Great job, I can see you get how to make boxes with extreme foreshortening, which was all I wanted to check. They look good and the lineweight looks good.
Looking forwards to seeing how you do as you continue!
Next Steps:
Ready for Lesson 2
Thanks very much for the in-depth feedback. Especially all the linked diagrams, super helpful. As suggested I'll work on those items as I move forwards.
Some very nice boxes and very nice improvement.
Great job on:
Exploring lots of different shapes, rotations, and levels of foreshortening in your boxes.
Learning which way to extend the lines and avoiding diverging or parallel convergences. It's really very good.
Comments:
You could put a bit more care into your hatching: place the pen on the starting point so that at least on that end the hatches neatly touch the box edge. One thing I've been saying is think of the hatching a bit like Lesson 1's Superimposed Lines exercise. You could also try out adding line weight around the outside of the box shapes with a ghosted, confident stroke. It takes a bit of practice.
In some places it looks like you've drawn the box in pencil first, then done the ink over the top and erased the pencil. If this what you've done, uh, don't. I'm sure you've read the ink article, with part of the point of Drawabox being that the medium (paper and fineliner) is great for forcing you to be confident first-go and confront your mistakes. You won't get as much out of it (learning the lessons regarding when and how you're making mistakes in this section or other, or developing the technical skills to create constructional shapes confidently) if you're not following that method.
You should be right to move on ahead to lesson 2, because those boxes look great. But try to leave the pencil aside and be ready to accept mistakes, if that was what was going on.
Next Steps:
Ready for Lesson 2
Great you had fun with it (and good job on finishing so fast)! I've had a look through your boxes.
Great job on:
Rapidly getting the hang of which direction to extend the lines.
Using a single confident stroke for most of your box sides, even if they didn't always go exactly where you wanted them to go.
Comments:
Try to put a bit more care into your hatching. Start each line on the edge of the box's face, and draw smoothly towards the other end. A bit like Lesson 1's Superimposed Lines exercise, maybe.
Extend those red lines (and later, green lines) along the actual box edges you drew, not where you think they should be. You want to pick up your actual drawing mistakes, not only the mistakes in your mental pictures of boxes (because if you improve the former you improve the latter too!). This is a guess, but possibly you could tell by the time you got to the last corner that things weren't going to look right or that your lines hadn't gone where you wanted them to, so you tried to rule the line to where the corner should be? In future just accept it, draw that last line to the back corner at whatever wonky angle it has to go. Bad back corners and corners that you can tell are going to be wrong are common. (But here's a suggestion for an alternate approach to drawing the boxes that might help with getting things to line up: https://i.imgur.com/vYLKKwe.png)
For most of the challenge, you don't have problems with repeatedly having lines diverging, or only converging in pairs. This is great! You do a good job having the lines converging subtly so very good, you're sticking in 3-point perspective (as the challenge requests) with shallow foreshortening. The only reason this is in the Comments section rather than Great Job is because past box 220, you stop doing that. Your extension lines get shorter and the convergences get more parallel. If you have one set of parallel extension lines, that's two-point perspective, like Lesson 1's Plotted Perspective exercise, not three-point. What could have helped you not to forget this requirement of three-point perspective would be doing more ... foreshortening:
You make a note early on that you'll stop doing foreshortening, you're sorry and you know you've done too much already - No! You do get to practice foreshortening in the box challenge! Cutting out any extreme foreshortening would be part of why you felt you were practicing the same box over and over. Other reasons are the fact you weren't doing any different rotations (either side-to-side or tilting the top face towards the viewer by pulling the centre point of the Y lower).
You may have already continued on, but I am going to request a few boxes. They should have:
Extreme foreshortening on at least one set of converging lines.
Extension lines extended exactly along the path of the lines you drew.
If possible, figure out how you can rotate the box yourself. Otherwise at least try to study how the generator Y leads to the box you end up drawing. That understanding will be very valuable.
Next Steps:
20 more boxes according to the specification above.
Hey there!
Great job on finishing up, and I see a bunch of improvement over the course of the challenge. I'll give you a few comments.
Great work on:
Trying out boxes at all different angles, with all different side lengths, and different levels of foreshortening. You definitely didn't limit yourself.
I thought I'd be making a comment about your hatching, and suggesting that you put a bit more care into it. If you treat it almost like Lesson 1's superimposed lines exercise, you should be able to set one side of the endpoints on the box edge and have the lines drawn confidently, even if they fray apart at the other end. Meanwhile for most of the challenge you were doing them quick and light and not hitting both sides of the box face. But then on those last two pages especially, you really stepped up and they're exactly what I'd want. Good job.
