3D Letters with Year 7

As the final task for my Year 7 class in semester 1, I taught the class about 1 point perspective.

We began the unit by learning the key vocabulary related to the topic such as Horizon line, Vanishing point and Perspective lines.

Students then learned how to draw a simple cube as a 3D form. They drew cubes on, above and below the horizon line so they could compare their appearances.

Help instructions were also provided to students who were struggling to understand or remember the necessary steps.

Once students had mastered their cube drawings, the moved onto angular letters such as ‘A’, ‘E’ and ‘H’. These were taught and practiced as a whole class, with students volunteering to draw on the board. Following the whole class demonstrations, each student completed some practice letters on their own.

Another help sheet example:

Once students were confident in their understanding of perspective drawing they chose the word that they would produce. They traced their chosen letters from a printed template using a ruler and pencil. The 2D letter shapes were then transformed into 3D forms. This drawing was then scanned into their computers. 

Using Adobe Illustrator, students then traced the outlines of their letters. They then used Adobe Photoshop to fill in their 3D letters with different colours. Filters were then applied to the different layers providing interesting effects.

The Year 7 students really enjoyed this task. While a lot of them struggled to maser the perspective drawing, they were generally really happy with the outcomes. This is definitely a task that I will repeat, especially as this semester’s cohort have seen and requested to do the task.