Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes

12:15 PM, Friday June 19th 2020

Lesson 1 - Album on Imgur

Direct Link: https://i.imgur.com/LH5AwPm.jpg

Post with 34 views. Lesson 1

Am I a bad person for drawing very short lines with my wrist?? I have yet to figure out how to do like 1cm lines with my shoulder and I'm not entirely sure there's a point in learning...

Apologies for the one random diagonal line in the rough perspective exercise, I started automatically doing the ghosted plane exercise after completing the square...

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12:48 AM, Tuesday June 23rd 2020
edited at 12:53 AM, Jun 23rd 2020

So, I think that no matter how long or short your lines are, you should still be aiming to draw as much as you can from the shoulder, particularly for the first few lessons. Reason being is that it will help develop certain muscles. Rather than doing what the most easiest option is for you such as drawing from the wrist, you should be doing what is most effective overall. At least attempt to draw from the shoulder whenever you can, even if it becomes tiresome, and even if you don't achieve accuracy right away. Just aim for smooth curves.

Anyway, here are my main critiques for this lesson:

For the superimposed lines, you seem to be focused too heavily on accuracy. While it's good to ensure that your lines don't fray at both ends, you should never sacrifice your smoothness. Accuracy is something that will develop over time, so don't worry too much about that if you can't get it first time round. Have confidence in your drawings, even if your lines end up way off. This should be your biggest priority.

For Ghosted Lines, I can see some subtle wobbles in your lines - not all of them, but a few. Again, accuracy is not the focus of this exercise. To achieve confidence, there must be preparation involved. This means taking the time to position your pen at the start of each line. Make sure you begin drawing each line precisely at the point you intend on starting at. Not having done so means you are rushing. This is similar to the Superimposed exercise, where lines should not be fraying on both sides.

For Ghosted Planes, again, aim for confidence in your lines. This exercise is very similar to Ghosted Lines, but just applied in slightly more context.

For Tables of Ellipses, your ellipses are too wobbly. Wobbly lines can really stiffen up a drawing, so don't get into a habit of using them unintentionally. When you draw your ellipses, it's better to draw through them two times than three times.

For Ellipses in Planes, most of your ellipses are deformed. Maintaining smooth and confident lines should be a priority over anything else. Yes, these planes can be awkward shapes to fit an ellipse in, but that's the point of the exercise - to force yourself to focus on confidence more than accuracy. It doesn't mean you shouldn't strive to fit your ellipses perfectly inside - though, it should not be the focus.

For Funnels, most of your ellipses seem aligned to the minor axis. Some were slanted, but it appears as if you were trying to avoid this mistake (hopefully). Also, try to extend your straight lines all the way out (or equivalently, make your ellipses stop just before they pass the ends of each line). Definitely work on getting smooth ellipses next time.

For Plotted Perspective, you seem to have understood the main goal of this exercise. Just be careful when adding weight thickness to your lines. If you do add weight thickness, make the silhouette thicker than the internal lines that face the viewer, and similarly, make the internal lines that face the viewer be thicker than the internal lines facing away from the viewer, if you do decide to add some there. When adding weight to the silhouette, make its thickness for each line subtly different than one another. Also, weight thickness is good for clarifying what forms overlap another. Use that to your advantage if necessary. In addition, make sure to extend the lines all the way to their vanishing points.

For Rotated Boxes, perspective is quite off, but that's not the focus for this exercise. Using appropriate line weight is important too. When drawing hatching lines (or any other lines), keep them smooth, and take your time when positioning your pen at the start of each line. Don't have them floating around in the middle of the box's face it's on. Get one side (the starting side) to touch an edge. The fact that the gaps tend to be consistent and that your boxes do seem to rotate correctly enough suggests that you have been using neighboring forms as hints to where you place each object.

For Organic Perspective, again, aim for confidence and smoothness in your line work. Also, play around with overlapping forms more. Use line weight to clarify which box is in front of which. Finally, you may want to include some large boxes which are right at the very front, even if it's drawn only partially. This kind of framing often helps lead a viewer's eye more into the image.

The two pages of the Rough Perspective exercise seem to be missing.

Finally, make sure you read and understand thoroughly the purpose for each exercise. It will help you to get a better sense of the short-term goals you are trying to achieve for each one. Also, make sure to read instructions very carefully. Watch both the video and read the text. Doing just one of the two isn't good enough.

Next Steps:

Please submit the following:

  • One page of Superimposed Lines

  • Half a page of Ghosted Lines

  • Half a page of Ghosted Planes

  • Half a page of Tables of Ellipses

  • Half a page of Ellipses in Planes

  • Half a page of Funnels

  • One page of Plotted Perspective (you can use the same page you've worked on if you'd like)

  • Two pages of Rough Perspective

When finished, reply to this critique with your revisions.
edited at 12:53 AM, Jun 23rd 2020
12:30 PM, Tuesday June 23rd 2020

Oh, my apologies, I now added the rough perspective exercises to the same Imgur post.

1:50 PM, Tuesday June 23rd 2020

Alright, so for your rough perspective exercise, it seems that you understand how forms are supposed to sit in a one-point perspective system. The perspective is a bit off, but perfecting it isn't the main focus for this lesson. Again, you need to draw with confident and smooth lines.

Next Steps:

Please submit the following:

  • One page of Superimposed Lines

  • Half a page of Ghosted Lines

  • Half a page of Ghosted Planes

  • Half a page of Tables of Ellipses

  • Half a page of Ellipses in Planes

  • Half a page of Funnels

  • One page of Plotted Perspective (you can use the same page you've worked on if you'd like)

When finished, reply to this critique with your revisions.
8:17 PM, Tuesday June 23rd 2020

For Ghosted Lines, I can see some subtle wobbles in your lines - not all of them, but a few. Again, accuracy is not the focus of this exercise. To achieve confidence, there must be preparation involved. This means taking the time to position your pen at the start of each line. Make sure you begin drawing each line precisely at the point you intend on starting at. Not having done so means you are rushing.

It's specifically said in the video that you should draw the line instantly after ghosting, "without missing a beat". I'll try to aim more carefully, but I can't "take time to position my pen at the start of each line" (that was actually an instruction for the superimposed lines exercise)

3:34 PM, Friday June 26th 2020

Actually, I might have to check on that part to make sure. I did hear him talk about not skipping a beat in that video, though.

11:18 PM, Monday June 29th 2020

So, I just got a second opinion on this. When you're ghosting, you should still be taking the time to position your pen, since you can easily see the starting point. If you find yourself having trouble doing this, then maybe you are speeding through the ghosting phase too quickly. Try slowing down if you have to.

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