aeshnabx

Hi! So this is a lot better. There are still some minor things, like that corner on the beetle's upper thorax, or some intersection lines on the legs that look a bit too flat, but you'll have plenty of time to practice those things on the next lesson. So, congratulations on finishing Lesson 4, and feel free to move on to Lesson 5!

Hi! It's okay, you can keep practicing those aspects on your own. You should move on to the 250 Cylinder Challenge then, before approaching Lesson 6. Good luck!

Hi! I totally got the pen thing mixed up with the subdivided boxes exercises, but I'll keep it in mind from now on. I've been struggling this whole time with the lineweight and how to make it more subtle and accurate, it's good to see a refresher on the basic concepts from time to time.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the critique!

Hi! So, starting with the organic intersections, here's a demo on your first page, the corrections there apply to the second page as well.

As for the animal drawings, the following corrections apply to all of them:

• Camel: Demo Here, the main issues I see are two.

1: your line is way too wobbly and insecure. You have to make those lines flow, from your shoulder, ghosting them and executing the line with confidence.

2: Your curves on the legs are arbitrary, they don't follow the contour of the sausage they're being drawn on, and the feet have no dimension to them at all. For the feet, start with simple forms, then add masses to them and break them apart as is needed. You can look at the donkey demo for a better reference.

On my demo, when I added curves without adding masses, I could've done that cutting into the box itself too. If you look at the demos, sometimes we cut into the forms, other times we add the curves outside, like I did here, the important thing is that we keep in mind how the lines we're adding relate to the main construction and the forms they're being drawn too. In the end, I'm not just adding a curve to make the feet rounder: I'm implying a mass there, but it's one that's so small that just implying it in that way, works good enough.

As for the legs, it's better that you use the contour curves on the basic construction and on some places where it could be needed afterwards (like horns or things like that), but the legs work better with just the intersections drawn on them. That being said, those intersections have to be drawn with care, following the contour of the forms they're being draw upon.

Rhyno: Demo

The ears can be treated as a thick petal, as they flow in a similar way in 3D space. As you drew them here, they look stiff and without any dimension.

The spheres are way too overdrawn. We're overdrawing ellipses (and masses by extension) two to three times. The excessive lineweight on the initial construction undermines the rest of it, and prioritizes thing in the wrong order, visually.

The legs and feet have the same problem as the camel, and you also hatched the backlegs. Don't: that comes from older demos. Draw through your forms every time.

The boxy mass you added on the head, while I totally get your way of thinking there, could've been improved working with a smaller cranium to start, and wrapping the form better around the sausages; you'll notice that you ended up with some innecesary corners. When the boxy form reaches the hump, it creates a little corner: that's totally fine because you're interacting with another form. However, the way the boxy form wraps around the hump should be softer, as that form is rounder.

The eyes are not spherical when they should be, and so, the eyelids don't wrap around them as they should.

The horn reads fine, but if you want to be more accurate to the reference, you could add a contour curve that describes the planes on the horn, as it is not totally rounded.

Bird: The bird looks good enough; the intersections on the legs are missing, but all other mistakes here have already been adressed.

Frog: Same issues: line too wobbly, basic construction spheres too overdrawn, intersections missing and/or inaccurate. Watch out for the sausages, those are made on a single stroke, we don't build them like we do with the branches.

Hybrid: Looks better as well, while having a lot of the same issues mentioned before. I really like the boxy head and the planes of the horn being suggested without using contour curves, which is great too. Would've liked to see you break apart the head a little more and add some additional masses to make it closer to a rhyno's head.

So, there's that. Trying to condese it, here are the main points:

• Wobbly line; intersection curves don't follow the contour of the forms, some sausages are not being drawn in one stroke.

• Basic ellipses/spheres are being overdrawn.

• Additional forms could be wrapped better around the basic construction, on occasion the feet are not broken down into planes, the ears tend to be stiff instead of flowing through space.

And a final one:

• No lineweight being added to prioritize elements when lines intersect (be subtle about it when adding it)

There's a lot of progress, but you still have some things to improve. So, taking in mind all previous corrections, I'll ask for 3 more drawings:

• One hooved quadruped

• Two non hooved quadrupeds

And a final page of Organic Intersections. Here, remember that your sausages are resting, not floating or in the process of falling. Be careful with your cast shadows, think of how those are actually being cast and why.

Again, work big, 1 drawing per page, take your time, and think about how every line you're making relates to the forms they're being drawn upon.

Don't forget to warm up before drawing. If you have any questions, I'll be around to answer them. Good luck!

Hi! So, there's a ton of good things: the drawings are a lot clearer, the intersections are mostly well done, and they are a lot less messy. Your drawings are showing more volume and look more threedimensional overall, and the way the forms and masses interact is shown a lot better. That being said, there are still some issues:

• The lineweight: you're using it on areas that don't need it at all, like the abdomen of the beetle. The butt of the beetle isn't crossing over anything, so there's no need at all for more lineweight.

