Mirra

Thank you so much for the great critique! I definitely wasn't so happy with how I ended up constructing some of the leaves and this has helped a lot. :)

I've quit drawing a number of times because of that annoying voice and every time I come back to drawing I've regretted it. I've had to make more effort to regain the attitude I used to have when drawing when I was younger where I would just draw whatever I felt like and wasn't too concerned with the result. I'm not sure why or how the mindset when drawing changed but it is definitely incredibly frustrating and hard to drown out the negativity. It's a common problem and you're definitely not alone in it.

The thing is if you do quit then you definitely won't get better. I try to take the pressure off of myself by treating this as if I was learning anything else; like learning a new language or learning an instrument. Actually I am doing both of these alongside learning to draw just for comparison. I noticed that I approached learning other topics totally differently than when I approached art; for whatever reason my expectations were much higher. For everything else I have no expectations and I'm much kinder to myself when I mess up in the other areas I am trying to learn. It made no sense that I got so angry and frustrated at not being able to draw how I wanted but did not feel the same way if I struggled to read a text in the language I was learning or made a mistake when playing the new instrument. Now I try to hold the same mindset when learning art and that frustration has lessened quite a bit.

Not sure if the above anecdote helps. It requires a bit of a shift in how you think about and approach your drawing and it's not easy. Be patient with yourself and try to find enjoyment in the learning and the process rather than your results.

Thank you for the really great critique and for clarifying some of the issues I was having with my contour lines. It has helped a lot. :)

I'll admit I did get a bit slack on the ghosting or sometimes I didn't ghost enough which led to some sloppy lines. I'll pay more attention to this as I move on through the lessons.

I'd argue that you don't even need to apply what you are learning, only because this is what is said in lesson 0:

Not to learn, not to improve, not to develop your skills, not even to apply what you've already learned. There are no restrictions on medium, no specific techniques you must use, no subject matter you must focus on. Draw the things you'd draw if you were the most skilled artist in the world; draw the things your brain insists you're not ready to tackle just yet.

You have the complete freedom to draw as you wish. :)

Sounds similar to what is described in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJYGFwGhHnA

I think it can be useful to do something like this as a warm up before you draw for fun, especially if you are finding that you aren't enjoying drawing because you don't like your results. It can help you to relax more and have more acceptance for what you produce since you have no expectations going in for what you are about to draw.

If you want something to actually draw rather than just general mark making, I would recommend sketching more organic things like rocks and trees, where it is more forgiving if you make mistakes. Look for interesting rock formations or anything from nature where there is less precision involved.

I think so. A lot of the times, some of the concepts don't really sink in until you have more experience just drawing. The fundamentals are simple to understand at face value but actually applying them successfully in your drawings takes a while.

When I look at some of my really old terrible art from before I began to actually study how to draw, even without knowledge of the fundamentals there is a slight improvement just from the time spent drawing and trying to figure out how to draw things. Sometimes you pick up the fundamentals without realising it just by doing this but it is a much slower process of improvement and you can end up with gaps in your knowledge. Combining drawing for fun with conscious effort to study the fundamentals and applying what you learned to your fun drawings, you will surely improve :)

Thanks for the critique and thanks for the diagram, it's really helpful! :)

Thank you so much for the detailed analysis! :) I will focus on the things I have trouble with in my warmups. I did feel like the ellipses were one of the more trickier parts of this lesson so I definitely need to work more on those. I'm sure the 250 box challenge will help to iron out some of the other mistakes I am making.