laurada

Hi, I'm laura, I'll 'do a critique.

Thinking in 3D

Arrows - The flows of the lines are smooth, getting smaller farther away and bigger closer, with compression on the depth and intesity of the waves, the shading is in the correct places, though the lines used for it often look a bit rushed, make sure to give every line the same amount of attention and to ghost through them.

Organic Forms - The sausages themselves are good, simple, long swoopy lines, with the centerline often being exactly through the center, for the ellipses they are aligned well, change in angle as they leave the center, and touch the sausage/boundaries, as they should. As for the curves, most are a bit shaky(though this will reduce with practice, ghost them a few times before doing them to reduce it), they seem to change in angle as the leave the center, and correctly follow the form they're on, good job.

Texture and Detail

Texture Analysis - The paper has a lot of shadow shapes, though a fair bit of lines too, with this exercise you intend to mostly mfill in the cast shadows you see, they can get thin to the point of having to utilize lines for them, but utilizing lines can get you to fall back into outlining objects, so try to prioritize making shadows shapes until you're more comfortable(okay, less uncomfortable) with texture, otherwise the ice cream looks good, and what I assume is hair or fur too, though the lines in the hair makes it feel a bit more explicit(shadow shapes!), but you're onto the right track, and overall understood what you're supposed to do.

Dissections - The first page shows shows a good variety of textures that wrap with deep light variances, which are excellent for learning, the more of a range you can capture the better, as well as a lot of sillhouette breakage, the second page expands on that and hase some really contrasting ones, with a lot of thicker and more defined shadow shapes.

Construction

Form Intersections - first as an overview, all your forms look good, with consistent convergence and size, and the intersections on them too. On the boxes-only one, a few boxes have diverging lines, make sure to pay more attention to how you construct your boxes. There are also a few instances of repeated lines, make sure to ghost more and let the lines that go poorly be, hiding them under another line is a lost learning opportunity. Likewise the hatching lines on the faces can be a bit wobbly at times, ghosting them can help with that.

Organic Intersections - confident simple forms with maybe 2 complex ones, contour lines that define the forms, the shadows follow the forms under them, and all supported by forms under them, good job on that. All I can really add is to try to think of the sausages as more of a bunch of long water balloons, as some don't have much of a feeling of weight and how it affects them and their neighbours.

Summary

Well understood the concepts and executed them very well, remember to apply the tips mentioned in your warmups, you're good to go to the next Lesson.

Also,it looks like you were drawing on both sides of the paper, it makes it harder to critique your work and can be detrimental to you as the visual noise can confuse you, please work only on one side of the paper for any subsequent submissions.

Hi, I'm Laura, I'll do your critique.

Lines

Superimposed lines are good, all fray only on one side, try looking only at the endpoint while doing drawing them to reduce mid-course corrections.

Ghosted lines are a bit wobbly, put it reduces a lot by the second page of ghosted planes, and turns into mostly arcing at that point, good job.

To help with the arcing, consciously use your should more to do the strokes, and try to arc the line in the opposite direction if that helps.

Ellipses

Table ellipses are good, a bit lumpy at first but get better in the secong page, are drawn through 3 times usually.

Again, using your shoulder more will help, minimizing movement from the wrist and elbow, also try to closely follow the first rotation you made to tighten the bundles of wire.

Ghosted planes are a bit deformed, fit their confines well, but look a bit wobbly at times, which could indicate either going too slow or not using the shoulder as much, so same tips as on the previous one, and try going a bit faster with the ellipses.

The ellipses in the funnels feel even more wobbly, but otherwise were correctly aligned and placed on the minor axis.

Boxes

Plotted perspective was done as instructed, only some slanting in the bach edges(give yourself more time to align your ruler, but yeah it gets pretty visually noisy so it's understandable.)

Rough perspective is all well, first page has some wobbly lines, which reduces in the second, rememeber to ghost your lines and use your shoulder.

Rotated boxes are really good, consistent gaps, good rotation, and all drawn through, good job.

Organic perspective shows a cohesive scene with good depth and mostly converging boxes, only the lines wobble a bit sometimes.

Summary

You understood all the concepts taught, applied them well, and progressed through the pages, I think you're good to go to the 250 box challenge, remember the tips mentioned and apply them in your warmups.

Hi, I'm Laura, I'll do your critique.

Lines

Superimposed lines - Starts with fraying on both sides, reduces on what I assume is the second page, give yourself more time to put down the pen, but othrwise you did pretty good.

Ghosted Lines & Planes - some wobble at first, but reduces later, try to look at the end of point of your line when executing it(to reduce mid-cource correction urges), and some arcing later on, and try to more consciously use your shoulder to execute the strokes, rotate the page to a more comfortable angle, and try to intentionally arc the line in the opposite direction to cancel it out if it persists.

