WhiskerExpert123

Hello!

Here's my 6 pages of animal constructions with pictures that I followed

https://imgur.com/a/JkiR4QE

Hello!

Thank you very much for reviewing my submission. I'll take on board as much as I can and hopefully it shall show in my next submission.

Whilst reading it, I've had some comments which are nothing negative, just general curiosity/reasoning that you might have a word of advice to:

Using space on the page – whilst drawing smaller feels more comfy, I mainly do this so that instead of giving “just” 1 deer x 2 pages as my work I feel more “needs” to be seen/reviewed/tried hence I’m still trying to fit in 2 on one page as otherwise it feels like I’m not doing enough.

Leg construction – Love it that you’ve pointed out about using the sausage structures as bones. Often whilst using reference image + skeletal image of the animal I get quite obsessed on how can I place/shape the X bone on the construction accurately hence why doing it in a “sausage way” often feels conflicting.

Following what I see – whilst doing this lesson it indeed became very apparent that I struggle to look at it in any other way than it is so there’s definitely is a struggle to try and “simplify” it without trying to do every possible fur pattern on the animal and I'm not sure how one can get past this. Being less obesessed with details?

Hello! Here's my 3rd try. https://imgur.com/a/pGPUmMz

Though, drawing wise, I'd like to ask about this sausage thing….why if further it gets wider? I’m still having trouble understanding this as I’m used to thinking “if it’s further then it gets narrower” but then again I might be doing a big stupid right now and not understand basic English.

Know you're not here to be my psychologist but I wanted to mention a few points on what has happened during my 3rd try which may explan why it took so disappointingly long.

1. Doing these exercises have become so stressful due to being a perfectionist combined with the fear of failing from just making 1 wrong line that I sometimes end up doing via arm and not shoulder out of fear. It also doesn't help that often I can't slow myself down and just rush things - ultra combo! (plus waste paper from failed starting attempts i.e the sausage doesn't have the double lines connecting)

2. The copying of the informal demos hit my ego so hard (I was outraged by how badly I was copying them) that I had 2-3 days where I couldn't draw anything as I kept telling myself "There's no use" or "You're going to do bad anyway"

3. After this "ego meltdown" I started questioning myself if starting drawing "just for fun and the fun of developing a skill" really was a good idea as when I ask what I'm going to use this skill for i.e specific artist then I'm left confused/lost.

4. Unable to shake the feelings of "great disbelief" when I'm doing these exercises as it feels it's not good enough despite it being an exercises, not an art piece

5. Started questioning if I've hit my limit with Drawbox....but if there's no Drawbox, there's no roadmap, meaning lost and confusion, meaning potential stop to art, hm..

6. Would you advise against using 2 mediums whilst doing drawbox? I've been thinking of trying to get used to digital but I fear mixing the "Dead aka digital" and "Alive aka fineliners" feeling won't be a good idea.

Hello!

Here's my attempt on trying to do things better https://imgur.com/a/nFFeKfN

Personally, it feels like I'm understanding this......but then again at the same time I'm more confused than before.

For instance, the dung beetle one is a good example. Instead of accepting 1 way and doing it for all 3 pairs I did a different approach for all 3 pairs.

This is because I'm confused on which way I really the right way and I believe this also has to do with the "tester's mindset" due to working as one (this is also how I practice drawing during my free time meaning I'm always trying to approach a certain thing in a new way if possible to test and see if it works or fits better).

Speaking of confused, then I absolutely don't know how to approachs insects like ants when it comes to constructional drawing so not sure if I did it absolutely wrong.

Speaking of wrong then the lubber grasshopper one is the worst of the bunch imo. It was going good until it got to the end and I failed the perspective/sizing part and since this is with fineliners I had to accept it and move on.

Anyway, I should not be doing the speaking here but I should instead be listening better! Apologies for this text and I hope if anything then I've done 1 thing right, which I'd bet is the fact that I've started drawing bigger haha!

Hello.

First off (and I know you get this a lot) it's an honour to finally write with you in person!

Drawbox has been such a saving grace for me and without it I would've been lost at sea with drawing.

Hope I did a bit better now than last time. Really see the difference in approach when I keep it one plant/subject a day instead of just doing them all at once. Must be something to do with not believing I can do any better!

