250 Box Challenge
4:43 PM, Saturday June 11th 2022
250 box challenge reupload with correct link
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5:24 PM, Sunday June 12th 2022
Okay then I’ll be handling the critique for your 250 Box Challenge as promised
Linework
-Your lines are drawn with a good deal of confidence while maintaining their accuracy, which means that you are using the ghosting method to good effect, I also like to see that you are using lineweight, although it seems that in some instances this was due to the line extensions overlapping with the edges of the box, of course you should avoid this, in any case you have applied it correctly, but there are a few boxes where it seems to be pretty far out, keep in mind that we have to apply very subtly so add one superimposed line to each edge of the box, I also want to quickly redirect you to this diagram that shows how to correctly apply lineweight.
The reason why we want it to be subtle is because if you end up making it too thick you will end up taking the solidity of your forms away and turn them into mere graphic forms. This is something to keep in mind for future lessons.
-It is great to see that you have given each individual hatching line as much time and attention as needed, and so your hatching is looking tidy rather than rushed, I hope you keep displaying this patience and care in the future.
Boxes
-You have used the line extension method correctly for all of your boxes and all of them seem to converge which is correct, although there is one issue that is very persistent throughout your work, and that is lines converging in pairs as shown here, one thing that can help you with this is to start thinking about the relationship between each pair of lines of a given set and the angles they form respective to the vanishing point, this relationship is exemplified here, you can see that the inner pair of lines is always quite similar and the outer pair can vary a lot depending on the location of the vanishing point, the further away you place it and the closer to parallel they become.
-I also want you to extend your lines all the way through even if they overlap with other boxes, in order to see more clearly how your lines are converging.
-Lastly I want you to keep playing with all sorts of rates of foreshortening, orientations and angles for your boxes, I think you have done a good job with the rates of foreshortening I see boxes with both shallow and dramatic rates, but keep pushing yourself with more shallow foreshortening, keep in mind that rates that are too dramatic always lead to distortion.
IF you have trouble coming up with new orientations I want you to take a look at this image and use it as reference.
Experimenting is a good habit as it helps us to form a better understanding of the concepts we are exploring during this challenge, so I hope that you keep nurturing this habit in the future.
Okay that should be about everything I wanted to cover, keep up the good work I’ll go ahead and mark this lesson as complete.
Next Steps:
Lesson 2
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Printer Paper
Where the rest of my recommendations tend to be for specific products, this one is a little more general. It's about printer paper.
As discussed in Lesson 0, printer paper (A4 or 8.5"x11") is what we recommend. It's well suited to the kind of tools we're using, and the nature of the work we're doing (in terms of size). But a lot of students still feel driven to sketchbooks, either by a desire to feel more like an artist, or to be able to compile their work as they go through the course.
Neither is a good enough reason to use something that is going to more expensive, more complex in terms of finding the right kind for the tools we're using, more stress-inducing (in terms of not wanting to "ruin" a sketchbook - we make a lot of mistakes throughout the work in this course), and more likely to keep you from developing the habits we try to instill in our students (like rotating the page to find a comfortable angle of approach).
Whether you grab the ream of printer paper linked here, a different brand, or pick one up from a store near you - do yourself a favour and don't make things even more difficult for you. And if you want to compile your work, you can always keep it in a folder, and even have it bound into a book when you're done.