Hexed by Hexagonals

Today’s “Shapes and Form” exercise — my 100-day project — left me a bit frazzled. I reached into my “wooden block kit” and pulled out … oh, my goodness, what is it? That was my first thought as I looked at this object.

I had to count. One…two… five… six… yes, six different sides. Oh, right, it’s a hexagon! I suppose I should more correctly say that it’s “hexagonal”. The hexagon is a shape. This is a form, thus I should refer to it perhaps as a hexagonal column. Whatever it was, I immediately had doubts about drawing it.

My first attempts were not good. I tried standing it upright, as shown. I tried placing it horizontally. I finally just pressed the end to the paper and traced around it to get a “feel” for the six different sides, and I finally came up with a couple little sketches that at least suggest the shape and form.

I think perhaps the most surprising thing in today’s exercise was the realization that I’ve never before attempted to draw a hexagon. They don’t appear in nature — as far as I know — and since I rarely do urban sketching or architectural drawings, I can’t recall ever having to use either a hexagonal shape or a hexagonal form.

Surely there must be a trick to drawing this “complex” form — and I use the word “complex” for a reason. It’s been said that the more “complex” a form is, the more important it appears, and for what it’s worth, this is why STOP signs are octagonal — 8-sided — although many people mistakenly believe the signs are hexagonal. Actually, once upon a time they were, but later they were revised and it became a rule that STOP signs were to always be red and octagonal — again, because of the complexity of an 8-sided figure.

Well, for me, 6 sides was complex enough when it came to drawing, so, again I wondered if there were perhaps any helpful little tricks or tips. I started searching and came across 2 videos that purported to “teach” how to draw a hexagon — which in this instance was a rather squat-looking figure that resembled an ottoman. All these videos offered, however, was a chance to watch someone draw this “ottoman”. No advice, no suggestions, to words or text whatsoever, just a bit of music as we watched the drawing happen.

Nevertheless, I followed along and came up with my own little hexagonal ottoman.

Not good, I know.

I did find a lot of information on drawing hexagons with computer-assisted-drawing (CAD) programs, and I came away with an understanding that hexagons can be somewhat challenging. Maybe there are no tips or tricks involved.

Of all the shapes and forms I’ve attempted in this 100-day project, the hexagon is, without doubt, the most difficult one I’ve faced. I seem capable of drawing a basic hexagon shape — looking directly at it — but any attempt at turning that shape into a form left me shaking my head, moving in for an up-close view of my wooden block, and facing that challenge of “drawing what I see” rather than “what I think I see”.

A hexagonal block seems to almost have some weird power to confuse and confound. I can SEE different faces and different values. I can SEE various angles. I just can’t accurately draw them. I can SEE the need for perspective, and I can SEE the foreshortening involved. But truly I think this hexagonal block put a curse on me. I was HEXED by the HEXAGONAL!

So, friends, does anyone know how to break a curse? Does anyone have a magic spell that will banish hexagons? If you do, please let me know!