abeanberry

Giver of Life

The Unshakeable (Summer 2022)

Joined 3 years ago

4900 Reputation

abeanberry's Sketchbook

  • The Unshakeable (Summer 2022)
  • Sharing the Knowledge
  • Giver of Life
  • Dimensional Dominator
  • The Relentless
  • Basics Brawler
    2:19 AM, Thursday May 22nd 2025

    Hi, thank you for replying with visual demos and such detail! Here's my revisions:

    https://imgur.com/a/1wbjK7R

    I did my best not to fall back on hatching and form shadows, and to rely on additive construction instead of subtractive (the visual you provided helped me understand the difference). I also tried my hand at textures for Donald and spiked forms for Hummerdinger.

    1:24 AM, Thursday July 20th 2023

    Thank you so much for your critique! The links and explanations you provided were really helpful and easy to understand.

    1:15 AM, Friday April 14th 2023

    Thanks so much for the critique! It was concise, helpful and easy to read through. I do have one question though, what ellipses are you referring to in the Shape Intersections?

    2 users agree
    12:46 AM, Sunday June 26th 2022

    Hello Trendel103, I’ve broken down the critique below:

    1. Extending lines: For the most part, these lines converged to their VPs. However, some lines were extended in the wrong direction (box 15 and 26, blue lines).

    2. Converging VS Diverging: Most of the boxes had clear vanishing points. I noticed that at the 100-130ish boxes, the foreshortening became shallower and shallower until it was unclear where the boxes’ VPs were - this was especially prominent in the blue set of lines. Endeavour to have a clearer VP for the viewer, so that when you extend the lines, they are not parallel. Sometimes, the lines converge in pairs (box 58, top 2 and bottom 2 lines extending to the right). It appears these two pairs of lines are converging towards 2 different vanishing points when they should all be converging towards 1.

    3. Hatching: Hatching lines are good. They’re drawn through confidently and consistently. This is good to practice, as hatching is a useful tool in later lessons and art in general.

    4. Lineweight: There is lineweight on some of these boxes, but not all of them. Try to get into the habit of adding lineweight - it’s okay if it’s a bit off, as long as the lines are confident.

    5. Wobbly/Repeated Lines: The lines on the boxes themselves are smooth and confident with no visible repeats and no wobbles, which is good. This shows that you're taking the time to ghost through each mark you make.

    6. Inner Corners: The inner corners are always difficult to do so don’t sweat it if they’re a little wonky. Here’s a method you can use in the future to better predict where the inner corner should go: https://imgur.com/a/DHlA3Jh

    Overall, well done! I would recommend adding exercise this into your warmups: 1-2 boxes or so (this tip was from a fellow student) to keep your skills sharp. Hope this was helpful :)

    Next Steps:

    Move on to Lesson 2.

    This community member feels the lesson should be marked as complete, and 2 others agree. The student has earned their completion badge for this lesson and should feel confident in moving onto the next lesson.
    11:45 AM, Saturday June 25th 2022

    Thanks so much for this detailed critique and the tips on how to use DaB and tips in general! I'll definitely be adding 1-2 those boxes into my warmup.

    9:39 PM, Thursday June 23rd 2022

    No problem!

    2 users agree
    1:27 AM, Wednesday June 22nd 2022

    Hello, Fishingguppy! I’ve broken down the critique below:

    Things well done:

    You extended lines in the correct direction. They all tracked back to the general direction of the Vanishing Point.

    The hatching is neat and tidy - it appears you spent time on them instead of rushing, which is good. In the same manner, the addition of lineweight this early on is good - the lines are confident without wobbles.

    Things to improve on:

    Some of the boxes’ lines diverge from the VP (for example boxes 124’s blue lines, 142’s red lines and the whole box of 214). Keep in mind that each set of lines should travel towards the same point, not away from it.

    Most of the boxes are set at a very dramatic orientation with lots of intense foreshortening. In the future, try drawing the boxes with shallower foreshortening. In addition, some boxes (like 133) are very, very extreme and it’s a bit hard to tell which face is which. This can be because of the size at which they’re being drawn and also the initial “Y” shape you start with. A general rule of thumb is this: all the angles of the “Y” should not be less than 90 degrees.

    Lastly, the inner corners can be tough to master, so here is a process that may help with that: https://imgur.com/a/DHlA3Jh

    All in all, these boxes were well done! There is a visible improvement as you progress to the more recent boxes. The key thing to remember are that the sets of lines should converge and not diverge. Don't worry about perfection - Uncomfortable doesn't expect it and neither should you. I agree that we should set schedules that are realistic and consistent. And yes, warmups are sooo important for artists! Hope this critique helped :)

    Next Steps:

    Move on to lesson 2.

    This community member feels the lesson should be marked as complete, and 2 others agree. The student has earned their completion badge for this lesson and should feel confident in moving onto the next lesson.
    1:43 AM, Tuesday June 21st 2022

    I agree with Wendy. One thing that can help in the future is adopting the Ghosted Planes + Ellipses in Planes exercise into your warmups. It's a double-whammy; gets your arm moving with the ellipses and primes your muscle memory with the ghosted lines! It's become one of my go-to warmups. Even just a few will suffice, maybe 2-3. And overtime, you'll see your ellipses becoming tighter and your ghosted lines becoming smoother which is great :)

    8:45 PM, Monday June 20th 2022

    Thank you for the critique!

    12:24 AM, Thursday June 16th 2022

    Thanks for the suggestion! I'll give it a shot.

The recommendation below is an advertisement. Most of the links here are part of Amazon's affiliate program (unless otherwise stated), which helps support this website. It's also more than that - it's a hand-picked recommendation of something we've used ourselves, or know to be of impeccable quality. If you're interested, here is a full list.
The Science of Deciding What You Should Draw

The Science of Deciding What You Should Draw

Right from when students hit the 50% rule early on in Lesson 0, they ask the same question - "What am I supposed to draw?"

It's not magic. We're made to think that when someone just whips off interesting things to draw, that they're gifted in a way that we are not. The problem isn't that we don't have ideas - it's that the ideas we have are so vague, they feel like nothing at all. In this course, we're going to look at how we can explore, pursue, and develop those fuzzy notions into something more concrete.

This website uses cookies. You can read more about what we do with them, read our privacy policy.