• Also, we are not overdrawing the sausages, that's only for the spheres/ellipses. It's not always, but it happens. On the ant, the upper leg looks sketchy, and there's no need at all for it to look that way. On the last insect, something similar happens, where it looks like you made a test run, and then, with a denser line, drew the "actual" lines.

Which is something we don't do at all. The lines that you make first, those are the lines you'll use. If you need to add volume or other shapes, you add it separately, as independent masses build on top of that initial construction. If that initial construction is a bit off, it does not matter, work with it nonetheless, it's more valuable what you'll learn from that, than drawing things without construction to make them look better, in the context of this course.

• The excessive lineweight also undermines the work you made. On the ant's head, thanks to the lineweight, it looks like you drew a flat, triangular shape on it, even though you did construct it on top of the initial cranium sphere. Something similar happens to the grasshoppers head, which also looks flat even though you did construct it right; that's all thanks to excessive lineweight.

• I made this to show you some other corrections. Take a look at the extra diagram on there too. One of the most important things there, is to keep our initial constructions and work on top of them, even if they're not accurate. The beetle is another example, where you just ignored your initial abdomen construction, and just built the shell on the air, without any interaction with your initial form.

So, as you see, you've fixed most of the issues, but there are still some things that can be improved. Taking these corrections into consideration, make one more drawing, of a beetle or dragonfly. Again, work big, just one page, and no detail. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. Good luck!

That's great! I really only wanted one to make sure you got the point, but three is just fine. You had one rigid leaf on the second page, but that's okay, all the others are really flexible. With that, I'm marking your Lesson 3 as complete. Feel free to move on to Lesson 4!

Hi Kevin! I'll be reviewing your homework. Let's see:

Organic Arrows:

Your arrows look great, confident and flexible. I would've liked to see more compression on the space as they move away and viceversa, the longer arrow on the lower left for example, has a lot of curls, but since it has the same space between the edges as it moves away, it doesn't really sell the illusion that it is actually traveling.

Leaves:

They look good, but they could've been more flexible, turning over themselves, etc. As they are, they're a little too static. Another thing is the edges, on all of them one edge goes inside the leaf construction. This will be read as the leaf turning into itself, and it will be necessary at times, but it would've been cool to see the edges constructed on the other side.

Branches:

Your ellipses look well aligned for the most part, and while there are some "tails" visible, the actual lines on the branches are pretty good. You were maybe too conservative when it comes to changing the degree of the ellipses on the branches: the change is visible just on a couple of them. Remember that these ellipses tell us how the branch is turning in 3D space, so you have to be mindful of these changes.

Plant Drawings:

• On your first mushroom, it would've helped to make the minor axis through it: the top ellipses came out really misaligned because of this.

• The potato plant shows the issue I talked about on the leaves: they're all too stiff, even the ones on top end up twisting in unnatural ways. Don't be afraid to let the lines overlap when it comes to leaves, that will give them the flexibility they need.

• The same goes for petals, let them overlap and bend over themselves. Be careful as well with your lines, they got scratchier on the big flower, before the mushrooms.

• The conic mushroom on page 12 has a weird intersection with its cap. A real mushroom stem wouldn't just stop on that section, it would continue through the cap and intersect it at some point further up, creating an interesting flow on the internal contour of the cap.

• On your final page, there are mushrooms that are not drawn through, which makes me think that you drew more by eye than construction on that section. Try to avoid that, in the end these are just exercises for construction, and that's what we should work on.

Overall you did some great work, you clearly understood the point of the exercises, but I'll leave you with one revision: a page full of twisting leaves. Make sure that they are really flexible, overlapping and twisting over themselves, with curling ends, etc. Take a look at some references if you have to, but try to make them from imagination.

Good luck! If you have any questions, I'll be around.

Hi Colord44! I'll be reviewing your homework. Let's see:

Organic Forms with Contour Curves:

First of all, your line is really wobbly on these, a lot more than in the subsequent insect drawings. Always draw from your shoulder, ghosting your lines and drawing them with confidence, no matter if the accuracy suffers.

Your sausages don't have the right shape most of the time, remember that they're supposed to be two spheres joined by a tube, instead a lot of times they end up smaller on one side or the other. Take a look at this image to refresh your memory on that.

Be mindful about the degree change of the curves as well, they will represent how the form is turning and twisting in 3D space. Make sure that both ends of the curves are the same degree as well, this is a bit difficult, but with practice and a good amount of ghosting it gets better.

The size you're drawing on isn't helping either on these or the insect drawings, try to draw bigger, so you have the space to work on all the things you're supposed to work on.

Insect Drawings:

For starters, they have a much better line flow, which is great. As for the drawings themselves, they get better and better as they go along, still there are a couple of issues I'd like to point out:

• A lot of times, you forgot to draw through the intersections on the legs, especially on the latter drawings, like the lobster and beetle.

• It would've been great to see you add masses in different ways (since most of the added masses are things like shells, insted of actual masses), but you'll have plenty of opportunities later.

• Be careful when adding contour lines and intersections, they have to follow the contour of the forms underneath. Sometimes you had lines that were a little too straight on the legs and they flattened the whole section. This diminished as you went through the drawings though. Still, be careful about it.

