Check Out NMA    Learn More About our Partnership
Close and Enjoy Drawabox Ad-free
View Full Submission View Parent Comment
5:14 PM, Saturday October 3rd 2020

This is better, as it shows some consideration of each point, but it could be better still. I’ll start by giving you a step-by-step, in the off chance that there’s something you’ve overlooked, and that’s the reason behind this being not quite there. If that’s the case, then good. If not, no worries, it’ll continue improving as you continue to practice it.

First, you plot the points for your front face. There’s 4 of them, and they form 2 sets of lines that are parallel/perpendicular to the horizon. Before you draw the lines that connect these points, pull back, and make sure that this is the case. Then, pick one of these points, and ghost a line between it and the VP, all the way to the horizon. Do this multiple times, and, when you’re ready, place a point in the path of that line. Again, pull back, and confirm that it’s in the correct place. Don’t ask ‘it’s correct, right?’, as your brain will be more than happy to tell you that it is, but rather specific questions, based on prior observations. Do this for the remaining 4 points, and remember that each following one will have more boxes it’ll need to check. For example, #2 will need to be in the path of that line (the one from the initial point, to the VP), and form a parallel/perpendicular line (depending on which point you choose as your #2) with the previous point. #3 will do the same, and #4 will need to be in their intersection. Now. All you’ve got on your page are dots. Yet again, pull back and check whether all of the above is correct. If it’s not, alter it. Then, you connect the points. And once you do this for an entire page, you look at your mistakes, take note of your habits, and compensate for them in the next attempt. In doing so, you’ll get a little better each time. If you don’t do this, then this is a great way to build mileage, but, in that sense, is no different from the ghosted lines exercise, which is much less time consuming. If you’re practicing this one, practice the things it’s trying to teach you, ideally.

ANYWAY, despite all that, I’ll be moving you onto the box challenge. I just figured it might help. Hope it did. Good luck either way.

Next Steps:

250 box challenge

This critique marks this lesson as complete.
6:40 PM, Saturday October 3rd 2020

Thanks, Benj. I will practice this in my warmups. I think repetition is the only way I'll get better. I did try to think about where the points were plotted according to the vanishing point, but I would still sometimes place points incorrectly. Once the lines are down it's sometimes easier to see where things went awry. The worst is when you have your points, ghost the line and then still mess up the line when you draw it.

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.
Drawabox-Tested Fineliners (Pack of 10, $17.50 USD)

Drawabox-Tested Fineliners (Pack of 10, $17.50 USD)

Let's be real here for a second: fineliners can get pricey. It varies from brand to brand, store to store, and country to country, but good fineliners like the Staedtler Pigment Liner (my personal brand favourite) can cost an arm and a leg. I remember finding them being sold individually at a Michael's for $4-$5 each. That's highway robbery right there.

Now, we're not a big company ourselves or anything, but we have been in a position to periodically import large batches of pens that we've sourced ourselves - using the wholesale route to keep costs down, and then to split the savings between getting pens to you for cheaper, and setting some aside to one day produce our own.

These pens are each hand-tested (on a little card we include in the package) to avoid sending out any duds (another problem with pens sold in stores). We also checked out a handful of different options before settling on this supplier - mainly looking for pens that were as close to the Staedtler Pigment Liner. If I'm being honest, I think these might even perform a little better, at least for our use case in this course.

We've also tested their longevity. We've found that if we're reasonably gentle with them, we can get through all of Lesson 1, and halfway through the box challenge. We actually had ScyllaStew test them while recording realtime videos of her working through the lesson work, which you can check out here, along with a variety of reviews of other brands.

Now, I will say this - we're only really in a position to make this an attractive offer for those in the continental United States (where we can offer shipping for free). We do ship internationally, but between the shipping prices and shipping times, it's probably not the best offer you can find - though this may depend. We also straight up can't ship to the UK, thanks to some fairly new restrictions they've put into place relating to their Brexit transition. I know that's a bummer - I'm Canadian myself - but hopefully one day we can expand things more meaningfully to the rest of the world.

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