senmoki

Thank you, I know they're not perfect but that diagram helps and confirms what I thought I have been not connecting in my head for some reason. I'll try even harder in Lesson 5 to always be thinking of 3D space and simple forms that wrap. All the mistakes have made this one my favorite lesson! I've learned a ton from all the extensive critiques and can't wait to start the next one.

The next set of additional Pages: https://imgur.com/gallery/rEguYVy

I went back to the demos extensively and also looked at other students' homework, and I think I'm finally starting to make the connection.

I'm not sure why I've been having so much trouble with this, but I feel like these 4 drawings are much more 3D compared to the original submission and first set of additional pages. I looked at both the Mantidfly and Praying Mantis to see what my other drawings were lacking. 2 of my drawings I re-followed the demos for (while using different references images to make sure I actually learned and didn't just copy the site's instructions) and while I feel they're quite messy/excessive with lines, they do adhere more to what was asked. I used a lot of contours early on to keep in my brain that the constructions were 3D, and that made it a lot easier for me to add to it. Looking back at the ant I should have made the top addition to the thorax more in line with the silhouette, there is a bit of unintentional underdrawing present.

Anyway thank you for being patient and taking the time to inspect these 18+ bugs I've made! If these don't pass I hope at least I'm going in the right direction, because it feels more like it after these.

Here are the additional Pages: https://imgur.com/gallery/1CTGE66

First off I apologize for not using printer paper prior, I felt organized with a sketchbook so I was looking for one that worked for pens. After reading your critique I've immediately switched to printer paper and also bought folders to keep the lessons organized.

In these revised pages I did use one contour line on the stag beetle which sat along the surface of one form. This was an error since I started constructing the back like I did with the louse when practicing but quickly realized this wouldn't work for the beetle abdomen form I was constructing.

I've tried to follow these 4 restrictions as meticulously as possible, if there are any mistakes or additional pages required I have no issue retrying. I heavily appreciate the extensive critique and all of the focus on details I messed up on. The advice is very helpful as well because while I was drawing these on my first attempt I was definitely getting distracted with making them presentable. I don't notice these mistakes at times until the critique and it helps me get back on track before I start forming bad habits. The diagrams especially helped with this. I feel much more confident with these additional pages and if you see anything I didn't while making these I'd love more feedback.

Thank you for the feedback, I will definitely be doing much more contour lines and ellipses practice in my warmups.

I also think my organic intersections had problems because I was still drawing the sausage forms too quickly. So after seeing problems in the first page, I took some wrong steps to correct it and used other shapes and focused on the 3D part more. I see that I strayed from the lesson instructions in this lesson much more than the others, and I'll be much more focused and meticulous from here onwards.

So again thank you for steering me back on track with your feedback, now I know exactly what to do going into lesson 3. I appreciate the detailed critiques and the advice, it's helped me a lot!

https://imgur.com/gallery/hCacuXa - Here are the additional pages

First of all thank you for your honesty in your critique, it really helped me get back on track and identify issues.

I still had a bit of trouble when doing the contour curves exercise as the thin lines were hard to execute even with ghosting. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

I think I started neglecting ghosting after the texture exercise, since I was mostly focusing on how to blacken my lines and break the silhouette and not focusing on shapes. To fix this I'll do a ghosting practice before each exercise, I don't want to lose good habits like ghosting and drawing from my shoulder.

Also in the last paragraph you said "The first page is definitely far more successful than the first, and more in line with what was asked." I'm aware it's a typo I just don't want to assume, which did you find better?

Let me know if there are any other issues with these redone pages and I'll do my best to fix them.

I'm very happy to hear this, as someone who is completely new to drawing and tried my best I was nervous to submit this. To hear such positivity and to know that what I was doing while figuring out how to draw these really makes me happy. Also you're completely right about the foreshortening needing to vary, I was so focused on getting the lines right that I only really made the shapes vary, thanks for the information! I'll take it and learn from it.

Also a sidenote: thank you for all your effort on this course, your videos are immensely helpful and I'm glad to get a critique from you personally. I look forward to finishing all the challenges!

Thank you so much this is a great amount of information and feedback I can use! I've already completed the 250 box challenge and it definitely made me extremely better at ghosting and using my shoulder, to the point where now it feels like I automatically use my shoulder (at least it feels that way after completing the first couple homeworks in lesson 2) it was a brutal week but I can definitely see why the 250 box challenge is done, it helped a lot with all of the lessons in lesson 1 especially with the things you pointed out that I struggled with, I'm very happy you took the time to write this, it helps a lot to hear back from you!