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3 users agree
4:26 PM, Tuesday February 11th 2020
I've got a number of things that should help:
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You're demonstrating a good sense of depth with your arrows, but the linework is definitely a little stiff and wobbly. Work on drawing with more confidence, and don't hesitate when your pen touches the page. You're hesitating because you're afraid of making a mistake, and the only way to get around that is to accept that mistakes happen, and that it's better to have a line that is smooth but inaccurate than one that is wobbly but accurate.
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It's good that you're sticking close to the simple structure of your leaves when adding edge detail, but watch the way you zigzag back and forth in the top left. You're breaking this rule from lesson 1. The lesson talks about this issue in the context of this exercise here.
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Definitely a lot of stiffness in your branches. Your linework was definitely better in many of your leaves, so you're certainly able to draw with more confidence - it's a psychological block that is keeping you from doing it here.
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Also, make sure you extend the segments of your branches halfway to the next ellipse, as mentioned in the exercise. This gives you more room to overlap it in your next segment, which helps have them flow together.
Moving onto your plant constructions,
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The big one on this page is a bit worrying. Remember that these lessons are all about constructing forms in space. When you end up drawing individual lines on the page, you're drawing in an entirely different way than these lessons demand.
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On the big one at the top of this page, you've actually done reasonably well but the biggest problem is that you've only drawn the visible portion of each petal. This makes you think about the marks you're drawing as they exist on the page, rather than as being individual forms existing in 3D space. In these lessons, you're supposed to draw each form in its entirety, as this gives you a better understanding of how it sits in space and how it relates to the other forms around it.
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Bottom left here is actually quite well done. Still have that stiff linework, but the construction is pretty good. Still gotta keep pushing yourself to draw through all your petal forms entirely though.
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Don't scribble. Scribbling is not texture.
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Towards the middle-left of this page you've got a petals there where you're jumping into complex shapes way too early. There isn't enough structure in place from previous phases of construction to support the complexity you've included here.
I think you may be getting ahead of yourself on this one, as you're showing a lot of issues that are addressed way back in lesson 1 (matters of line quality and smooth, confident execution). You also seem to be missing some important instructions throughout, either points mentioned in this lesson, or things mentioned back in lesson 2 (like no scribbling when trying to draw texture). The line quality is definitely the biggest concern here.
Are you keeping up with doing the exercises from previous lessons as part of a regular warmup routine? Are you drawing from your shoulder, and applying the ghosting method? These are all important things you need to ask yourself.
Next Steps:
I strongly believe that you should go back to the exercises from lessons 1 and 2 - not necessarily redoing the whole lessons but getting comfortable with them and making sure others agree that you understand the exercises' goals and focuses. Then you can come back to lesson 3 and redo the work. I believe that getting a firmer grasp of the ghosting method and how to apply it to every mark you put down will help you considerably.
5:57 PM, Tuesday February 11th 2020
Hi ExtraBadCat,
I agree with all that you said. I feel like a total fool for breaking some rules like those with the leaves. I remember reading everything but I still forgot anyways. I guess to fix the forgetting issue I must reread and rewatch the content often.
The scribbling part is supposed to be the shadow within the plant lol, didn't mean for it to be a texture. I tried to put shadow but I realize now it was to cover up poor construction. Since if it was constructed correctly in the first place no shading would be needed.
I should be using a warm up routine to strengthen my basics. I'll make sure to do so more consistently from now on. I did some earlier before but not enough variety.
I find drawing fine details with shoulder extremely difficult (details smaller than 1cm). I think I have been using wrist/elbow for fine details. I feel like I need to grind a tremendous amount to get good at doing fine details with shoulder.
I am using ghosting method but not enough, I was told that it's okay to have to ghost many times (10+) times if needed. I don't think I have been ghosting more than once or twice for most lines. I can definitely ghost more often at least until I can consistently be confident. Then I can dial it down and maybe even eventually eliminate it entirely if I have sufficient skill (such as when I have great confidence and great accuracy).
From what I can tell I am aiming for great confidence and great accuracy in the long run. The hierarchy from what I can tell is:
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Great confidence and great accuracy
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Great confidence and no accuracy
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No confidence and great accuracy
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No confidence and no accuracy
I think I was stuck between #4 and #3. I will never be able to surpass #3 if all I work on is accuracy. Confidence does not come out of only practicing accuracy. However if I prioritize confidence then eventually I can build accuracy and go from #2 to #1.
I'm actually doing remedial work on lessons 1 and 2 at the moment lol. Once I have satisfied the critics, I'll redo lesson 3 as you instructed. Then I'll come back and post it here.
4:16 PM, Wednesday February 12th 2020
I'm glad my feedback was helpful! I do have one quick little correction to make on your response though - it's generally fine to use your wrist for texture, because texture generally requires really tight, stiff accuracy over flow. It's just that the vast majority of lines we draw are not texture or detail, and most lines do really demand a sense of flow and fluidity - even the shorter ones.
10:38 PM, Wednesday February 12th 2020
Okay got it.
2:31 PM, Friday April 17th 2020
Here is the work: https://imgur.com/a/7Lttucv.
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Sakura Pigma Microns
A lot of my students use these. The last time I used them was when I was in high school, and at the time I felt that they dried out pretty quickly, though I may have simply been mishandling them. As with all pens, make sure you're capping them when they're not in use, and try not to apply too much pressure. You really only need to be touching the page, not mashing your pen into it.
In terms of line weight, the sizes are pretty weird. 08 corresponds to 0.5mm, which is what I recommend for the drawabox lessons, whereas 05 corresponds to 0.45mm, which is pretty close and can also be used.