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5:00 PM, Tuesday April 28th 2020

Your constructions are definitely appearing more solid here, specifically in how you're understanding how they wrap around one another, how they connect to one another, and how they generally relate to each other in space. There are two issues, both relating to the legs though, that I want to address: the legs.

Part of this was my mistake - I'm not sure why, but it seems in my last critique I didn't address the fact that you weren't really reinforcing the joints between the sausage forms as demonstrated here using a single contour line. This step of the process is critical to establishing how those forms relate to one another in 3D space. So, what you've got in your page of sausage chains read more as flat shapes on the page, rather than solid three dimensional structures.

Another element is that I feel your leg constructions are often quite simplistic - you put down the sausages, and that's about it. You add the odd additional mass here and there, but you're not addressing much of the segmentation and other details that can be achieved through construction and form by building things up as shown here.

So, I'm going to ask for one more page, but we're going to make it a little more interesting: using reference, I want you to do a page of insect leg studies. Start them off with the sausage chain, and make sure you follow through every aspect of it including the contour lines at the joints. Then build up whatever additional forms are required on top to capture the more nuanced forms present in your reference images. Be sure to use high-res reference images as well, as that'll help you identify everything that's going on.

Next Steps:

1 page of leg studies, as described above.

When finished, reply to this critique with your revisions.
6:14 PM, Thursday April 30th 2020

Here are the legs

https://imgur.com/gallery/vZ1bZQG

I feel like I still have problems making the leg segments connect with a contour line when they are thin. Is there a way to make the connection more visible without making the legs thicker?

9:35 PM, Thursday April 30th 2020

To put it simply, you'll get better at handling the thinner ones with practice, but for now, focus on drawing things larger wherever possible. In addition, one thing that can cause the smaller ones to be especially difficult is if you tend to draw more from your wrist when tackling a smaller mark. Always remember to draw from your shoulder regardless the scale of the mark, as long as the mark itself needs to flow smoothly and consistently.

Anyway, these leg studies are looking good. I'll go ahead and mark this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto lesson 5.

Next Steps:

Move onto lesson 5.

This critique marks this lesson as complete.
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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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