Let’s have some fun today drawing three dimensional cubes or boxes or blocks. To make it easier, you can start with a grid sheet to help you visualize the lines. After practicing a while, try drawing cubes on plain paper.

Print a copy of this grid sheet and follow along with my drawing images:1. Place dots at the corners of 4 squares on the grid as shown in image #1.

2. Connect the dots with straight lines. (You can use a straight edge or draw them freehand.) That wasn’t so hard! Now you have a square. Now let’s make it 3D.

3. Now draw a dot in the middle of the square and then 3 other dots as shown in image #3.

4. Draw straight lines connecting the new dots, forming a new square up and to the right of the original square.

5. Now finish your 3D cube by drawing straight diagonal lines between the corners of each box, connecting the squares. There! You have a see-through 3D cube!  

Let’s try it again, only this time draw dotted lines in the same places I did on the following image. The dotted lines will represent the part of the block you can’t see in a solid cube. Then draw the cube again leaving out the dotted lines and you will see a solid cube. (Notice, I am drawing these freehand without a ruler on the rest of these cubes.)

Play around with drawing 3D cubes until you feel comfortable with it. Make your cube face the other direction by drawing the second box up and to the left of the original box. Try leaving out certain lines to make your cube into an open box laying on its side or sitting upright. Shade in the inside of the box to help you visualize it better as an open box. Then try your hand at drawing stacking blocks. Remember when the blocks are touching one another, you will only see part of each block. Draw the facing square of the blocks that touch first and then the rest of each visible parts of the blocks.  If you draw a line that doesn’t belong, just erase it and keep going!

If your kids have some blocks at home, try stacking them in various configurations and see if you can draw it on the grid or on plain paper and make it look three dimensional. Have fun drawing today!

UPDATE: 6.14.13

Yesterday I showed the grandkids how to draw 3D cubes and they caught on fast.

Ninja Boy spent the rest of the afternoon drawing 3D blocks and had fun creating more elaborate block configurations to draw. I challenged him to try to put together a replica in blocks of drawings I made and he loved it! He would then put together block formations and make me draw them on paper. We had a great time!

So, now I challenge you again to give it a try!