Check Out NMA    Learn More About our Partnership
Close and Enjoy Drawabox Ad-free
View Full Submission View Parent Comment
8:49 PM, Monday April 26th 2021

I'm almost finished with lesson 2. Took me a few weeks to get though both. I know I'm not going to get good lines right away. My main point is that the exercise starts to feel like a waste of time if I've already messed up the perspective-- continuing to work on that doesn't help me understand perspective any better.

I understand and respect the structure of drawabox. My original point is basically just inquiring if there is any flexibility for people who have mental health concerns or who aren't learning efficiently within that system. If there's zero flexibility in that regard, maybe the system is flawed, because not everyone is the same.

9:18 PM, Monday April 26th 2021

It's actually the opposite to what you say although I can understand why you might think that. By not allowing corrections it brings your drawing problems to the fore so that you can review and address them. If you are constantly erasing them it hides them. That is my view anyway. If you submit perfected and corrected homework it negates the learning goals and does not allow for rigorous feedback.

The system is not flawed. It is what it is. A tough approach that is maybe not for everyone. In this respect, it may not be the right approach for you at the moment. There are many alternative ways of learning that you may find more suitable.

I can empathise with the anxiety issue as a recovered agoraphobic, but compromising the course is not the solution.

9:36 PM, Monday April 26th 2021

That's a good point about better feedback if you can't erase, but honestly, if you're messing up your lines all the time, the feedback is going to be, "your lines aren't accurate, draw from your shoulder." Well duh, I already knew that I sucked at lines. At worst, it could confuse feedback because an incorrect line could give the impression that someone doesn't understand perspective when in fact, they just slipped with their hand.

My point about the system wasn't that it's hard. I'm not averse to hard work. My point is that, if something is meant to teach people, and 100% inflexibility when dealing thousands of humans, many of whom learn differently, might not always be ideal.

10:18 PM, Monday April 26th 2021
edited at 10:18 PM, Apr 26th 2021

For the former that is not how feedback, official at least, works. It constructively critiques your work so that you can consolidate your learning before moving onto the next, progressively tougher, stage. It stops you getting ahead of yourself and stops problems from compounding later.

I think on the latter point it is up to you to assess if it is the right course for you. I don't see it changing to be more flexible and I don't think it should. You have chosen this course, it didn't choose you. EOM.

edited at 10:18 PM, Apr 26th 2021
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.