Cornball

It's not a matter of guessing, but understanding that there's no right or wrong here. You'll mark your point, considering two edges, according to the convergence you want to apply.

According to the rules of linear perspective taught in lesson 1, the more distant boxes will be smaller and have a shallower foreshortening (the parallels converge less intensely). The closer boxes will be larger and have a more dramatic foreshortening (the parallels converge more intensely).

You just have to be careful not to overdo the convergence of the closer boxes. Even though they have a more dramatic foreshortening, if you overdo the convergence they will become too distorted (they will have that strange diamond shape) because their vanishing points will be too close to each other. That's why DAB also advises making the edges of the "Y" at an angle of 90° or greater.. To avoid this distortion, as shown in this image here: https://imgur.com/4j3WKqO

Throughout Drawabox, my biggest bugbear was texture. This is difficult and it will take time to fully understand all the nuances. I'll give you what help I can.

Regarding your brick example, I have a few thoughts which might help you think about this in new ways. First -- not every texture is going to lend itself to the gradient exercise as well as another. Part of the challenge of that exercise is knowing how to best orient the texture within the gradient box so that it receives the light in a way that produces lots of cast shadows, but sometimes the black bar is going to end up abrupt, and if you try to fight that abruptness, you run the risk of ruining the texture if you overly massage it to create bigger shadows than should be there -- for that reason, you should not draw as if the gaps between the bricks are growing.

Secondly, it's easy to look at this brick pattern and assume that the star of the show is all the gaps between the bricks, but each brick itself is a wealth of texture information. While the size of the shadow cast from one brick onto another is not going to grow much due to how tightly packed the bricks are and given that they are level with one another, the bumps and divots on each brick can produce cast shadows that grow longer as you move away from the light source. Remember that the surface doesn't have to curve away from the light in order for the cast shadow to grow -- the light source is a single source, and any movement away from it will affect the relationship between the light and the form, and the cast shadows as a result. Uncomfortable and his evaluators share these images in student feedback, which may prove helpful:

https://d15v304a6xpq4b.cloudfront.net/lesson_images/986b70e5.png

https://d15v304a6xpq4b.cloudfront.net/lesson_images/d8c3ee34.png

If I were to make a gradient with this brick pattern, I would certainly include thin cast shadows between the bricks (being mindful to understand what is a cast shadow and what is just an occlusion shadow resulting from the spaces being hidden deeply from the light), but in order to create the gradient, I would focus on the texture on the bricks themselves. As I move leftward towards the pure black bar, I would extend the cast shadows and have them crawl over and around other little pocks and bumps and divots, using my knowledge that cast shadows reflect the nature of the surface they are casted upon to inform how I draw them.

Lastly, remember that the left side of the gradient does not have more texture just because you've got more black ink there, nor is the right side smooth and textureless because there are fewer lines -- what's really happening is that the light source is casting shadows, or it is obliterating them -- the reference texture has texture all over it, it's the directionality of your light source that is causing the texture to show up or not, even though the texture is still in reality there in the white spaces too.

I hope this helps. Let me know if anything needs clarification or if you have more questions.

In lesson one, Uncomfortable goes over this question.

https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/20/edgesorcorners

First off you're not lazy. Laziness is often used as a placeholder for other problems that have absolutely nothing to do with being lazy. For instance, I work really well with a schedule. If I don't have a schedule, then I will procrastinate. I will feel lethargic.

When I was younger, I used to think that I was allergic to hard work or effort because I would spend most of my days watching YouTube or lounging in bed. All I wanted to do was make video games, but I thought I was so lazy that there was no way that I was ever going to dedicate the time I needed. I remember complaining to my sister about this, in which she gave me some pretty sage advice. The advice was just to show up.

I kept it really simple at first all I did was show up at noon (because that worked for my schedule at the time). I didn't track how many hours I worked on stuff all I tracked was showing up at that exact time. Only worrying about the start time is infinitely more easier than trying to block out a start and end time.

It helps to the test if the start time is realistic too. It's all well and good to say that you're going to wake up at 8 AM and spend an hour drawing but if every day you are constantly waking up at 10 AM, And by the time you wake up and eat and are prepared to actually draw, it's noon...then that 8 AM start time is unrealistic.

Another good tip for this is to find an accountability buddy. This can be easier said than done, however you don't necessarily need an artist friend to help you out. All you need is someone else who is procrastinating/needs to dedicate time to something and then work out a time that works best for the both of you. Bonus points if you can either meet up in person or screen share through Skype/Discord, That way the pressure of knowing someone's eyeballs could be looking at what you're doing, makes you dedicate the time properly.

I did this for about two weeks with a friend of mine and I saw massive growth and confidence in what I was doing and what happened at at least for me is after those two weeks I was able to set an actual time and show up consistantly (without an accountability buddy). This life skill/process has also helped me make evening walks apart of my life, and keep to a work out routine.

