[maroonblazer]

Drawing/sketching.

Apropos of the other HN article on the elder mathematician who credits his success by studying the simple things until he understands them really, really well, I'm practicing drawing boxes in any/every orientation in 3D space. This includes drawing two boxes connected by a common edge - imagine a box with a lid the same size as the box itself, slightly opened.

For me this is profoundly difficult to visualize. I've taken to learning the basics of Blender just so I can create these various boxes accurately to use as reference material. It's been slow going but the progress is tangible and the process is fun.

[sn9]

I don't know if you're literally using this or you are unaware but coincidentally using similar methods, but this site is highly recommended [0].

[0] https://drawabox.com/

[SeriousM]

Also recommended: https://www.ctrlpaint.com/

[disqard]

Just checked it out -- I love the emphasis on the journey, not the destination. The creator of that site evinces a lot of wisdom.

Thanks for the rec!

[p1esk]

You might want to look up “descriptive geometry”. It used to be a required course for mechanical engineering majors.

[defrost]

Technical Drawing was a core required course for first and second year Engineering students (Electrical, Civil, Mechanical, Electronic) in Commonwealth countries in the 1980s and for decades before.

Descriptive Geometry was a major component of Tech Drawing, everybody in pre CAD digital age (and still, I'd say at least) needed a good grounding in blueprints, schematics, and "constructive drawing" good enough to take measures from during building.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_drawing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_geometry

[maroonblazer]

Wow, I've been perusing books on drawing/sketching and scouring videos and blog posts for years, and none of them mentioned "descriptive geometry". Perhaps they did and I just missed it, but seems unlikely given how much I retread materials.

Thank you!

[etrautmann]

This is awesome. I love the way exercise of this - it’s both meditative and skill building.