Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants
1:21 AM, Wednesday June 8th 2022
So finished with lesson 3. There were some I liked how they came out. And of course appreciate the feedback to help get better. Thanks.
tl;dr While there are lines that lack confidence or that were extended later on, your drawings suggest a good understanding constructional processes and adhering to previous decisions. Some drawings (or pieces of) lack a sense of 3D (i.e. hibiscus, chamomile, the cap of the king mushroom, and the arrows exercise) which I think may come from a resistance to bending curves more. Try taking more risks, even if they do not turn out how you expected.
I would like to see you draw two more pages of plants unrelated to those presented by Uncomfortable to demonstrate your ability to apply constructional drawing on your own.
I would also like you to revisit the arrow exercise and have segments of the arrow overlap in 3D space between the viewer and the background. They twist a lot, but generally follow a linear pattern.
Below you will find the unedited notes that I made when looking at your work.
Co-lord44 Feedback Notes
Arrows:
The arrows have good complete shape
Lines appear in some areas to be wobbly or drawn as separate lines
(Try to keep them fluid/confident, even if inaccurate)
Arrows ofen lack depth, they move laterally but don't
give the sense that they are pushing out of the page or pulling
into the page. I think this is because of an inconsistent changing
between the space between arrow segments and the change in arrow
size.
Leafs:
Outlines are at times are thick at the wrong places
I would avoid adding branch stems to the leafs for this exercise.
the point of the exercise is to make flowing three dimensional
planes.
Except for the eucalyptes leaf, most of your leaves appear flat.
I suggest twisting them or bending them once or twice, similar
to what we did with the arrows exercise.
At times the thick outlines make it difficult to tell how
much you stuck to the construction process. That said,
the holly leaf has a clear outline.
Branches:
Most ellipses adhere to the minor axis that was set initially
Ellipses have a solid change in degree
In a few of the branches, the ellipses might be too close together.
They may be a little short, I would suggest testing yourself by
making them longer and try to make harder turns with the flow
of the branches.
German Chamomile:
Good job following the flow of the petals that you initially drew
/not going beyond your previous decisions.
Good addition of the contour lines to the center of the flower.
Some of the petals can feel a little stiff, this may be a personal
preference but I suggest adding a small curve, even to the flow lines
which in the pictures are straight.
King Trump of Mushroom:
The base mostly follows the construction process, there are
ellipses that form the base and contours, but I feel like you are
missing the flow of the body of the mushroom to start, even if
it is a straight line it can help place the minor axes of your
contour ellipses.
The construction seems a little foggy at the cap. Specifically,
the lowermost part on the drawing has an ellipse that does not
quite make sense to me as a viewer. I belive that it is part
of the closest protrusion of the cap, but it feels out of place
when the lateral sides of the cap are cross sections.
It suggests the bottom is flat, while the sides suggest a rounded
underbelly to the edges of the cap.
Hibiscus:
The flow of each petal is smooth, however the outlines of the petals
are in some areas lacking confidence or which appear to be made
of several strokes. Try to keep petal outlines to a single
smooth stroke, even if they are not accurate.
The petals are each about the same size and have roughly the same
area on either side of the flow, which causes the flower to appear
flat or as if it were viewed from a top-down view, which I suspect
was not your intention.
Cactus:
Good solid form that has a clear construction.
I don't have any other feedback that wouldn't just be me nitpicking.
Pitcher Plant:
Don't be afraid of taking up the whole page, some of the details
are lost by drawing them this small.
The leaf on what I'm going to call the 'head' of the pitcher plant
has a good sense of 3D.
The 'tail' of the pitcher plant has a slightly inconsistent
placement of contour ellipses (the tip has a couple too close
while the further section has them too far away. I think this
may have contributed to the wobbly lines compared to the main
body of the plant.
Potato Plant:
There is a great shadow at the base of the plant, but it is
unclear what is causing those shadows. There are a few leaves
behind the shadow spot but nothing in front that would create
that gap.
There are several lines (flows and outlines of leaves) where
a decision was overruled by adding to the line or extending it later.
As we learned in lesson 3, it is okay to make mistakes, but do not
try to correct them. This is a learning experience, not fridge art.
Calla Lily
The foreground edge with crosshatching is puzzling/I am not sure
why there is crosshatching or what it represents.
Good Flow and the base of the stem as solid construction applied.
The tip of the petal gets a little cluttered, making it difficult
to tell what it looks like in 3D.
Though unrelated to lesson 3, the shading of the furthest part
of the petal is better represented through shapes, not outlines.
Apricot
The shading is incomplete/the sharp edge along the contour line
is inconsistent with how light reflects off of a rounded surface.
Additionally, the leaf has two shaded islands, which contradicts
the straight contour lines of the leaf.
Next Steps:
I would like to see you draw two more pages of plants unrelated to those presented by Uncomfortable to demonstrate your ability to apply constructional drawing on your own.
I would also like you to revisit the arrow exercise and have segments of the arrow overlap in 3D space between the viewer and the background. They twist a lot, but generally follow a linear pattern.
Thank you for the patience here are the revisions: https://imgur.com/a/K5jMI6e
Looks good! I like the contour lines you made in the indents of the blueberries and the branch on your clover is well constructed.
Keep up the good work in lesson 4!
Thanks and woot; onto leson 4!
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