Other Comments:
In future draw line weight on the overlays more confidently. I can see from the rest of the box that your first lines are confident, but your overlays have significant wobble to them. Focus on ghosting and drawing with a confident stroke, the accuracy can come later.
Many of the extension lines are pretty much parallel or even diverging (eg, 105, 160). I feel like this might be an issue of understanding. The box challenge is to practice three-point perspective. In three-point perspective, all three sets of extended lines converge to three different points. These points might be close by (extreme foreshortening, which you're understanding well) or far away (see box 201). But if one of the sets of lines stay parallel out to infinity, that's two-point perspective, like Lesson 1's Plotted Perspective exercise, and if two sets are parallel, that's one-point perspective, like Lesson 1's Rough Perspective exercise, and if it's like box 237 where all three sets of extended lines are parallel, you're working in some kind of technical-drawing oblique projection that doesn't exist in real life, or the box is fatter at the far end than the close end and so isn't a rectangular box at all.
If you keep in mind that all three sets of lines should be at least slowly coming together, you'll fix your diverging lines issue and probably it will be more obvious to you which way the lines extend away from the viewer (I only spotted one box where you had extended the lines the wrong way and not corrected it). From your foreshortened boxes you know how to do this, it's just a matter of understanding that the convergence should be there all the time in three-point perspective, just more or less subtle.
These are things that'll improve as you keep practicing if you keep them in mind. Keep practicing boxes but go ahead to Lesson 2.
Next Steps:
Try Lesson 2
Hello!
Great job on the challenge. You've made some great improvements in the confidence of your lines and the frequency of diverging lines in your boxes since those starting pages.
Great job on:
Decreasing the wobbliness of lines
Increasing the neatness of your hatching
(With one exception on page 10) Always extending the lines away from the viewer.
Comments:
I see over the course of the challenge you got a much better idea of how the extended lines should converge to each other rather than diverging. However, as late as page 46, you're occasionally getting lines that diverge widely. Make sure you're keeping in mind the way those lines come closer together as they move away from the viewer. https://imgur.com/8PqQLE0
If the convergence lines in one direction are parallel, then the box is in two-point perspective, not three point. And if two sets of convergence lines are parallel, it's in one-point perspective. Your boxes slip into two-point perspective somewhat frequently, which might be because...
Most of your boxes have very shallow foreshortening. That is, your convergence points are way off in the distance, off the page. Here's the link to the part of the challenge recommending both types of foreshortening: https://drawabox.com/lesson/250boxes/1/foreshortening. The last box with more dramatic foreshortening I saw in your set was back in the middle of page 21. I'd suggest practicing some more boxes like that, with the vanishing points much closer to the box. This will help you be clear on the difference between two-point perspective (Plotted Perspective exercise from lesson 1) and three-point perspective (box challenge), get you some practice with dramatic foreshortening, and help you be aware of the wide range of boxes that can be drawn ;)
And if you feel like it, you can start having a go at putting line weight (one extra line, ghosted and confident as usual) on the outer edges of the box.
I am going to request a couple more pages with extreme foreshortening (and if you want, having a go at adding line weight) because this is an area you haven't practiced much and it might help with the occasional divergence problem.
Next Steps:
10 more boxes (with at least one close vanishing point, to practice extreme foreshortening)
Hey there!
Great job on getting that done, and seriously great quality boxes. Your lines are very clean and it looks like you've got a pretty good model of how these boxes sit in space in your head (basing this comment off the first two dot points below).
Great work on:
Doing all angles/box shapes (side proportions)/levels of foreshortening. That shows you've got a good idea of what kind of rotations are possible and you're getting a chance to practice them all.
You've not made the mistake of extending the lines in the diverging direction.
Your hatching and line weight are very neat.
Your lines always look confident and smooth.
Other comments:
You say you hit a plateau in improvement, and I see that you weren't able to get the convergences perfect or that back corner quite in the right place. A couple of suggestions if you feel like you're really stuck in a rut as far as improving these goes:
My 250 box reviewer gave me this link https://i.imgur.com/vYLKKwe.png. It's an alternate order of lines for drawing the boxes, in which you find the back corner before drawing the third front plane. It'll provide a different approach that might make getting those convergences easier or might give you a flash or insight.
You do lean towards boxes with strong foreshortening. Practicing ones with less foreshortening (slower convergence) might help the angles feel a bit more intuitive and give you a better sense how the line angles behave. (Caveat: This is a suggestion from my personal experience and is not backed up by a secondary source).
