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Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

5:20 AM, Monday March 29th 2021

Lesson 3 - Raulillo - Album on Imgur

Direct Link: https://i.imgur.com/cR764GO.jpg

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I think i have improved a lot with the arrows exercise and branches/leaves. But when it comes to a complete flower drawing i completely messed up. The curvature of some petals is what i struggle the most with. Some times i tho "this is how it goes through space" and ended up being a plain a little bit tilted in 3D space.

I had the feeling that i get a 3D result, but not an organic one. It's like seeing a paper mario videogame, it's 3D but all in it is made on planes.

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9:09 AM, Wednesday March 31st 2021

Arrows are confident but still need to compress in space more. Line weight is a little hesitant and more chicken scratchy, so remember that you should be using the ghosting method to execute those marks as confidently as the original linework. If you missed the mark, that's okay. They're just exercises.

The flow generally carries over onto the leaves nicely, except for this one, where you bent the leaf more than the flow line can afford. The edge detail seems to be handled with care, just be sure not to leave gaps so they blend seamlessly onto the construction lines. Another point is on texture. I'm seeing a lot of repeated patterns which suggests that you are relying on memory rather than observation, which is subject to over-simplification. When drawing veins, you need to think of them as small tubes casting shadows so use this two step process to draw the cast shadow shapes.

The branches are headed in the right direction, but in some cases, 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. Also remember that the branches should be of consistent width.

Moving onto plant constructions, in addition to the above, the issues with extending your segments come up more frequently here. In the hibiscus plant, you've extended your petals beyond the initial constructional shape instead of adhering to it. Remember that the constructionl mark is not a suggestion. It's about building up your forms in stages, not replacing one mark with another. Also, remember to establish a central minor axis to keep your ellipses alligned in your mushroom. This plant (which I'm assuming is a tulip) should have taken the same approach as the other flowers you've drawn, using the leaf construction method with flow lines coming out of the central point and each petal being drawn in its entirety like this. Having more references would have definitely helped on that one. And then, you've fallen into zigzagging the edge detail towards the end so don't do that.

Overall, I think I've pointed out a number of areas where you can stand to improve and apply the concepts covered in this lesson so I'll assign some additional work for you to do just that. I'll mark this as complete once you're done.

1 page of branches

3 pages of plant constructions

Next Steps:

1 page of branches

3 pages of plant constructions

When finished, reply to this critique with your revisions.
8:16 PM, Sunday April 4th 2021

Thank you for your feedback! I have been struggling to keep my ellipses with the same size and correct degree.

I tried to find the flower that you thought it was a tulip. It was another type of flower but i couldn't find the reference again. I found a similar one and tried again on this revision (I wrote the name this time).

https://imgur.com/a/eLecXsc

12:04 AM, Monday April 5th 2021

Alright, your drawings are coming along nicely. The canary bellflower is alot more solid than last time, but I still think drawing the flow lines like this would've captured how the petals move in three dimensions.

Your tulip is on the right track, but your lines are wobbling due to being unable to engage your whole arm. When drawing flowers, be sure that the stems aren't taking up the entire page since the plant head is the main focus of the exercise (unless your plant is nothing but leaves). A rule of thumb moving forward is if there are more than 2 drawings on a page, it's probably too small. If there's just 1 drawing that fills up the entire page, however, that's perfectly fine.

If you're still having trouble with leaves, remember that the flow line determines your choices. If you draw a stiff flow line, then your leaf will also look stiff. So don't be afraid to bend your flow line more and let the leaf edges overlap. Review the material and do some leaves for your warmups.

And lastly, don't worry and if the extra lines make your drawings look messier. These exercises aren't meant to look clean or pretty. It's about identifying how everything we draw sits in space.

Next Steps:

Lesson 4

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