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Can I achieve different line weights by changing the pressure and angle of pen?

2:27 PM, Monday February 14th 2022

Hi drawabox community!

I'm doing the 250 boxes challenge and I have a question about achieving different line weights. For the first 100 boxes I change line weights by changing the pressure and angle of my pen. But when I was reviewing the lesson materials today I suddenly noticed that I should do this by drawing the same line twice.

I tried this new method today and it didn't turn out to be as good as my old method (see these two images, the first one changes line weights by changing pressure and the second one by drawing the same line twice). By drawing the same line twice I may experience fraying now and then and the result looks sort of messy.

I understand that these exercises are not for drawing beautiful pictures but to enhance our ability. Is it important to draw the same line twice, or more specifically, is there any purpose in applying this method (maybe it pushes us to make lines more accurate)? Will I miss something if I just change my grip to change line weights?

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1 users agree
7:57 PM, Monday February 14th 2022

Well to me its pretty much like the superimposed lines exercise. So its about confidence.

I would suggest just doing everything in this course like it is supposed to be done. Misunderstanding are fine and thats what critiques are for. But if you know its suppose to be done a certain way then id do it exactly like that.

4:25 AM, Tuesday February 15th 2022

Thanks for the reply. I'll stick to the required method.

0 users agree
12:05 AM, Saturday March 5th 2022
edited at 12:08 AM, Mar 5th 2022

The written part of the challenge does say to go over certain lines a second time to increase the thickness, but in the challenge video Uncomfortable mentions that his lines already have some dynamism due to how he drew them initially (which I take as implying that he doesn't need to add any more line weight because he was able to control the line weight from the beginning), but that for students whose line weights are more uniform, they should increase the line weight a little bit (i.e. with a second stroke). The main goal as I understand it is to provide a visual hierarchy with subtly thicker outer lines, not specifically to draw each outer line twice; though, I can see how it's good practice. I've found I can accomplish this by simply adjusting my pen pressure without having to go over the lines a second time. I also don't see the point of doing 50% more work when we're already drawing and checking 250 boxes, especially when a good affect can be achieved by controlling line weight with pen pressure.

edited at 12:08 AM, Mar 5th 2022
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