Ellipses

Table ellipses - Some of your ellipses have less than 2 rotations through them, this doesn't let you refine and follow through the ellipse on the second rotation, please draw through your ellipses 2-3 times, and Some of your ellipses are uneven, I recommend trying to use your shoulder more consciously and trying to minimize movement from the wrist or elbow, try to follow through your ellipses as closely as you can on the second rotation, as well as ghosting through them before you put them down.(Also try going faster or slower with each ellipse to see what turns out better)

Ellipses in planes - Same as above really, focus on getting smooth ellipses first, as some of them are quite deformed.

Funnels - Most ellipses are exactly on the minor axis, fit with each other well, but same notes as on the previous two overall.

Boxes

Plotted perspective - Pretty good, though the hatching lines look a bit rushed, ghosting through them a bit should help make them nicer.

Rough perspective - Looks good, only you didn't extend the lines out(https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/20/step9), i'll ask you to extend your lines on the boxes and reply with them.

Rotated Boxes - Looks good, except you're missing 3 boxes on each corner (https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/21/step8), finish the missing boxes and reply withem.(You don't have to remake the entire page, just finish the missing ones)

Organic Perspective - Missing, you may have forgotten to add them, please reply with them when you find the pictures or finish them.

Summary

Good overall, just missing organic perspective and needs finishing on the rotated boxes and rough perspective.

Thank you for the critique senj.

Hi, I'm Laura, I'll do your critique.

Lines

Superimposed Lines - Fraying on one side, which is expected, some wobble, make sure you're using your shoulder, and look at the end point of the line while drawing it, it should help get it there.

Ghosted Lines & Ghosted Planes - Pretty good, there's some arcing, can be helped with more consciously using your shoulder to execute the strokes, and trying to intentionally arch the line in the opposite direction to cancel it out if it persists, as well as rotating your pages.

Understood the exercises and executed them well.

Ellipses

Table Ellipses - Nice, drawn through 2-3 times as instructed, mostly fit their sorroundings, often tight second rotation , try to minimize movement from the elbow or wrist(This section helps with more explanation https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/16/remember), and try following through the ellipse as closely as you can on the second rotation as well as ghosting each ellipse before you even put it down, and try to experiment going faster or slower with each ellipse to see what turns out better.

Ellipses in planes - Same as the previous one, but try to not worry as much about fitting the ellipses exactly inside planes, smoother ellipses are more important initially.

Funnels - All are aligned to the minor axis and evenly divided by it, fit their borders, remember to use your shoulder and follow the first rotation closely, and try to change the angle of the ellipses more as they get farther from the center.

Overall you understood the assignments and showed progress.

Boxes

Plotted perspective- Good, there are some slightly slanted lines in the back, give yourself more time to align the ruler and check that you're on the right corners, and it looks like the hatching is a bit rushed, try to ghost those lines a bit to help make them nicer.

Rough perspective - nice, but if you're repeating lines when they turned out bad at first, don't, let them be, you'll learn from not trying to hide your mistakes, and build confidence from it.

Rotated boxes - Drew all the boes, rotated them well, the gaps were kept consistent, you did well.

Organic Perspective - the boxes look consistent, have shallow convergence(some diverge, but it's okay, you'll get better with the 250 boxes), vary in rotation, and scale with depth, good job!

You understood the concepts and applied them well.

Summary

Did well, make sure to apply the mentioned tips, good luck on the 250 boxes!

Hi, I'm Laura, I'll do your critique.

Lines

Superimposed Lines - Fraying on one side, which is expected, some large scale wobble, which alos happens, experiment going faster and slower to see what helps, and look at the end point of the line while drawing it, it should help get it there.

Ghosted Lines & Ghosted Planes - Pretty good, there's some arcing, can be helped with more consciously using your shoulder to execute the strokes, and trying to intentionally arch the line in the opposite direction to cancel it out if it persists, as well as rotating your pages.

Understood and well executed the Lines part of the lesson.

Ellipses

Table Ellipses - Nice, drawn through 2-3 times as instructed, fit their sorroundings, quite wobbly initially though, try to minimize movement from the elbow or wrist(This section helps with more explanation https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/16/remember), and try following through the ellipse as closely as you can on the second rotation as well as ghosting each ellipse before you even put it down, and try to experiment going faster or slower with each ellipse to see what turns out better.

Ellipses in planes - Same as the previous one, but try to not worry as much about fitting the ellipses exactly inside planes, smoother ellipses are more important initially.

Funnels - All are mostly aligned to the minor axis and evenly divided by it, fit their borders, remember to use your shoulder and follow the first rotation closely, and try to change the anble of the ellipses as they get farther from the center.

