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Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes

10:52 AM, Thursday April 15th 2021

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I really like the idea of working up the knowledge with techniques on how to draw and not only relying on talent. My drawing talents are average i m o so for me this is eye opening cause I've always thought people who can draw have a magical skill (and they probably do) but now I can learn too. I struggled with many of the exercises, especially the box exercises. I really tried not to grind, so if I didn't understand the exercise I didn't want to start on my submission papers instead I tried to understand the exercise first and then started on my submissions. I myself can see some improvement actually - see Rough perspective 1 and 2. On the second half of the exercise I actually managed to get the lines a bit tighter. I think I got the principle of Rotated boxes pretty quickly but it was still a very difficult exercise. I really try to think about not drawing from my wrist and elbow but to use my shoulder and I warm up with ghosted line, planes and ellipses. Sometimes I through in a couple of superimposed lines too.

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11:54 PM, Thursday April 15th 2021
edited at 11:57 PM, Apr 15th 2021

Hey, good job on finishing the first lesson. Full disclosure I am still on the 250 box exercise but I think I can help you.

Your superimposed lines look good. You're hitting the starting point consistently with some fraying at the ends which is normal. I can tell you're drawing with your whole arm because you have smooth, confident strokes with little wavering on your superimposed lines and your ghosted lines. You're undershooting and overshooting with some of your ghosted lines but that's to be expected and will be improved with more practice and muscle memory.

Your planes look good as well, the ellipses in planes exercise was supposed to be done on your ghosted planes pages, but I see you did another set anyway. If you want, you can fill in your planes with ellipses for more practice. I see lots of improvement in your planes lines though, good job.

Your ellipses table looks good. You're confident in making smooth ellipses and you're staying fairly close to the edges. Try changing the shape of some of your ellipses next time you practice them in your warm ups, you can practice thinner ellipses and even circles AKA fat ellipses. Likewise your funnels look good and consistent, and you're touching the edges nicely with uniformly divided ellipses.

Plotted perspective looks good, not much else to say here.

Your rough perspective exercise shows promise. You have a good gist of estimating your VPs and accuracy will inevitably be improved with the 250 box challenge. I'm noticing some more wavering lines as you're probably being more careful plotting your boxes. This isn't too big a deal, just make sure that you're still ghosting lines with your whole arm and not your wrist- even for the smaller lines.

Your rotated boxes are excellent imo. Obviously there are some inaccuracies with the VPs but that's to be expected with this difficult exercise. I can tell you're aiming for the correct VPs and you're staying close to the borders. Perfecting the rotating boxes and fully comprehending the perspectives will come in time with practice. Looks really good.

Your organic perspective exercise looks good, your lines are parallel for the most part. I can tell you've improved a lot on the accuracy of your ghosted lines. You have a lot of boxes with parallel VPs which is totally fine but you should try to incorporate closer VPs and practice some dramatic foreshadowing in your 250 boxes challenge.

All in all great job! Good luck in the 250 boxes challenge!

Next Steps:

250 boxes, godspeed.

This community member feels the lesson should be marked as complete, and 3 others agree. The student has earned their completion badge for this lesson and should feel confident in moving onto the next lesson.
edited at 11:57 PM, Apr 15th 2021
6:51 AM, Friday April 16th 2021

Thank you so much for your time and the critique, I appreciate it a lot.

4:57 PM, Tuesday April 20th 2021

Hi. Before i go to mark "agree" with previous critique here are some small remarks from my side that was not mentioned in previous critique:

  • in superimposed lines exercise it seems that in 2nd page for the longest straight lines was not used ruler for the initial lines,

  • in ghosted planes exercise and in organic perspective exercise some lines do not have plotted dots that is important to do because ghosted lines technique (including plotting dots) is supposed to be used on every single mark you make through all of the Drawabox lessons https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/9/purpose

  • in organic perspective exercise I noticed some corrected lines. Try to avoid correcting your initial confident lines. Let them be as they are and move on. Otherwise they stand out from the whole confident picture ;)

Nice submission!

Good luck in 250 box challenge!

5:20 PM, Tuesday April 20th 2021

Thank you for the feedback! I will try my best to take in the advice. Thank you for taking your time.

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