stargazer

Hi,

So, I haven't gotten critique back yet on my 250 challenge so take this with a grain of salt- maybe try drawing a few boxes with the vanishing points really close to get started. Draw the 'Y' and then pick a spot extended past the three ends of your 'Y', where you can see them as your vanishing points. Maybe doing a few like this will help you see what you're aiming for.

As well, I found that after trying some on my own, going back and relooking at the lesson material and these videos helped.

https://youtu.be/mteUPdCHn4s

https://youtu.be/vxXPY6XnCmI

Finally, this is one of those things that I think you figure out with practice. Your first 5-6 won't likely be good, but if you follow the instructions, you'll learn what you're doing wrong and get better.

Good luck!

Congrats on making it through lesson 1!

I have a few notes on your work.

1. Your superimposed lines do not overlap much. Beyond just fraying, most of the lines are missing the lines you drew with a ruler. I would recommend doing this exercise a few more times, but use the ghosting method to try to make it so that your lines overlap. After a little most practice with this, you should do a better job aiming for the end point with your ghosted lines exercise too.

2. Your table of ellipses are fit in snuggly, which is great! You did a good job with this in the funnel exercise too. In the funnel exercise you start only drawing 1 ellipse instead of drawing 2-3 overlapping line you're supposed to. Remember to draw it multiple times for these exercises as well.

3. Throughout the box exercises you draw over lines that you want to improve. This is actually drawing the viewer's eyes to the mistakes. Going forward you need to focus on drawing what you want on the page correctly the first time, and then accepting where the line lands. As well you traced the faces of the boxes in your rough perspective. Do not do that; it removes the illusion of the box. Do not trace over the faces of your boxes or redraw lines. This will be crutial to the 250 box challenge being successful.

4. For the rough perspective exercise you should only draw vertical lines, horizontal lines, and lines towards the vanishing point. There are times when your lines go in different directions. Try to focus on making sure your lines follow these core rules of the exercise.

Overall, you did a good job, but practice and focus is needed to master these core ideas. I would recommend doing 1/2 a page of superimposed lines and 1/2 a page of ghosted planes and really focus on making each line straight and precise. I would then recommend doing another 1/3 of a page of rough perspective and really focus on only drawing vertical lines, horizontal lines, and lines towards the vanishing point. do not trace over or redo lines. You can then start the 250 box challenge. As you're doing the 250 box challenge, start each drawing session doing a 15 min warmup of 2-3 exercises from lesson 1.

Great work and I'm excited for your progress through DrawABox!

Congratulations on making it through lesson 1!

Overall I think you did well, just remember to not stop using the skills you learned in past lessons when you move on to new ones! For example, your lines with the rough perpective and organic perspective are a bit wobbly. Try remembering to use earlier exercises as warmups before starting new material. I think if you practiced ghosting planes and/or shadowing lines a few times before starting the new activities, your lines in the rough perspective could've be straighter. One thing Uncomfortable seems to emphasize is that each line matters, so even though you're moving on to more complicated concepts, remember to be intentional with each line.

Good job and have fun with the 250 box challenge!

Good job making it through lesson 1! I'll be reviewing your work today.

1. Superimposed lines: Your superimposed lines are wobbly throughout. Remember, the key to this exercise is to be confident! When I was first getting started, I would sometimes ghost the line 10+ times to build that confidence, but confidence with your lines is crutial to making it through draw a box. This improved as you went on, but was still an issue as you progressed, so continue to keep this in mind as you practice!

2. Your ghosted lines had less wobbliness, but they start to curve in the middle a little. They may be because you aren't focusing on using your shoulder correctly- if so, rewatch Uncomfortable's video on arm movement. It also may be because you just naturally think you're going straight while having a bend. My brain does this too, and I have to consciously try tro make the line bend the other way to make it straight. Eventually your brain will re-learn how to draw the line straight.

