keylimecheescake

Hi! Yeah Uncomfortable highly recommends you use printing paper (A4 8.5"x11"): https://drawabox.com/lesson/0/4/paper. I'd following his recommendation if I were you before continuing, plus I can imagine how annoying it is to draw on paper that isn't flat on the desk.

Anyway congratz on completing your first challenge at Drawabox, which proves that you have determination and strive for excellence! I applaud you. Now, let's see how you did shall we?

Things you did well on:

• Extensions lines are extending in the right directions. Check!

• All your lines have a confident, straight flow. Nice job at maintaining these lesson 1 fundamentals.

• Although not perfect (no one can be perfect at freehanding boxes), you understood that your lines needed to converge. I'm just gonna reiterate that ideally, your lines should converge into one point.

• Fantastic work on varying the orientation of your boxes. Experimentation is so important, so please continue to nurture this skill!

• Your back corners look pretty decent!

• And nice work for doing the optional cross hatching.

Things you can improve on:

• Line weight. For some reason, a lot of your lines are randomly faint, such as your cross hatching lines. This could indicate to me that you are drawing with your pen pretty tilted. Try and reflect to see why a lot of your lines are faint, and if it is because you hold your pen tilted, start holding it more upwards next time. And sometimes I see the lines that are instructed to have added subtle line weight look like they have been skipped entirely. Please draw your line weight with more care and consistency next time. Example here: https://imgur.com/a/IJkQIlO

• Again, no one can be perfect trying to freehand boxes. But a way to improve is by them is to start thinking about the relationships between lines instead of just thinking about the lines in pairs. When drawing the lines of the boxes, you should keep in mind all the other lines in the set, comparing their angles and making a guess based on them. This diagram explain this more clearly: https://i.imgur.com/8PqQLE0.png. The diagram can be pretty hard to understand at first, so if you don't understand it, don't get frustrated, keep reading it from time to time while practicing regularly, and it will click eventually. (These sentences are from the critique guide I am using, not my own words)

All in all, good job at following the instructions of this challenge to the best of your current ability. It's not about executing everything perfectly; it's about understanding what to aim for in your future practices. And I feel you do.

Before you move on to lesson 2, please trying getting printing paper before continuing this course.

Hi, there! Congratz on completely the dreadful but so-worth-it 250 box challenge! Completion on this first basic challenge shows that you strive for excellence and are dedicated to learning how to draw. I applaud you! Now let's see how you did:

What you did great on

• All lines have a straight, confident flow. Great job at not forgetting this fundamental step!

• Extension lines are in the right direction.

• Boxes have different orientations, indicating you are not afraid to experiment.

• Throughout the challenge, all your lines are eventually converging.

• Inner corners look pretty decent.

• Followed all instructions, even the optional cross-hatching!

Great work!

What you can improve on

• Your cross-hatching lines are overshooting or undershooting a lot. This indicates to me you have not plotted your points and followed the ghosted method before executing. If so, do not ever ignore this crucial, fundamental step, and please do your cross-hatching with more care from now on.

• Your line weight is inconsistent, even until the end of the challenge. All your lines around the silhouette of the boxes have one or two lines that's thicker than the rest. Some lines look like they were skipped entirely while you were adding line weight. And some of your executions on light weight look like they go off course and create a second line, instead of going completely on top of the initial line. Please do your line weight with more care from now on.

• Although we are freehanding these boxes, please do keep in mind that your lines should converge into one point, and not pairs. But I know no one can be perfect at this.

You weren't perfect, but that is totally okay! No one is perfect. What's important is now you have gained a big piece of the puzzle when it comes to 3D space. I will mark your submission as complete. Please wait for 2 agrees to earn your 250 box challenge completion badge.

Nice, this is an improvement! Well done.

I can now gladly mark your submission as complete. Please wait for 2 agrees on this critique to earn your lesson 1 completion badge. You are now ready to conquer the 250 box challenge! Like I reiterate in all of my critiques, it's not about making perfect work or executing marks perfectly in the very beginning; it's about understanding what to aim for in your future practices. And I feel you do.

Hellooo to you to! I will be handling your critique, which will be divided into 3 sections:

Lines

1. Your superimposed lines have a smooth flow, which indicates that you understood to push forward with confidence in this lines exercise. There is a tiny bit of fraying on both ends of your lines in one of your pages, but the other page shows some improvement. Keep in mind next time you do this, place the pen carefully at the beginning of each line so this does not happen. Nice attempt at the curves as well.

