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8:06 AM, Wednesday November 27th 2024
Hey there, saw your submission, so I figured I'd take a look:
Arrows. The central arrow on the page is easily the best constructed of the set. The rest have line width and hatching issues that hinder the arrow's dimensionality in the space. Ghosting for these lines is a good plan, as it helps ensure that the second line will follow first while allowing for more or less width depending on where you want the arrow to go. I do see you trying to use line weight to mark the dominant line of the arrow, which does help define the direction of the arrow. You can go step farther and use line weight to show when an arrow is passing over another arrow behind or beneath it.
Leaves and Branches. There's too much information on the page that makes judging this page particularly difficult. That said, I'll try to offer suggestions that may help:
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Making notes about the errors are distracting, and would be better placed either on a separate page of notes or written down after the photo was taken for the submission.
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Tallow leaf, bay leaves, and cannabis leaf seem to have multiple passes of basic construction lines. Line clutter is a bane of constructional drawing, and should be avoided.
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Texture detail is overwhelming to the point that the construction is nearly obscured, with the exception of the maple leaf, where the texture is the construction.
While texture is information, ultimately it is but one piece of the construction puzzle. Depending on the subject, more information can be better conveyed through the breaking of the silhouette.
Branches look okay. There's some odd errors here and there, but you are using ellipse's degrees to properly show the branches tilting towards or away from the viewer. My main concern with this page is the consistency of the ellipse construction. Some have only a single line to define themselves, while others have errant lines to contain their shape. There are plenty of others that are wobbly but okay. Wobbles will disappear with continued practice, but the habit of drawing through their shape is one that we must remain vigilant for early on if it is to become a subconscious routine in the future.
Plants.
Some of these are plagued with the kind of chaotic sketchy marks that were seen in the leaf exercise. The delphinum, hydrangea and shamrock have some serious line clutter that defeats the point of the construction. Incidentally, this is similar to a problem I found when I tried to draw a lavender. Like the potato plant demonstration, cast shadows can bring clarity to areas that might otherwise be too dense. There's also some occasions where constructions can be partially implemented, but that requires a nuanced touch that I'm not entirely sure I understand, but it's something to think about. For the end of this section, it's worth mentioning that the last page of plants is markedly improved over the second-to-last page.
Next Steps:
You definitely took your time from your lesson 2 submission, but a lot of these constructions seem to lack a solid foundation. I believe you can benefit from reviewing the section on drawing with the whole arm.
I'm not going to suggest any revisions, as I think most of the issues with these assignments stem from problems that can be solved by relying on lesson 1 and 2's assignments as warmups. https://mark-gerarts.github.io/draw-a-card/index.html# is a priceless resource, as it randomizes assignments for you, and can change their frequency based on your input. Bookmark that page if you choose to rely on it, and definitely keep it open as a tab in your browser so it remains as a daily reminder. Personally, I use this site to set up 3 assignments each night, completing a portion then saving the rest for another night. It's also a good way to have some practice on days where working on a new assignment/lesson might be difficult. I've compiled a page of tips that I hope you find helpful. You can only stand to improve as you move forward in the lessons, so I wish you good luck in lesson 4 and beyond.
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Framed Ink
I'd been drawing as a hobby for a solid 10 years at least before I finally had the concept of composition explained to me by a friend.
Unlike the spatial reasoning we delve into here, where it's all about understanding the relationships between things in three dimensions, composition is all about understanding what you're drawing as it exists in two dimensions. It's about the silhouettes that are used to represent objects, without concern for what those objects are. It's all just shapes, how those shapes balance against one another, and how their arrangement encourages the viewer's eye to follow a specific path. When it comes to illustration, composition is extremely important, and coming to understand it fundamentally changed how I approached my own work.
Marcos Mateu-Mestre's Framed Ink is among the best books out there on explaining composition, and how to think through the way in which you lay out your work.
Illustration is, at its core, storytelling, and understanding composition will arm you with the tools you'll need to tell stories that occur across a span of time, within the confines of a single frame.