3. In the rough perspective exercise, you start re-drawing over lines you didn't like in a few spots. I know it's hard, but you have to leave them alone, because redrawing over them draws the viewer's eyes to the mistake and makes it more obvious.

4. In your rough perspective pages, you are only supposed to have vertical lines, horizontal lines, and lines to the vanishing point. You have lines going diagonally in other ways. In your warmups, try to stop doing this. The 250 box challenge should also help your eye improve catching this kind of thing.

5. Your rotated boxes exercise did not quite make it. From that it seems like you really want a square/rectangle 'face' when drawing your boxes. This is holding you back when you're supposed to be rotating your boxes. I don't think you need to redo this exercise, but try to really lean into rotating, and moving your boxes when doing the 250 box challenge.

I know you're probably super eager to go on to the 250 box challenge, but please use the lesson 1 exercises as warmups and especially practice/improve on the superimposed lines exercise, ghosted lines exercise, and rough perspective exercise

Overall, you did a good job and with continued practice, your lines and confidence drawing lines will improve!

Good job making it through lesson 1!

I appreciate how your 'table of ellipses' are packed! I think it's gerat that you tried to fit as many ellipses in the table 'snugly'. The ellipses are consistently too big though and overlap the table and each other. Try to be more intentional and calmly ghost the lines beforehand if needed. When you're adusting, you may accidentally draw the ellipses too small. That is OK! As you practice, just keep aiming to fit inside, but touching the parimiters of the space. This issue bled into your 'ellipses in planes' exercise, with ellipses again too large. I think with continued practice and being intentional with your movement, you can fix this!

You'll continue to use the exercises from lesson 1 as your warmup as you move on to the 250 box challenge and beyond- please keep this critique in mind as you do the warmups! Otherwise, I think you are in a good spo to move on to the 250 box challenge.

Have fun, and good job again!

I agree with the comments, but wanted to add that with your warmups going forward, when doing the funnnel exercise, try to keep the minor axis in mind. This is a hard task, but we should be trying to mirror the ellipse on both sides. (see common mistakes section of this exercise's page).

Remember to do the 250 box challenge before lesson 2! :) Good job!

Great job completing lesson 1! Here are some notes for ideas on how to improve:

1. For the ghosted lines page your lines are a little short; maybe try some longer lines to help build your confidence using your shoulder instead of your elbow or wrist.

2. I love how you tried so many angled planes for your ghosted planes. Again, during your warmup as you move forward practice doing different sizes of planes.

3. Good job fitting in lots of ellipses snuggly in your table of ellipses.

4. When practicing rough perspectice, maybe try putting fewer boxes in each section so you can more clearly follow each line.

5. With organic perspective you did a great job showing the boxes getting larger as they get closer. One habit to try to avoid is drawing over lines that we don't like. You started to do this a little bit in the organic perspective pages and I would encourage you not it; it just makes those lines more bold and draws our eye to them.

Other than that you did fantastic work! Have fun with the 250 box challenge!

I think that it's up to you. Uncomfortable is pretty clear that he wants you using a fineliner and explains the reasoning in several videos and posts. You can buy two brands of fineliners at Joanns in person in the USA for $1 without a coupon, or $0.50 with a coupon (they always have coupons).

That being said, this isn't a graded course- it's a free online program... so you'll have to decide what to do on your own.

Personally, I have never used digital art mediums, which I think makes it hard for me to provide feedback on it- I don't know if others feel that way too, but I don't feel as confident grading all your homework in digital format... that might be a reason to try using a fineliner if possible: it gives those of us who are peer reviewers a better chance at providing feedback confidently. Again though, I don't know your situation, and maybe digital is the better option for you based on your goals/life/etc.

Based on what I see here are some notes...

1. For your ghosted lines, you seen to have a habit of having a slight curve at the end as you finish. I struggle with that too. It helps me to ghost all the way through the finishing point, and then when I draw the line for real, quickly lift my hand so I don't draw past the point.

