9:16 PM, Monday May 20th 2024
Hey! Congratulations on completing lesson 1!
I'm going to split up this critique in order of lines/ellipses/boxes homework. I'll go over each assignment and tell you what I've observed. If you have any questions or corrections for me please don't hesitate to ask/reply.
SUPERIMPOSED LINES
You have some fraying on both ends on your lines at what seems to be the first few tries of the assignment, but you have it fixed within the same page. However, the problem persists in the arches of the second page as well. Make sure to place your pen at the starting point each time you draw a line. Take as long as you need.
GHOSTED LINES
There's some arching here, but not so consistent that it's a problem - just remember, if you encounter this issue later, try to find which way you're arching the lines and try to curve them in the opposite direction, just like it's said here [https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/14/arc]
Remember, this assignment is about straight lines specifically. It's okay to try things in your 50%, but the coursework is the way it is for a reason, so try to stick to doing just that on the pages you submit.
GHOSTED PLANES
You did well.
There are some wobbly lines, so keep in mind that your first priority should be a confident, smooth mark, and not hitting the second point. If struggle with this, try taking more time ghosting the line, until you are confident you can make the mark.
TABLE OF ELLIPSES
You left some empty space on the first page. You should use as much space as you can while snugly fitting your ellipses against the walls and each other. You should finish up these rectangles with a few more ellipses before moving on. Even if you feel that you didn't do a good enough job at the start of a rectangle, you shouldn't get discouraged - as long as you follow the instructions, you're doing perfectly fine. The course does not expect you to produce perfect work, simply to finish the tasks at the best of your ability.
Quite a few ellipses aren't drawn through 2 complete times. It's understandable if the second go-around doesn't connect perfectly to the exact point where you started the ellipse. However you should make sure to make that second drawthrough also a full ellipse. If you're not sure how to do that, I suggest trying to go through them 3 times instead which would guarantee you 2 complete ellipse drawthroughs even if the third doesn't go all the way.
(This observation is a long shot. Some of your ellipses look somewhat jerky - make sure to be confident while markmaking and plan where your ellipse will be and what it'll look like, then ghost until you're confident. Only then draw the line. However some of the jerkiness I see here reminds me of how my ellipses would look when my fineliner was drying out - they would get strange corners and edges, similar to here. If that's what's happening, you might want to try drawing with a new pen to see if this is the problem.)
ELLIPSES IN PLANES
In this exercise you greatly improved at drawing through your ellipses. You're clearly striving to touch the sides of the planes and there's only a little deformation. Good job!
FUNNELS
You're only supposed to do one page of funnels for lesson 1. Do not do more work than the course tells you to. It's extremely important not to grind the exercises [https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/4/reminder] even if they go wrong. You are going to do more of these anyway when you add them to your warmups as you go further with the course, so don't worry about how they look now.
There is one funnel where your ellipses are too spaced out - remember to try to fit them not just to the sides of the funnel, but against each other.
In some of your funnels the ellipses aren't aligned to the central minor axis line - this is the most difficult part of the exercise, so that's understandable, but make sure you strive for it. You want to make sure that the minor axis cuts each ellipse into two equal, symmetrical halves, down their narrower dimension. [https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/18/notaligned] If you want to check how you did on this part of the exercise, you can draw in each ellipsis' minor axis line with a different color and see if it aligns with the line in the middle.
PLOTTED PERSPECTIVE
Looks good!
ROUGH PERSPECTIVE
In your first rectangle you overdrew your line extensions. You fixed this on page 2. However, for the rest of page one you didn't do any line extensions, which is a mistake. You should go back and extend your lines to finish the exercise before moving on with the course.
There is some wobbling in your lines here. This suggests that you are focusing on accuracy and hitting the end point of the line instead of making a confident mark. Even though you are now trying to form boxes, it's still perfectly normal to miss the mark sometimes. Just make sure that when you do, you commit to only one technique per page of extending your lines - either you use your dots, or the lines you managed to draw in the end. [https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/20/edgesorcorners]
There are some doubled, and even tripled lines in your boxes, especially in the first frame of the second page. This suggests that you may be retrying your lines after you're already drawn them once - which would be a mistake. You should ghost the line as many times as it takes for you to be confident in making the mark but you should only execute it once. This can be hard to accept but keeping the first line helps you in the long run. Imperfect lines are an unavoidable part of the course.
ROTATED BOXES
You are missing 7 boxes on the outer edges. One on the top left and the top right, three bottom right, and two bottom left. You should complete the exercise by drawing those ones too before moving on with the course. This is a really hard exercise that you are supposed to struggle with. You should do it all the way anyway to the best of your ability, as simply trying will help you improve no matter the quality you end up with.
Sometimes you leave bigger gaps between your lines. It's only really the top left and right where it's a problem but remember that the neat lines you drew in the beginning will help you complete the exercise, even the most difficult boxes near the end, by always suggesting where the next line will be. Don't guess - you already have the information you're looking for. [https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/21/estimatingrotation]
There are some what looks like erased marks in the top right - if that is the case, the same goes for them as retrying lines. There is nothing wrong with getting the lines wrong, in fact, it's expected. If you feel like you consistently get it wrong I suggest taking more time in the planning stage. Try out more possibilities by placing multiple dots and considering which one will work better. Just make sure to commit to one and stick to the decision after. Don't forget! After you execute the mark, if it's in the wrong place, it's not on you, but on the planning crew - just like with ghosted lines. [https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/14/execution] The point of the exercise isn't to have a neat drawing after but to learn just why it's hard. Don't try to fix it.
ORGANIC PERSPECTIVE
In the first two frames your starting line is not as confident as your straight lines, but you corrected it by the next one.
When you're applying line weight there's no need to apply it more than once, at least not in this exercise.
Wonderful job with this one. Your line confidence clearly improves with every frame.
Overall I think you understood the purposes of the exercises. You should finish Rotated boxes, add the missing line extensions to Rough Perspective and fill up the empty space in Table of Ellipses, then move on to the 250 boxes challenge. You should also add all lesson 1 exercises into your warmup pool, which you should start using now. Here's the relevant section from lesson 0: https://drawabox.com/lesson/0/3/warmups
Good luck with the rest of the course!
Next Steps:
Start on the 250 box challenge
Add lesson 1 exercises to your warmups
