I've finally finished lesson 4, and along with that, I've actually gotten around to uploading my work! Any and all feedback is very welcome. If you would like me to supply any of the reference images I used, feel free to ask.
Hello I’ll be handling the critique for your lesson 4 homework.
Organic Forms with Contour Lines
-Starting with the organic forms with contour curves, you have done a great job drawing sausages that have a consistent width and avoided any unexpected swelling or pinching throughout their length. Moving on to the contours, they are beginning to wrap around the sausage in a believable way, but you consistently fail to hook them around properly. I know this is very tricky, but it easily ruins the illusion of solidity that we are looking for.
I want to suggest a few things, remember that each individual mark is no less important for being part of a larger group, give each individual mark as much time and attention as necessary, use the ghosting method to think about each mark’s purpose and how you are going to achieve it best.
-It is important to note that contour curves are a useful tool to describe how a form sits in 3D space, but they can easily work against us by flattening our drawing, the more contours you draw the easier it becomes to make a mistake, so use them carefully and sparingly.
-Lastly, make sure you are cognizant of the degree shifts of each curve, I can see that most of the contours you drew barely shift degrees. If you need a reminder you can check the ellipses section of lesson 1
I know this may sound like a lot to focus on but it all comes down to planning each individual mark carefully and drawing it to the absolute best of your ability.
Insects
-Moving on to your insect constructions I definitely like to see that you are employing the construction method correctly, by breaking each one of your subjects into its more primitive elements, however you can keep pushing them further.
-The first thing I want to call out has to do with your linework. I see plenty of instances where it looks scratchy and unplanned, but the most important thing I want to address is your heavy use of lineweight. Lineweight is just like the contour lines we talked about before, it is a useful tool but it can easily work against us, if you end up making the lineweight too thick you will take the solidity of your forms away and turn them into mere graphic shapes. This can easily be seen in your insect #6, where the heavy use of lineweight ended up flattening it out completely. In order to use this tool more effectively we should apply only to clarify how different forms overlap with each other, this is better exemplified here, it is also important to keep in mind that we want to apply lineweight very subtly, only add one superimposed line and no more. I also want to quickly redirect you to this image which shows how to correctly use the ghosting method to apply it
-Now let’s move on to how you have handled the constructions themselves. I like to see that you are blocking your major masses but remember that you want to be confident in your own belief that these are forms with volume, so add a contour line to describe how they sit in 3D space. It is also important to keep in mind that these only serve as a scaffolding on top of which we will add additional forms.
This is a very specific process, whenever we want to add or change something to our construction we have to do so by adding new forms that have their own volume and a fully enclosed silhouette, we can do so by defining the intersection between the two forms ar by wrapping the silhouette around the existing structure as shown here, this approach has not been fully introduces into the lesson material, but you can see more concrete examples in the informal demos page and I highly encourage you to check those out.
-Moving on I can definitely see that you are employing elements of the sausage method to build your legs, but you can keep pushing it further, remember that the sausage method is not about capturing the shape of the legs precisely as they are, instead it is about laying down a very basic structure that captures both the flow and solidity of these limbs in equal measure, once that structure is in place we can begin to build on top of it by adding additional masses. This process is better exemplified in this ant leg demo and you can also see it here in the context of a dogs leg.
Okaay that should be about it. Before you move on I want to see you trying to apply the method I have shown you here, as a warm up before moving on to lesson 5. So I’ll leave you some additional homework. Best of luck!!
Next Steps:
Please do the following
-Draw along the lobster demo, pay special attention to how Uncomfy adds forms with a fully enclosed silhouette
-2 more insect constructions.
Thank you very much for the feedback. I've drawn along to the lobster demo and done two more constructions, as you asked. Hopefully I didn't misinterpret any of your advice.
Okay, so starting with the lobster demo I wanted you to draw along it because it shows the more updated approach, which has not been fully integrated into the lesson material. You can see that at every stage we are working with full forms rather than flat shapes, but most importantly we are wrapping the silhouette of each new form around the major masses (head, thorax, abdomen), and we are also layering them on top of each other
Moving on to your insects I want to call out a few things.
-First the way you are constructing your legs, remember to first lay down a chain of sausages, do not draw any flow lines or try to draw through them either, keep them simple, remember to draw the intersection between them. Once that structure is in place you can start to add the additional masses as I showed you on the demos that I linked above, this is the same approach that you will be using for your animals. I also want to quickly redirect you to this image which shows the better way to approach leg construction.
-I like to see that you tried to build the segmentation of your wasp as you did for the lobster, however try to give them a nice curve, try to imagine as if you were carving your pen along the surface of the form, this way you will start to get the little bits of nuance that help to sell the illusion of solidity that we are looking for.
-I am seeing some straight cuts in the head and thorax of your abdomen, given that we are working with fairly fluid representations of geometric forms, we don’t want to draw any straight lines, so always try to give each new form a nice curve and wrap their silhouette around the form they are falling on.
One thing that can help with this is to imagine how our mass would behave by itself in 3D space, with nothing else to touch our mass would have the shape of a ball, then as it start to press against the existing structure its silhouette start to change and begins to wrap around the other forms, this principle is shown here. Of course this is a process that you will get better at with more mileage, but don’t worry if you make any mistakes, they don’t take away from the things we learn by doing the exercises.
I’ll let you move on to lesson 5, given that it uses the same exact constructional approach, and you will have plenty of opportunity to address the issues I have raised here. Best of luck!!
Next Steps:
Lesson5
Thank you very much for all the feedback! Hopefully I'll be able to improve my constructional techniques soon.
Like the Staedtlers, these also come in a set of multiple weights - the ones we use are F. One useful thing in these sets however (if you can't find the pens individually) is that some of the sets come with a brush pen (the B size). These can be helpful in filling out big black areas.
Still, I'd recommend buying these in person if you can, at a proper art supply store. They'll generally let you buy them individually, and also test them out beforehand to weed out any duds.
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