2. The tables of ellipses don't quite follow the instructions for how Uncomfortable gave the instructions. Please try to follow the instructions for set up next time. For the ellipses themselves though, it was great seeing how snugly you fit them together, and that you went over each line two times.

3. Great job with your ghosted planes. I like that you tried many different sizes and angles.

4. When drawing boxes for the rough perspective pages, you go over your lines in a few spots after you make a mistake. Doing that calls attention to the mistake. It might be better to just leave it alone when done inaccurately, than make the error more bold.

Good job and good luck with the 250 box challenge!

Hi,

Great job getting through lesson 1! Overall you did a good job. A few notes for suggestions:

1. Your ghosted lines are fading out at the end. Make sure to use the same pressure throughout. Confidently use your shoulder to draw from one point to the next. Its OK if it's less accurate when you start, because this will help you build up the skill!

2. You did two pages of the 'snug' ellipses, but you also posted pages where they weren't 'snug' nor did you draw through them completely 2 times; I would recommend continuing to practice drawing things through two or three times. Personally, I found drawing my tables helped me focus on filling set spaces, verus trying to go across the full page.

3. Your funnels are good, but keep practicing to try to make the sides the same across the minor access. No reason to hold up going to the 250 box challenge, but maybe incorporate that into your warmup. https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/13/notaligned

Good job again, and enjoy the 250 box challenge!

Good morning,

Great job making it through lesson 1 on DrawABox!

Here is some feedback on your work:

Lines

Good job minimizing fraying to one end of the lines. The fraying at the end will improve with practice.

On the ghosted planes pages there is occasional wobbly lines, or lines that bend in the middle.

To reduce, try

(1) ghosting over/through the point you are aiming for, and then lifting your pen when you reach the point rather than slowing down as you get closer to the end. Confidence with the line will help.

(2) If you’re continuously bending down or up, try consciously arching the other direction while drawing.

Ellipses

Good job drawing through each ellipse 2 times for the ellipses in planes. There are times when the ellipse overlaps or misses the edge of the plane. It’s clear that you improved with practice though, so as you continue to use this exercise in your warmups, I think this will improve. Just remember to ghost the ellipses before drawing and having confidence that your hand knows what it’s doing based on going through the motions of ghosting.

For the ellipses in the table exercise, it looks like on the first page you struggled with keeping the lines from overlapping. Then on the second page, many of the boxes have only two ellipses in them. I would recommend continuing to practice this exercise in your warmups to until you can more confidently draw the ellipses touching, without overlapping. A great way to practice this is to fill in the gaps when you practice larger ellipses so the ellipses all fit snuggly in the table. For example, on the second page you could have filled in one or two ellipses to the right of the circles you drew. For the boxes with three ellipses in them, you could add smaller ellipses underneath and above to fill the space. This exercise too should be included in your warmups!

https://d15v304a6xpq4b.cloudfront.net/lesson_images/a76a8906.jpg

For the funnels, I think you did great! The ellipses are much tighter together and fill up the entire space of the funnel. Which continuing to practice, keep in mind the minor access, and working on creating consistency on both sides.

Boxes

For the plotted perspective you did great; my only critique is that it may have helped to draw the lines all the way through to the horizon so you could clearly see the horizon points.

For the rough perspective you did great with finding the horizon without the ruler! There is a little bit of wobble to your lines though, so just remember to keep ghosting and being confident as you draw your lines, even as we move on to learning perspective! As well, remember, for this exercise lines are only supposed to be vertical, horizontal, or towards the vanishing point; there are several instances where you used an angled line. Try practicing using only vertical, horizontal, and towards the vanishing point to improve the ‘believability’ of your boxes.

Great job with the rotated boxes exercise; it is a difficult exercise, and you did a good job with it.

With the organic perspective pages, you also did well. You rotated the boxes and showed them getting bigger as they moved forward.

Good job again on completing lesson 1! Good luck with the 250 box challenge!