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10:47 PM, Saturday September 5th 2020
Starting with your arrows, they're definitely flowing smoothly and confidently through the world, although you're still struggling to convey the sense that they're moving through the depth of the scene, because the spacing between the zigzagging sections don't compress enough to suggest proper foreshortening. You can see what I mean [in this step from the instructions](https://drawabox.com/lesson/2/4/step2.
That same confidence and fluidity from your arrows manifests in your leaves as well, although to a somewhat lesser degree. You're doing a decent job of capturing how they not only sit in space, but also how they move through it - though this is something that can definitely be exaggerated and pushed further. My favourite approach to doing so is to add a little arrow head at the tip of the flow line to really drive home the point to myself that this flow line is meant to capture a sense of movement.
I can see that with the maple leaf in the bottom left that you've made a decent attempt at nailing down how to approach a more complex construction. For the most part you did it well, although the relationship between the more complex edges and the underlying phase of construction is a little more loose than it ought to be. Try not to look at the previous phase of construction as a sort of loose suggestion - think of it as solid scaffolding that is in place, something that is not optional, but rather the only structure upon which you can build to properly construct the next phase of complexity. You can see the difference between a looser vs. a more solid relationship between phases of construction in these notes. I've also got a demo for this kind of leaf here in case you haven't yet seen it.
Moving on, your work on the branches exercise is coming along well. You're doing a good job of extending your segments fully halfway to the next ellipse, and of overlapping the previous segment directly so as to have them transition smoothly and seamlessly from one to the next.
Overall your plant constructions are looking good, but there are a handful of recommendations I have as you continue to move forwards:
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Remember that for this mushroom, when you're drawing texture, you are not to rely on any simple lines. Every mark you put down is going to be a shadow shape of some sort. Any time you define a uniform line it's not going to read with the kind of implicit dynamism that texture requires, and instead will establish an explicit structure. If you've forgotten about the difference between implicit and explicit drawing techniques, you can read about them in these notes. Also, something you can do to avoid this in the future is to ensure that every textural mark you draw is done using this two-step technique.
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For the more complex, wavy edges to the petals on this flower, the notes I linked previously about not zigzagging your edge detail show how to approach this more successfully.
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For the same plant as the point above, you added a lot of stray little lines along its stem to capture something about its texture. As a rule, try to avoid adding individual lines to a drawing. Most things worth capturing are going to be forms - be they textural (drawing implicitly) or constructional (drawn constructionally), they're still forms and so capturing them as a line breaks the illusion that we're looking at something three dimensional. It often makes more sense to focus on only the bigger ones, and to capture them as forms or shapes along the silhouette. If there is a situation where a line is necessary, then make sure it is drawn to taper at its tip, rather than sticking out with a uniform weight.
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On this sunflower, while the petals may indeed feel a little more rigid due to them not being all that long, always seek to push that sense of fluidity and flow wherever possible. Don't allow yourself to neglect to even consider that sense of flow. It's common that we'll want to overlook it when possible because we have so many things to worry about, but to do so is to make the object feel stiff and lifeless.
Aside from the points I raised above, your work is coming along quite well, and you're demonstrating a solid use of the constructional principles covered in the lesson. As such, I'll go ahead and mark this lesson as complete.
Next Steps:
Feel free to move onto lesson 4.
How to Draw by Scott Robertson
When it comes to technical drawing, there's no one better than Scott Robertson. I regularly use this book as a reference when eyeballing my perspective just won't cut it anymore. Need to figure out exactly how to rotate an object in 3D space? How to project a shape in perspective? Look no further.