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2:26 AM, Monday February 6th 2023
edited at 2:29 AM, Feb 6th 2023

Hi Vyse,

I agree; unfortunately (as I recall) the examples weren't aligned with the instructions, but I do think the instructions and exercises were still really valuable. It strengthened my ability to mentally hold a form in my mind and try to project the shadows onto the surrounding forms without actually having to draw it first. I'm still not very good, but I can see the potential value in actually getting that level of control of form and shadow. I think the exercise also helped me grow in my ability to receive instruction, and I also leveled up in Perseverance and Tenacity :)

I hope you're getting along well with Lesson 3. I have yet to begin Lesson 6 as I'm working on making more finished art for now, but I plan to try to carry on with DAB as well.

If Uncomfortable happens to read this comment, I would suggest that maybe he could request permission to use the work of a student who did the exercises correctly as an example until he has time to redo it himself.

edited at 2:29 AM, Feb 6th 2023
11:25 AM, Monday February 6th 2023
edited at 6:53 PM, Feb 6th 2023

I agree, the exercise does provide value once it is clear what we are supposed to be doing. To get to that point you currently need to do a lot of research of your own and ask around in the respective discord channel (where they had a lot better examples that explained the concept between outline, texture mixtures of both and what we are supposed to draw out of all this). The exercise is pretty unique so it is difficult to find other resources for it. I did find that some mangas make use of the concept a lot after I was aware of it, too.

Using student work is a good idea if there is not enough time for Uncomfortable to create new examples. Asking the mods of the discord channels for the examples they provide might be helpful as well. Having a simpler exercise where you apply the concept to simple geometric shapes first, rather than jumping to the sausage dissection exercise directly might be helpful as well. To make an anlogy to lesson 1 again: Let people do the 1, 2 and 3 point perspective exercises first before you throw the spehere of rotated boxes at them.

My point is that just investing a little bit of effort here may save qutie a few people from a lot of headache in the future and maybe even from quitting at lesson 2. (Or from not even starting)

edited at 6:53 PM, Feb 6th 2023
4:08 PM, Monday February 6th 2023

I do like that idea of using simple geometric forms first. It would be great to see a kinder progression in difficulty level leading up to the big exercise, and maybe not soooo many dissections; if the point is just to plant the seed, perhaps 1 page could suffice. I spent 5 months on lesson 2 mainly because of the Dissections exercise XD

I feel I have a decent level of determination with DAB because I'm committed to finishing it, but I could definitely see how many (maybe most) people might quit at lesson 2 or just rush not really understanding the exercise. DAB is a very lengthy marathon.

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The Science of Deciding What You Should Draw

The Science of Deciding What You Should Draw

Right from when students hit the 50% rule early on in Lesson 0, they ask the same question - "What am I supposed to draw?"

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