2. Ghosted lines are definitely on the right track. You are still consistent with that nice, smooth flow which means you understood to prioritize flow > accuracy in this exercise. Well done. The accuracy is something you will achieve over time. Your plotted points also indicate that you understand to think before making a mark and that it is important to plot points when applying the ghosting method, though next time make your points just a tad bit tinier. Your lines should completely cover the plotted point.

3. Planes also look great with that nice, confident flow in your lines. I'm gonna be a bit nitpicky here, but it looks to me like you did not plot your points with a line here: https://imgur.com/a/8xEyGXs. I know it's only a very short line, but please do not ever skip this first essential step when doing this course. But the rest of your lines have plotted points, so good job!

   Ellipses

   1. Tables of ellipses are mostly good. You understood that your ellipses needed to be drawn 2-3 times (2 preferrably), and snug against each other. But I say mostly because this exercise requires experimentation and variation with the angle, degree, and size of your ellipses. The variation of size and degree is there, but it looks all your ellipses lean towards the right. I will request a revision of 1 additional page of this exercise, and ask of you to try ellipses with an angle leaning towards the left. I would also like to encourage you to vary the degree of your ellipses even more since most of them are roughly 30 degrees. Try more 15, 45, and 90 degrees (see this link: https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/5/degree). Your ellipses also are just a bit loose, and a some don't exactly touch the border of the table, but your execution on this will get better over time.

   2. Ellipses on planes look good, nice job at attempting to make sure your ellipses touch all 4 sides of the plane. A few of the lines in your ellipses do get a bit faint, which could indicate that you were running out of ink that moment, or your pen is tilting a bit too much, or you are drawing a bit too fast. Try to reflect on what happen, and if you think it's because of your pen tilting too much, hold your pen more upwards next time. If it's because you are drawing too fast, slow down to a moderate speed that will still give you that nice, smooth flow in your lines.

   3. In funnels, your ellipses here get very loose, but that's okay for now, it is a harder exercise. Aligning your ellipses and making sure they are perfectly snug at the same time is tricky, so use the minor axis as a guide and make sure to ghost from your shoulder like you do in your lines. Your execution on this will get better over time.

Boxes. Here is where things get tricky, so I applaud you for pushing through.

1. Plotted perspective is well done. Your cross hatching is decent, but you will have plenty of chances to practice at the 250 box challenge.

2. Nice attempt at the rough perspective! Horizontal lines run parallel to the horizon line, and vertical lines run perpendicular to the horizon line. Although it's not perfect, I can tell you understood that they needed to be like that. Your extension lines should've been a different color though, try to get one before the 250 box challenge. And they only needed to extend to the horizon line, yours go beyond it. Boxes look awkward, which is expected if this is your first time, but you will have so much time to improve in the 250 box challenge.

3. The front planes of your rotated box don't look too bad! It's the back planes and corners that are always tricky when doing the first time. That's okay, this challenge is purposefully meant to be beyond a beginner's skill level; throwing you to the deep end and expose you to think of 3D space in a new way. Hopefully, you gained a piece of the puzzle on this, even if it is just a small piece for now.

4. Organic perspective looks good. I can tell you have a good sense of scale and depth.

All in all, you are in the right direction. Your lines are overshooting and undershooting a lot, even until the end. But I believe you can so improve this. Pls do keep this in mind in your future lines practice: https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/10/levels and https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/10/lifthand. Like I said earlier, I do have a revision to request of you:

u r welcome

Hi there! Congratz on finishing this first step in your Drawabox journey. I will be handling your critique which will be divided into 3 sections:

Lines

1. Good attempt at superimposed lines. The flow is smooth, not wobbly (with the exception of a few of your curves). Your lines do fray (and arch) a lot which is expected and okay at this beginning stage, but at least it is not happening at the beginning. Arching lines can happen due to not drawing from the shoulder, but it can also happen even while drawing from the shoulder, or some other reason. Try to reflect and see why you think it happens the next time you do this exercise as a warm up. If your lines arch because of the second reason, you can try to fix it by arching consciously to the opposite direction while drawing your superimposed lines. But overall, you understood that your lines needed to be confident, not hesitant or wobbly, and prioritize flow > accuracy. So you are on the right track.

2. Ghosted lines are also on the right track. You understood to that you need to plan before applying the ghosted method and executing a line, evident in your plotted points. You also understood to again, prioritize flow > accuracy. Your lines are executed as confident as you can make it. The accuracy is obviously not there yet, but something you can achieve with future practices.

3. There is a bit of improvement on your accuracy in your ghosted planes, but what's important is that your lines still look confident here.