Looking very good at this stage.
Next Steps:
Head on to Lesson 2
Lines
You've got some wobble to your superimposed linse. Keep your stroke smooth and confident. But you've kept your fraying to one end which is good. Same thing applies to the ghosted lines, drawing without hesitating should take the slight wobbling from your lines. Your planes look good.
Ellipses
Your ellpses look like they're drawn nice and confidently. Biggest issue here is the gaps between them in tables of ellipses. One of the main aims of that exercise is getting your ellipses to fit snugly in the space and snugly next to each other. That's definitely something to keep in mind when you practice this exercise in future. In the funnels your ellipses are a little wobblier/less confident, and also you're a bit hesitant to press them up against each other. There's also a small issue with the degree of your ellipses in the bottom right funnel not matching the minor axis. Funnels is a hard exercise.
Boxes
Your lines are still a bit wobbly in rough perspective, but you've got a good hang of the one-point perspective system and your convergences are excellent. Great job. I can definitely see some nice rotation going on in your rotated boxes, and the boxes themselves are nice and neat. Great. Organic perspective is also very nice, with a good sense of depth and flow. I will point out though that all your boxes are rotated the same way in that they all have that front corner directly towards the viewer. You can push that point closer to the outline to have the box turn away from the viewer a bit. The 250 box challenge will certainly give you practice with that.
Well done.
Next Steps:
Ready to try the 250 box challenge?
Your images are fairly small, which makes this a bit tricky, but I'll have a go.
Lines
Looks like you've kept your fraying to one end on superimposed lines, so doing well there. Ghosted lines look good (solid and confident and not significantly arcing), ghosted planes are great.
Ellipses
Your ellipses look good too! You're drawing through them and they're nice and confident. You could press them more snugly together in the tables of ellipses (then there'd be less space to fill with little circles). This is also the only issue I have with your funnels - the ellipses on that exercise are well aligned to the axis, and nicely tranisition in degree, but you should have a go at pressing them closer to each other when you redo those exersises as warmups. I see one ellipse that's fairly deformed in your ghosted planes (left middle on your second page) - note how it's more egg-shaped than it should be. But for the most part you've avoided that so good job.
Boxes
Looks like you understand the concepts in rough perspective. I'd suggest only drawing your checking lines back to the horizon, not past it, ot keep that area a little bit easier to read. Very nice rotated boxes - you've definitely got good rotation going on there, and the gaps between boxes are nice and neat. Your organic perspective exercises show a nice sense of depth, and I can see you're practicing a bunch of different rotations, which is great!
Good job! Only tip for future is to practice snugness of ellipses.
Next Steps:
Up for the 250 box challenge?
Lines
Your superimposed lines and ghosted lines are looking very good. You've only got fraying at one end in superimposed lines, and your ghosted lines are confident and not arcing. You do go a little way past the end point consistently on ghosted lines, so I'll just point out the tips on avoiding overshooting here and just let you keep on practicing in your warmups as you continue!
Your ghosted planes look great.
Ellipses
So do your ellipses in tables and ellipses in planes. You're drawing through the ellipses well, your control over their size and fit is very good, and you're not deforming them to fit in the planes.
With your funnels, you've got mostly good snug alighment, but a few of your ellispes are deformed (eg. left mid funnel's), and the right hand side of the top left funnel's ellipses aren't super well aligned to the minor axis. Make sure you're not rushing. You've made the extra effort to narrow the degree of the ellipses towards the middle of the funnel, but the transition from narrow to wide ellipses is fairly sharp. If you redo this exercise in warmups I'd aim for smoother transitions in degree.
Boxes
In rough perpsective your consistency in overshooting is showing up again, but that's just a matter of practice. Your work looks good.
Your rotated boxes are done fairly well, despite the fact that at first glance it doesn't look like your third layer is rotated away from the second. The reason it looks this way is that you've made the front faces of your third level longer/more rectangular than square. (Not sure if this makes sense, I'll do a diagram if you feel you want one).
You've got a nice sense of depth and flow in your organic perspective. However, you're still a bit limited in what rotations you're using - they all have that central corner pointing directly at the viewer. The corner of the box that's facing you doesn't need to be at the centre, you can push it towards one of the edges to get a box that has that corner tilted further away. The 250 box challenge'll give you plenty of chances to get more confident with those more varied rotations!
Overall great job.
Next Steps:
Have a go at the 250 box challenge next.
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