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1:04 PM, Saturday April 3rd 2021

Starting with your arrows, while the edges overlap as they should, you still need to think about how the arrows turn in 3D space. In some cases, I'm having trouble figuring out where the arrows are turning. While it's good to experiment, be mindful of where those arrows should lead the viewer. I'm also noticing you tracing over the construction lines. Lineweight shouldn't be used so loosely like that. Remember its only purpose is to clarify what goes in front- establish dominance over what sets behind. Also, when applying lineweight, it should be done using your shoulder and the ghosting method so your lines don't end up looking like chicken scratches. It's okay if you miss your mark-remember it's just an exercise. So don't feel like you need to sacrifice confidence for accuracy.

The overlaps carry well onto the leaves, but I'm seeing very few attempts at adding edge detail. In this leaf, you've built the spikes directly onto the previous construction using separate strokes for a spike. However, in this one, you've become prone to zigzagging back and forth across the edge, trying to replace the previous phase entirely. That should be avoided as it breaks the third principle of mark-making. When applying texture, be sure to think of the veins as small tubes casting shadows rather than a series of lines using this two-step process.

Continuing onto the branches, the first thing I noticed is your branches are too small, which is making it more difficult than it needs to be. While it's true that the stems we draw in the plants are also small, the main purpose of this exercise is to get you to solve spatial problems using the full extent of your shoulder. Drawing small limits us from doing that, making the process clumsier in the end. Another thing is that you're not extending your segments fully halfway as explained here. The additional extension helps the segments flow more seamlessly from one ellipse to the next.

Finally, the plants constructions. The matter of drawing small does come up, especially in this page here. A rule of thumb moving forward is if there's more than two drawings on a page, it's probably too small. If there's just one drawing that fills up the entire page, however, that's perfectly fine. Aside from the issues mentioned above:

  • there's zigzagging on some leaves, particularly on this page, where you don't appear to use the leaf construction method properly on the bitter gourd plant. You jumped into complex leaf shapes too soon instead of building on it as explained here. The plant next to it should've used this approach on the edge detail instead.

  • Another thing to mention is on cast shadows. Shadows should be projected onto an underlying form as explained on lesson 2's organic intersections section. There's shadows sticking to the form casting it here and here, resulting in some awkward shadowplay. Remember that these shadows are being cast and projected onto the surfaces that exists beneath the form.

  • I am seeing some good points though so it's not all bad. You've used individual strokes for the succulent leaf edges to build on the construction lines and placed the central axis line on the vases. Also, good use of cast shadows on the rafflesia.

Overall, I think I've pointed out some areas where you could improve upon, so I'll assign some additional work to let you do just that.

Next Steps:

1 page, half of leaves half of branches

3 pages of plant constructions

When finished, reply to this critique with your revisions.
5:11 PM, Monday April 19th 2021
edited at 5:21 PM, Apr 19th 2021

drawabox lesson 3 bit redone

I hope the link above works.

I've done the additional work keeping my mistakes in mind. Any critique on this page is much helpful.

Thanks for the previous critique as well.

edited at 5:21 PM, Apr 19th 2021
12:55 AM, Tuesday April 20th 2021

Sure thing! Looking through your leaves and branches, i see you've addressed some of the issues in my critique. However, there's still the matter of jumping into complex leaf shapes too soon as explained earlier in the critique. This leaf in particular should've been approached like this. Granted it doesn't look pretty but it's not about making a pretty drawing, it's about understanding how everything we draw is three dimensional. That includes something flat such as ribbons and leaves. Anyways, there's examples in your plant constructions where this problem comes up.

Another thing is that you've got shadows floating such as this leaf here as explained in the critique from earlier. If this is some sort of attempt to cover up a mistake, don't. It's only going to call attention to it. It's better to leave it alone. Also when casting shadows make sure you do it following this two step process as to not leave chicken scratches on the silhouettes. And make sure to fill them in completely. I'm seeing patches of white here and there.

Alright, Ill mark this as complete, but be sure to keep everything in mind moving forward, especially what i said about skipping into complexity and following the leaf construction method.

Next Steps:

Lesson 4

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The Science of Deciding What You Should Draw

The Science of Deciding What You Should Draw

Right from when students hit the 50% rule early on in Lesson 0, they ask the same question - "What am I supposed to draw?"

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