You are on the right track in your fundamentals. Practice these lines exercises as 10-15 warm ups. Keep this mind: flow > accuracy and also this while practicing ghosted lines and planes specifically: https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/10/levels and https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/10/lifthand

Ellipses

1.Tables of ellipses look decent. You understood that your ellipses needed to be drawn over 2-3 times (2 preferrably), snug against each other, and with varying sizes, degrees, and angles. Next time, I encourage you to vary your ellipses even more, especially the degrees: https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/5/degree. Right now, your degrees are roughly in the 30-45 range, try to do 15 degrees next time. Your lines are a bit loose and wobbly, but it will get neater with more practice.

2. You also understood what you needed to aim for on your ellipses on planes. Good job. Sometimes the lines of your ellipses go over your planes and are still loose and wobbly. Again, your confidence and accuracy here will improve with more practice

3. I would encourage you to find a bigger round household item to make your funnels with, but it's completely fine if you couldn't at that moment. The minor axis (a.k.a. the longer axis you drew with a straight edge) is actually a bit off in your funnels. Try to draw it next time so that it can cut your ellipses into 2 symmetrical halves, although no one can be perfect. But what's important is that you understood that your ellipses needed to be snug, and aligned with the major axis. Your execution on it will improve over time.

Like the lines exercises, you're on the right track. Practice these as 10-15 warm ups as well. Just keep this in mind: https://imgur.com/a/GROE5AG

Boxes. Here is where things get really hard. I applaud you for pushing through.

1. Plotted perspective looks good. Nice job varying where the boxes sit in space. I encourage you to not to be afraid to vary things like what you've shown in this exercise from now on.

2. In your rough perspective, a few of your lines on the back facing planes of your boxes that are meant to be perpendicular to the horizon line aren't exactly perpendicular. So keep this in mind the next time you do this exercise. I see some random extra line weight, which implies that you tried to correct it by going over what you messed up. If so, please do not do this unless you intended to add line weight on that specific line. If the execution of a line is not what you intended, please do not correct it and just move on as if it were correct. You will have plenty of chances to practice drawing good lines while drawing good boxes in the 250 box challenge. Based on the extension lines, you are obviously way off in your boxes, but no need to stress on that. I would encourage you to find a darker color for them though, especially before the 250 box challenge.

3. Nice attempt at your Rotated boxes. It's always a suprise to see how yours will turn out. The gaps are inconsistent, and too much guess work on your boxes. But that's okay, this exercise is meant to be hard. I am glad you tried, and hopefully you gained a new piece of the puzzle when it comes to 3d space, even if it is just a small piece. You are not 100% off though, these boxes here: https://imgur.com/a/zpVIfL2 are definitely in the right direction! What you did right in these 3 are: front facing plane gets shorter in width as it rotates away from the viewer, and these boxes are not converging towards the same vanishing point, which is why it looks like it is actually rotating! Just keep these 3 boxes in mind the next time you do this.

4. Finally your organic perspective. Looks pretty good. I can tell you have a good sense of scale and depth.

Take a deep breath. Give yourself a pat on the back. All in all, you are in the right direction. It's not about producing perfect work or being able to execute perfectly from the very beginning, but understanding what you need to aim for in your future practices. Please wait for 2 agrees to earn your lesson 1 completion badge. I say you're ready to move on towards the 250 box challenge!

EDIT: 10-15 min warmups on the Next Steps portion*

Okay and yes, thanks for the reply.

EDIT: I am just now catching what you said. By saying "did the rotated cubes exercise several times", I hope you don't meant attempted more than what was asked. If so, please do not do this, do not overwork yourself, do not GRIND. You won't get a punishment for doing only what was asked.

Welcome to the Drawabox community, you should be proud! I'm happy for you finishing this first step. Now, here is my critique, which are divided into 3 sections:

Lines

1. Your super-imposed lines are nicely done. Straight, confident, not wobbly or hesitant, and executed from the shoulder. Fraying is expected, but at least it is not at the beginning of your lines. Good job following these fundamental instructions. Nice attempt at the curves as well.

2. Your ghosted lines are also nice and confident. Your final execution is not quite reaching your intended end points and the trajectory of your lines isn't too bad, and that's okay for now. All that matters is you understood to prioritize flow > accuracy in that moment. The accuracy you will get in the future with practice. You also understood that you need to think before making a mark, evident in your plotted points.

3. Speaking of which, there is some visible improvement to your accuracy in your ghosted planes. And you still are consistent with the confident lines, you deserve a pat on the back.

