volensia

I guess it depends on what you want to draw after you finish DrawABox. :) From my understanding, a lot of the 50/50 rule is based around the idea that those of us who are new to learning to draw will put all of our focus into learning the fundamentals and then expect the artwork we want to do at the end to have drastically improved. However without 'play', our ability to impliment these fundamentals and exercises will be hindered and it will just lead to a level of disappointment when we see that our work isn't 'perfect' despite spending all of this time learning.

I saw Uncomfortable say something in the discord the other day which was akin to the 'play' part of the 50/50 rule is not actually meant to be fun. It's not exactly about drawing to relax or because it's something you enjoy, it's about drawing what you want to draw in the end and what you're working towards getting better at drawing and getting over that fear of failing to draw what you have in your mind. It kind of reminds me of the quote "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." If your goal is to simply be able to draw boxes and draw the best boxes you can, then sure these can be a part of your play 50. But if you want to draw animals or landscapes or people, then these are what you should be drawing when not doing Draw A Box, even if they aren't at a standard that you want them to be at yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ocmPR_EprE&t=624s I highly recommend watching this video that Uncomfortable did on this topic. I hope it helps. :)

Personally, I read it as physically practicing rather than reading the instructions being a part of the 50%. But then you have to consider that you'll possibly be referring back to the reading material whilst you're practicing, especially if it's something on the longer, more complex side. So it really depends on how strict you want to be with yourself.

I alternate days for my 50%, so I practice one day and try to draw for fun for the other day. So the timing is more lenient, but that's mainly because I don't have time to do both each day or I'd end up with nothing to show for it. In your situation, I would probably not count the initial reading as a part of your 50%, especially as some of the later exercises have forty-minutes to an hour long videos alongside them.