Overall you understood the assignments.

Boxes

Plotted perspective- Good, there are some slanted lines in the back, give yourself more time to align the ruler and check that you're on the right corners.

Rough perspective - nice, some mave slanted lines, which happens, give yourself more time to plan them out.

Rotated boxes - Drew all the boes, rotated them well, the gaps were kept consistent, you did well.

Organic Perspective - the boxes look consistent, have shallow convergence, vary in rotation, and scale with depth, good job!

You understood the concepts and applied them well.

Summary

Did really well, only ellipses are a bit weak, just apply the tips mentioned in your warmups and you should be good.

This should explain it: https://drawabox.com/lesson/0/3/warmups

As for picking which exercises, this can help: https://mark-gerarts.github.io/draw-a-card/index.html

(You can change which exercises it will pick from in Settings on the top right.)

Good job on the ellipses, they're noticeably smoother, fitting them should get better through practice.

As for the organic perspective, you did well, boxes have good converging lines, a good variety of rotations, they all feel like they occupy the same space, and get smaller with depth in the image.

Only thing I have to say is about the hatching, it looks a bit rushed, I would recommend to ghost those lines too, it would help with consistency and getting them to end where they should.

I'll mark it as complete, add all lesson 1 exercises to your warmup pool and move onto the 250 Box Challenge.

As for the finger friction, this talks about it a bit: https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/2/hoverhand

Having your hand touching the desk/paper should be fine as long as you're aware of it and counteract the drag/friction it creates, without falling back to drawing from lower pivots such as the wrist or elbow.

You can get one of those "drawing gloves" that sometimes come with drawing tablets where it provides a sleek surface to reduce friction on the side of your hand.

I personally hold my pen pen in a way that either has the whole arm and hand hovering, or just a fingernail touching the desk/paper to provide a bit of stability without friction, those are both rather tiring initially, but would help in the long term by training your arm muscles more than dragging.

For more answers to that question you should post a question(same way as submitting your work, but check "question/discussion topic" instead) about it, or ask on the discord.

Hi, I'm Laura, I'll do your critique.

Lines

Superimposed Lines - mostly fraying on one side, which is expected, but there are a few lines where there's fraying on both sides, give yourself a bit more time to put down your pen on the starting point, otherwise it's pretty good.

Ghosted Lines & Ghosted Planes - Pretty good, there's some arcing, can be helped with more consciously using your shoulder to execute the strokes, and trying to intentionally arch the line in the opposite direction to cancel it out if it persists, as well as rotating your pages.

Understood and well executed the Lines part of the lesson.

Ellipses

Table Ellipses - Decently done, drawn through 2-3 times as instructed, a bit messy, try to minimize movement from the elbow or wrist(This section helps with more explanation https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/16/remember), and try following through the ellipse as closely as you can on the second rotation as well as ghosting each ellipse before you even put it down, and try to experiment going faster or slower with each ellipse to see what turns out better.

Ellipses in planes - Same as the previous one, but try to not worry as much about fitting the ellipses exactly inside planes, smoother ellipses are more important initially.(And I see a lot have only 1 rotation through them, make sure you go through the ellipses at least twice, but no more than thrice, try going a bit slower.)

Funnels - All have the right rotation, most fit their borders, and most are exactly divided by the minor axis, try to fit the ellipses more tightly, start your circle touching the previous one, that can help, and draw through your ellipses at least twice, a lot of the ellipses here have only 1 rotation.

Overall you understood the assignments, but you would benefit from trying another page of funnels and table ellipses with the tips mentioned, I won't request a revision for it, but try to do it and send it here if you want.

Boxes

Plotted perspective- Good, though I see the hatching lines can get a bit chaotic, ghosting the hatching lines can help, as well as not making them so dense, tight together.

Rough perspective - Only some arcing in the lines, otherwise pretty good.

Rotated boxes - Drew all the boes, rotated them(though the second rotation is a bit shallow and hard to see, make sure to increase it next time), the gaps were kept mostly consistent, you did well.

Organic Perspective - Some of the boxes have diverging lines, but that's okay, you'll get plenty of practice on that with the 250 box challenge, and the scaling based on depth is a bit too shallow to see(https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/22/step9), but all the boxes look like they are in the same space otherwise. I'll ask for at least one section of organic perspective with more size differences based on "depth" in the image(i.e smaller boxes on one end of the line, gradually getting bigger to the other end of it)

You understood the concepts taught mostly.

Summary

Did well overall, but could use some deliberate practice on the ellipses, and organic perspective didn't show much depth.

I'll ask you to do one section of organic perspective, focusing on having the boxes get smaller as the travel along the line.