• Finally, again, draw confidently from your shoulder. There are lines that are wobbly here, not as wobbly as your organic forms, but still. And apply lineweight only when necessary, sometimes your line got too heavy on sections that really didn't need it.

I actually think you're ready to move on. Although you had issues, especially on the organic forms, your insect drawings show that you understand the concept, and you'll have to work on these issues during your warmups and the next lessons.

So with that in mind, feel free to move on to Lesson 5.

Hi Perkfever! I'll be reviewing your homework. Let's see:

Organic Intersections: You're missing those :P

Animal Drawings:

Your initial constructions look good. Taking some rudimentary proportions would help them "look better", but that's not the point of the exercise anyway. A thing that I notice a lot of the times though is a lack of contour curves, which would reinforce the threedimensionality of the forms. Don't abuse them either, but a couple of them would help a lot to sell the illusion.

Adding the intersections between forms would go a long way as well. These have to follow the contour of the forms they're being drawn on, because on drawings like the donkey, you tried that on the legs, but since the intersections don't really follow the contour of the forms, they feel flat. Most of the time, the union between neck and thorax looks good because you did draw the intersection between those forms.

On your heads, be very careful when adding masses and dividing the sections like the muzzle. Look really close at your reference, and pay attention to the way the masses are interacting with the original construction.

On a lot of your added masses, there are corners present, which create complexity and suggest the idea of something existing besides them. Try to make them flow smoothly, like this Think of them as bags of flour falling onto your forms, or sticky gum, when they're upside down, no corners visible. Unless of course, there are things beside them, but that would be like shells on the insects, that kind of thing.

Be careful with your lineweight, apply it only when necessary, and try to be subtle about it too. And if you're going to add detail, go all the way, or don't apply any detail at all.

Finally, your line appears really sketchy at times, but it looks to me like your pen is running out (I've had similar lines too, and it was because of that). Change your pen, and remember to always ghost your lines and draw them with confidence. These sketchy lines make the drawings seem more flimsy than they would be with more confident ones.

I think you're on the right path, but there are things that need correcting. So I'll ask for the following revisions:

• Two pages of Organic Intersections

• 5 drawings of animals:

• 1 bird

• 1 non-hooved quadruped

• 1 hooved quadruped

• 1 random animal

• 1 hybrid

No detail on them. Draw big, one animal per page, and add the reference photos to the submission as well. Take your time, if you feel overwhelmed, take a break and you can come back to the drawing later. It's better if the drawing takes a little more time, than if the drawing ends up rushed and flimsy.

Once you're done, submit them here and I'll take a look. If you have any question I'll be around too. Good luck!

Hi NOW_ITS_ORANGE! I'll be reviewing your homework. Let's see:

Organic Forms with Contour Curves: First of all, it was supposed to be two pages with contour curves, not ellipses, so there's that. A lot of the sausages are well done, but some of them are bigger on one side or the other. Try to think of them as two spheres joined by a tube, nothing more than that.

As for your curves, it would've been great to see more degree change, as they describe how the form is turning in 3D space. Also, some of the curves are asymmetrical in their degree: one end has a bigger degree than the other in the same curve. Be very careful when you're drawing the curves, ghost them thoroughly and try to visualize them before making the actual marks.

Insect Drawings: First of all, the lineweight: it is excessive. Apply it only on the sections that intersect each other to clarify what's on top of what; do that only when it's needed and with subtlety. I know it's tempting to apply it indiscriminately, but the end result is a very messy drawing.

I really appreciate the effort you went through, drawing even the informal demos. But the moment you start drawing other insects (without a previous demo) the cracks start to show. Some things are pretty good, like the construction of the legs on some of them, and the base construction is there most of the time. But most of the time once you have that initial construction, you draw all the other forms on top, without making them interact at all with your initial construction.

This is not helped at all by the fact that you're drawing extremely small for what's required. Sometimes you have so little space that it is impossible to construct anything. The first and third page are the best here, but even there, it's just too small to work on what you have to work. And even then, you have issues like constructing shells without acknowledging the natural curve of the forms underneath; drawing flat legs instead of constructing sausages on which you add forms later; not drawing through the legs on the background and forms in general; and the linework making all the drawings look really sketchy and messy.

They look visually good a lot of the times, but remember that we're not here to draw pretty drawings: we're here to learn about constructional drawing, using these drawings as a tool to do so.

I can see that you're putting a lot of effort, but you need to redirect that effort to the things we're actually trying to learn. So, I'll ask for the following:

• 1: Go back and read again the demos, especially the first two, and the lobster and shrimp ones from the Informal demos. Pay special attention to the way the forms get added onto the initial, simple construction.

• 2: Make 7 drawings of insects without any detail. Draw big, one insect per page. Add the reference photos to the submission.

Once you're done, submit them here and I'll take a look. Remember to go easy on the lineweight, use confident and fluid lines, draw through all of your forms, and don't hatch the background legs.

Good luck!