Another tip which I have heard echoed a lot in YouTube videos is if you feel like you can't show up that day (everything sucks, you're tired and exhausted) go ahead and set everything up as if you were going to start anyways, and if you still feel bad then it's OK to take a day off. However, often or not you're going to go through with studying at that point anyways. It is easier to go through the motions then to break free from them. Which is what showing up does.

rapid fire tips, build the habit over monitoring the goal. Be kind to yourself remembering that you're human. It's much easier for the brain to want to do something if it's manageable. When I applied all of these tips to working out, I would make my first week so simple that there was no reason for me not to do it. such as a singular push-up or literally lifting a pencil 10 times (its silly but it works). find some sort of journal to record every day that you show up but keep in mind that it's also OK to break streaks!!! there are plenty of days where I don't go on an evening walk but at this point around the exact time of the sunsets, my brain is always looking to go on one anyways. I no longer keep track of the days I walk either, It just happens.

My final point is 9 times out of 10 you're not lazy.all of what I suggested is just for a single potential issue. It could be a lack of scheduling, which was the case for me, but it could also be a lack of nutrition, sleep, support, or a million other things. A lot of people have already given some amazing suggestions and words of wisdom, but hopefully this comment gives you even more to chew on!

I wish you the very best with your creative journey!!

I'm right there with you. I struggle with the desire to be a loafy cat whenever I get a second of free time. With the holidays and everything its hard to find time and feel good about time spent practicing. I finally submitted my first lesson's assignments after days of having been finished. So not that I have any helpful advice to get to drawing but during this time of relaxed responsibilities definitely take advantage of your freedom to practice. Use your boredom to your advantage! Set aside time to fully relax and enjoy your break as well as time to practice and make art free from distractions. Hope you enjoy your break!

First, read Cornballs response, if you don't feel like drawing, that's cool, it'll come back.

Assuming that you DO feel like drawing, but just not "that" (I'm 90 boxes in, I feel you) then try to find a small goal to start with.

I've seen great advice around:

1- set yourself a goal to fail. Specifically aim to do a bad drawing, and just deliver on that goal.

2- go lower effort, a loose pencil sketch counts, even a scribble. you don't have to polish and render it into an artwork.

3- share your work (even the awkward ones) I started an IG page just to catalogue my stuff, I'm not invested in the outcome (which is important, since most posts get nothing) but it feels a little less pointless and I can look back on my progress.

4- draw whatever you want to, don't worry about it being worthwhile or artistic. I've drawn the silliest random thoughts that came to mind on some days, on others I've drawn literal garbage, curtains, my shoe, just draw whatever, if drawing is what you want to do.

5- don't forget the 50% rule, draw what you want first, then once you're back in the flow you can switch in a page or two of boxes when the inspiration runs dry. Nothing will burn you out faster than drawing a page of boxes every day.

The intention is that you submit all the assignments of a lesson at once, yes. I can understand your concern about wanting to make sure you're doing it correctly as you're doing it, but you really don't need to worry -- you will have plenty of time to incorporate feedback and improve at each exercise once they enter your pool of daily warmups (which happens to all the exercises of a lesson after you complete it).

You can do partial lesson submissions, but I'm honestly not sure if anyone looks at those. Again, I'd recommend just uploading it all in one fell swoop.

Part of the reason for the cooldowns is to encourage you to stick to the 50% rule, but also, I think, to give you ample time to practice these exercises in your daily warmups. If you were to blast through all seven lessons and challenges in a month (I don't know how you would physically do this but I'm sure someone's been crazy enough to try), you would experience all the content of Drawabox, but you likely wouldn't have the same level of draftsmanship skills or the understanding of 3D space that the student who took many months to complete all the lessons and was diligent with their warmups has. Unless you're already a very seasoned artist, of course. It takes time and many good nights of sleep to process all this new information.

Your ellipses are okay. They'll improve over time so I wouldn't sweat it if I were you. There's definitely some room to improve with your boxes. You seem to have a good understanding of a forshortening but your lines don't always converge properly when drawing boxes.

In addition to this your line work could also use some improving. I'm seeing quite a bit of wobbling during the rough perspective exercise. generally if you draw the line quick enough it will come out straight. At this point in your journey you should prioritize confident, straight lines over accurate ones.

Considering that lines and boxes are what you need to work on the most I'll just have you do a page of rough perspective. So as to kill 2 birds with one stone.

I don't remember the exact wording, but I swear I read somewhere that for the time being it's enough to be able to draw in one direction and rotate the page when needed. Developing the ability to make marks in any direction is something you can work on but it's not necessary for a beginner.

Good luck!

Hello! here's the crit! If you have any questions like I said please tell me! And good luck on lesson 5!