Check Out NMA    Learn More About our Partnership
Close and Enjoy Drawabox Ad-free
View Full Submission View Parent Comment
9:11 AM, Tuesday May 11th 2021
edited at 11:28 AM, May 11th 2021

Understood. This lesson was admitedly a head scratcher for me. I can't promise the next revision will remedy the problem, so please, keep that pointed critique coming for this one. It really does recontextualize my approach for me.

I do have 1 question though: Is there a point I can reach where I have applied too much construction? I know that's the opposite problem I'm experiencing, but everytime I charted a detail, I couldn't help but ask myself if that's really necessary, like if there's one major detail that's parallel to a very close construction line. Is it really a line I should invest in or should I just make that intuitive mark?

I don't want to sound flippant here since obviously relying on instinct won't be enough to develop my faculties here.

edited at 11:28 AM, May 11th 2021
5:38 PM, Thursday May 13th 2021

The ghosting method has three stages to it. In the first one - the planning phase - we ask ourselves what a given mark is meant to contribute to our drawing, or to our understanding of how that construction exists in space. There are circumstances where a mark simply doesn't do much - for example, if you've got some contour lines on the surface of a form, adding another probably isn't going to help, and will instead add to the clutter.

Of course, if a mark helps us more precisely figure out the position of some element we wish to add, even if it is not a direct part of the object itself, then it is still of value and should still be added.

Don't think in terms of "too much construction" - just consider whether the elements you're building up could benefit from a little additional constructional information and support. If you can improve your precision a little more, if you can do something to make a curve just a little more specific and solid. These drawings are, as always, just exercises in spatial reasoning. Anything that helps you better understand the space in which you're working, and the way the object you're constructing occupies that space, is going to be valuable.

For what it's worth, you are faaar from putting in too much construction. You were in your submission skipping quite a few steps, so I would definitely err towards more construction rather than less.

5:27 PM, Sunday May 16th 2021

Understood. I'll up the construction for the next submission

12:39 AM, Saturday May 22nd 2021

https://imgur.com/a/oue9GgW

Better?

2:41 AM, Wednesday May 26th 2021

https://imgur.com/a/oue9GgW

Better?

3:11 PM, Thursday May 27th 2021

So much better. Your constructions are noticeably more comprehensive in how you've approached building them out, and it results in a far greater overall sense of solidity. This one in particular shows considerable patience and care with every thing, from the biggest overall form, to the smallest of constructed details. As a whole I am very pleased with the shift in your approach, and the results it has helped you produce.

Just a couple things to keep in mind:

  • The bounding box that encloses this construction ended up kind of wonky. Mistakes certainly happen, and you made the right call of just moving forward with it instead of trying to correct it. Still, keep in mind that a ruler gives us far greater capacity to eyeball our convergences (since the ruler is generally longer and lets us see where the line is going to extend towards), so take the time to take advantage of that. I think with this box you may have just been rushing a little, though the rest of the construction demonstrated appropriate patience and care.

  • For this car, filling in the front section around the headlights with solid black ended up flattening it out quite a bit. This is okay with the interior of the car, because purposely flattening out that section actually makes the rest of the construction stand out as being more solid, since they are separate elements layered together. When dealing with actual constructed elements that you don't want to flatten out however, it is important that you stick to the principle that any area of filled black is reserved only for defining cast shadows and nothing else.

So! You're doing much better now, and I am happy and proud to mark this lesson as complete - and with it, the entire course. Congratulations, and best of luck on whatever it is you pursue next.

This critique marks this lesson as complete.
View more comments in this thread
The recommendation below is an advertisement. Most of the links here are part of Amazon's affiliate program (unless otherwise stated), which helps support this website. It's also more than that - it's a hand-picked recommendation of something I've used myself. If you're interested, here is a full list.
Staedtler Pigment Liners

Staedtler Pigment Liners

These are what I use when doing these exercises. They usually run somewhere in the middle of the price/quality range, and are often sold in sets of different line weights - remember that for the Drawabox lessons, we only really use the 0.5s, so try and find sets that sell only one size.

Alternatively, if at all possible, going to an art supply store and buying the pens in person is often better because they'll generally sell them individually and allow you to test them out before you buy (to weed out any duds).

This website uses cookies. You can read more about what we do with them, read our privacy policy.