In your future lines practice as warm-ups, make sure to keep this in mind: https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/10/levels

Ellipses

1. Good attempt at your tables of ellipses. I can see you understand that they needed to be snug, drawn through 2-3 times, and with varying degrees, angles, and sizes. The execution is a bit loose, but mine were like that too in the beginning.

2. Same thing with your ellipses on planes. You understood what you needed to do, and executed it "to the best of your current ability". Hope you keep this up! It does look like your ellipses here did get a bit less loose, which is improvement.

3. Ellipses in funnels do return to being loose again, which is expected since it's a harder exercise. But you still understood what needed to be done. Most of your ellipses align with the central axis, and all of them are snug. So you are on the right track here.

With consistency by practicing your ellipses as warm ups, your ellipses will become a lot neater and your execution will match with what you ghosted. Once you get the hang of ellipses in funnels specifically, you can try to get the degree of your ellipses to increase as you move outwards from the center of the funnel.

Boxes Here is where things get really tough, so I applaud you for pushing through.

1. Your plotted perspective looks good, and your cross-hatching looks decent. You will have plenty of chances to practices cross-hatching at the 250 box challenge.

2. Rough perspective looks decent too, though I'm not sure why you decided to add random line weight at some of your lines.

3. Your rotated boxes look very neat! As for the rotation, it's not totally there... YET. Because it is evident you have perseverance and dedication thru what you have done so far, I believe you can arrive there. But let's take a look at your boxes here: https://imgur.com/a/Lfu4Cvp. Perfect example of a common mistake explained here: https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/17/notrotating. And remember that your outer boxes' front-facing plane shouldn't be as visible as yours currently are. Please take a look here: https://imgur.com/a/ODor6IG.

4. Your organic perspective looks pretty ideal. Well done, I can tell you have a good sense of scale and distance. Boxes look okay for now.

If you're feeling stressed take a deep breath. It's okay if you made mistakes, it means you weren't afraid to try. Again, you will have so much time to practice and improve at the 250 box challenge.

All in all, you did well. I will give you another round of applause. The point for everything here is to understand what to be aiming for (which I feel you do), not to produce perfect work.

Hii, welcome to Drawabox and congratz on completing your first lesson. Here is my critique:

Lines

1. Superimposed lines looks good. Fraying at the end is expected

2. Ghosted lines and planes is good as well. Your lines do occasionally arch and faintly wobble a bit (esp where the distance between your planned point A and B is very big), and that's okay for now. Though there is some improvement on it on your planes exercises.

3. Your planned points A and B are VERY bold, try making it just a tiny dot next time. Your lines should completely hide it.

   EDIT: Apologies, I would also like to add this-- I noticed that you have skipped the first step of planning your points at a few of your lines on your planes. Please do not ever skip this crucial step.

Ellipses

1. Your tables of ellipses are pretty solid and snug. Great job with varying the degree, angle, and size of your ellipses.

2. Your ellipses on planes do get a bit wobbly, but good job trying to make it touch all 4 sides of the plane.

3. Your ellipses in funnels are on the right track; don't forget to draw the axises next time with a ruler or straight edge. Alignment is something you can improve over time with practice, and once you feel your starting to get the hang of it, you can try to get the degree of your ellipses to increase as you move outwards from the center of the funnel.

Boxes. Here's where it gets a bit complicated, but a pat on your back for pushing through.

1. Plotted and Rough perspective are done well. Some lines are off in your rough perspective, but no one can be perfect. Your cross-hatching is nice and evenly spaced.

2. I feel like a few of your vanishing point in your rough perspective is a bit too far off to the left/right, causing the furthest boxes to possibly be distorted (see this link: https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/15/distortion ). Put the vanishing points a little closer to the center next time, just to be safe.

3. Nice attempt at the rotated boxes! Remember that as the front facing plane (the one u drew in blue ink) rotates away from you, the width of it gradually becomes shorter until it completely rotates and disappears. Yours isn't so gradual but sudden. Here's the example hw for reference https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/17/example

4. Good job with the organic perspective exercise. Next time I would encourage you to play around with scale and distance a bit more. Make the boxes close to you big (and maybe even partially out of frame), and the boxes far away small.

All in all, you are on the right track. The goal here is to have an understanding of the instructions and what to be aiming for (which I feel you do), not producing perfect work.

Actually in a way, I'm still a bit confused. I do understand that lines should converge in a set, not pairs, but a thin box like this that is far from the vanishing point: isn't in inevitable that these lines will converge into pairs? Like the lines at the top?`https://imgur.com/a/1PI7GUA"