Decided to take on the Lily Longiflorum as my last plant cause trying to do the exercise with it made my brain hurt so I knew it was the right choice. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out the prettiest LOL.

I've also been meaning to ask you - is the way I warm-up OK in your eyes? (last picture in post)

Submission link - https://imgur.com/a/IPum9n1

Hello,

Here's the response you've initially waited for - the link to re-tried exercises, which is: https://imgur.com/a/qVAeN3S

If there's any comment I could give it would be: I just don't know

Looking forward to your comments on this and re-trying again cause I'm personally not happy at all about the results but that seems to be all I can do

Hello!

Thank you very kindly for taking up the task of reviewing my submission.

Apologies if you were waiting for my submission already but I'd like to write you so that I can perhaps get some advice on a certain things.

Basically, what you said about me rushing this lesson really is true. Why? Because I didn't get it nor did I believe in myself that I got it even when I thought I did so I was desperately waiting for a more expert pair of eyes to have a look at my work so that I'll know precisely what's up.

The exercises I'm really pointing to is the "Form Intersection", "Dissection" and "Texture analyses".

Now I know this sentence has potential to cause some cringe but It's not just about getting it it's about me knowing what I'm actually capable of and what my brain can come up with. The exercises pointed out were a great pain to do cause I just knew I wasn't capable of doing them well even if I really tried (and I did but eventually as you might've noticed it kinda went blehh).

I'm not sure if this is a common phenomenon or I just need to "grow up" or something, hence I wanted to ask you this all!

Oh and don't worry about me thinking that asking me to re-do this is punishment or that critiquing my work is to insult me in any way cause this is really what I'm after! I'd be more upset if you'd just be like "Ok well this looks kinda wrong but no worries you can go on". I know myself that I did basically all of the stuff badly and that my brain isn't in-tune enough with these subjects to move on.

Hello,

Apologies as I was thinking of replying sooner but forgot.

I'd like to say thank you for criticizing my work constructively and giving me good advice!

In terms of the TMI response part then yeah you're right.

Looking at the 250 boxes exercise I reckon that this is not something to send to critique but more for my own doing as there'll be 4 boxes per page to begin with?

Hello Benj!

Some comments on your comments:

Recommend drawing big - for some reason, drawing big has always been tricky vs tiny with lots of mini details added. Is this down to confidence?

Rotated boxes exercise repeated - Since I found the exercise actually quite fun in it's own way, I decided to give it another shot cause I saw myself that I'm absolutely missing my given target size. As expected, I absolutely failed at it :)

For the rough perspective exercise. It's posted here -> https://imgur.com/a/JILdCmU

Now I know what you're going to say and I'm already expecting you to tell me to do it again and I wouldn't blame you! What I can see I'm doing wrong myself are the following:

• Overshooting lines

• Lines are inconsistent

• Most lines look wobbly as if I've used the wrist vs the shoulder

• The way the dots are placed look illogical at times (hence some lines going absolutely bonkers as I make the line from dot to dot)

• I can't even make a proper straight line with a ruler (pathetic ain't it?)

As a side note, I'd like to mention that I'm not rotating the page to do my ghosted lines because mentally it makes me feel weak for some silly reason as I want to get used to the difficult things that will eventually await me now vs later on when I'm used to easier ways.

Yes, I know, I'm actually doing drawing from the shoulder (at least I think I am) and doing ghosted lines and getting such horrid results.

Yes, I can't even sometimes place dots right let alone connect from dot to dot that are in close proximity to each other.

And yes, I'm ACTUALLY putting in effort in all of this yet I'm getting results that make it look like no effort has been put in.

As another side note, I did the warm-ups before doing this exercise and they looked OK. When I go onto this exercise, I actually feel pressure, which is reaaaaallly funny. Not like I'm in a competition or anything :)

Know myself it's all down to confidence and ultimately, belief, which unfortunately goes out the window when I start doing this exercise. At least I'm getting the sweet taste of reality of "No, you don't know how to draw nor ever will potentially" doing these Drawbox exercises which is what I signed up for :)

PS - Sorry if this is TMI and the life story you never asked for haha!