Having too much detail

7:58 AM, Monday July 20th 2020

I'm currently doing lesson 3 of Drawabox, and I often notice that when I draw a plant, it comes out as messy because I seem to be putting in too much detail in places.

For instance, for a sunflower that I recently drew, it looks like I've put in too many circles in the main stem where the branches connect. I wanted to place the branches somewhat close to each other. Therefore, this meant that I had to draw circles close to each other, like in the branches exercise. I realise that Uncomfortable said that these are not meant to be pretty drawings. However, when I compare my own work to his own constructional drawings, mine looks really messy and too distracting, specifically in those areas.

Should this be, or should I position the circles someplace else (Here's the image: https://imgur.com/hkoK2x1)

Many thanks.

0 users agree
2:04 PM, Monday July 20th 2020
edited at 2:08 PM, Jul 20th 2020

You can add line weights (shadow) to determine which need to be more visible. For your case, the branches should weight more than the ellipses inside. Or you ought not to use too much pressure to the ellipses themselves.

One more thing, petals, leaves from the back or in the front should fold more. https://d15v304a6xpq4b.cloudfront.net/lesson_images/826c1a46.jpg

edited at 2:08 PM, Jul 20th 2020
5:28 PM, Monday July 20th 2020
edited at 9:22 PM, Jul 20th 2020

Thanks for the reply. I'll try that then. Just curious, should I still be draw through smaller ellipses twice just like regular ellipses?

Also, which petals of mine were you specifically talking about that needed to be folded more?

edited at 9:22 PM, Jul 20th 2020
2:09 AM, Tuesday July 21st 2020

It's about construction, so a little messy is alright.

You should carefully look at your pref, it varies from each preference.

6:53 AM, Tuesday July 21st 2020

Sorry, are you saying that some plants have folding leaves and others don't, and that I should draw accordingly? What should I do if a leaf/petal doesn't fold that much? For instance, sunflower petals don't have as much folding as those of a daisy. Do you think I should have folded those more?

View more comments in this thread
The recommendation below is an advertisement. Most of the links here are part of Amazon's affiliate program (unless otherwise stated), which helps support this website. It's also more than that - it's a hand-picked recommendation of something I've used myself. If you're interested, here is a full list.
PureRef

PureRef

This is another one of those things that aren't sold through Amazon, so I don't get a commission on it - but it's just too good to leave out. PureRef is a fantastic piece of software that is both Windows and Mac compatible. It's used for collecting reference and compiling them into a moodboard. You can move them around freely, have them automatically arranged, zoom in/out and even scale/flip/rotate images as you please. If needed, you can also add little text notes.

When starting on a project, I'll often open it up and start dragging reference images off the internet onto the board. When I'm done, I'll save out a '.pur' file, which embeds all the images. They can get pretty big, but are way more convenient than hauling around folders full of separate images.

Did I mention you can get it for free? The developer allows you to pay whatever amount you want for it. They recommend $5, but they'll allow you to take it for nothing. Really though, with software this versatile and polished, you really should throw them a few bucks if you pick it up. It's more than worth it.

This website uses cookies. You can read more about what we do with them, read our privacy policy.