Interactive course
Stage 2 · Express meaning with simple shapes, features, people, and movement
Forget “I cannot draw.” You need only seven building blocks:
dot, line, circle, triangle, square, arc, and organic shape.
They form a visual alphabet. A house is a square plus a triangle. A speech bubble is a rounded box plus a tail. A database is a rectangle with two arcs.
Draw three rows:
People recognize an object because you kept its distinctive feature, not because you drew every detail.
Choose camera, bridge, robot, or gift. Draw it three times:
Show the third drawing to someone. If they recognize it within two seconds, it is good enough.
A visual vocabulary is a set of simple symbols you can reuse. The most useful library is not the largest one. It is the one that matches your work.
Letters are shapes too. An uppercase A can become a mountain, S a path, and O a head or magnifying glass. You do not need to choose between writing and drawing.
Draw a 4 × 4 grid and fill it with the 16 concepts you use most. Each cell gets a word, one minimal symbol, and one alternative.
People give an abstract system a point of view. A circle, a body, and two legs are enough. The pose carries the meaning.
Once the basic person is stable, add information through expression and pose.
Before the person, draw one line for the body direction: upright, leaning, recoiling, or running. Add the head and limbs to that line.
Draw the same person in four frames:
Limit each frame to 30 seconds.
