshall points out a vanishing point as the boxes forming the lozenge shape move away from us. I understood from this that our eyeline runs horizontally through that point. Why is it that the top plane of the chimney isn’t visible when it’s below the eyeline? I think I’m not understanding something Thanks!

What immediately blew my mind was the same dustbin when photographed with different lenses. The one in the wide angle lens photo has such a strong taper that it looks like a different structural design altogether! On a more serious note, I'm enjoying how lessons like this one and the Hiroshi Yoshida one are helping ease us into the otherwise intimidating task of tackling perspective. The intimidation, in huge part, comes from 'where the hell does one start?' and that one phrase 'the big simple lesson is to look for big simple things' really helps in giving me, at least, a starting point mentally. I'm really looking forward to the next few lessons!

Here's my go at using De Vries' work as a stage. I recently watched some videos of the metal band Slayer's comeback gig and that was on my mind. I couldn't put myself through the pain of making an entire crown so I kept a bouncer dragging a drunken guy out of the 'stage' area instead,

Hi all, My name is Ishaan and I'm really excited to start this course with the man who is as artistic with his words and wit as he is a draftsman, Marshall Vandruff. I am an aspiring paleoartist and a few of my influences come from within that field, but aren't limited to it. Image 1 is by Julius Csotonyi and I consider it to be one of the most jaw-droppingly ambitious successes in art I've ever come across. Image 2 is by Rudolf Hima and I love how he is able to masterfully use perspective to represent the gigantic scale of the creatures being depicted here. Images 3 and 4 are by the late surrealist Mariusz Lewandowksi. I really love how he plays with atmospheric, as well as spatial perspective to show the vastness of his macabre worlds. Images 5,6 and 7 are by the legendary concept artist Ralph McQuarrie. I'm sure they require zero introduction. Images 8 and 9 are by another legend of pop culture, comic book artist Alex Ross. I love the realism in his art and his mastery over perspective really sells that. The final 2 are by probably the most unbelievable champion of perspective drawing, the late great Kim Jung Gi. He was the stuff of legend for his ability to whip up entire murals with perspective being warped in nearly fantastical, yet believable ways.

The 600-year Journey