Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes

3:35 PM, Wednesday January 8th 2025

[Draw a Box] Lesson 1 - VISIX - Album on Imgur

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Up until the Plotted Perspective exercise, I was using an old 0.3 fineliner as I waited for my 0.5 to be delivered. Didn't have the best luck finding any near me, unfortunately. I also ended up making two pages of the Funnels exercise by mistake, which I only realized as I was checking the boxes to submit the homework — included the second page to be transparent, as I did more than what was requested regardless of it being unintentional.

Went through a whole month break between the first and second pages of Organic Perspective because I went through surgery (nothing serious fortunately!), and with the holidays getting closer as I was still recovering, settled for taking the time to rest since there was only one last homework before the 250 box challenge, hence the visible drop in accuracy. I apologize for long comment and thank you, in advance, for the feedback!

2 users agree
8:06 PM, Wednesday January 8th 2025

This is my first feedback! I just started as well and want to be helpful while going through the course.

Re: rough perspective exercise - it seems like your accuracy dropped more when you ghosted back from the right side of the page/ far-right of the VP and when working with relatively free-standing objects (e.g. page 1 panel 3 bottom box, page 2 panel 3 bottom box). When this exercise comes up in future warm-ups (if it's within the warm-up rules, idk I haven't gotten there yet) try purposefully plotting a majority of the boxes right of the VP until your two sides even up. Likewise try separating your boxes from each other to practice hitting the VP without another object to anchor you nearby.

Re: organic perspective - just commenting to say I like the overall design of your boxes and how they're moving in space. I think a lot of students (myself included) forget composition and design during something structured like this and it was nice to have a reminder that just because we're practicing perspective doesn't mean we should forget about thoughtful design.

Happy new year and good luck with recovery and the rest of the course!

3:35 PM, Tuesday January 14th 2025

Thank you! I too wasn't particularly pleased with Rough Perspective, but at least it made me aware of which exercise I should try to put more effort into when it comes up as a warm-up.

Happy New Year and thank you, the recovery went smoothly!

2 users agree
11:32 AM, Thursday January 9th 2025

Hello VISIX I'm Simon and will be reviewing your Lesson 1 :)

1. Superimposed lines

First of all you did a good job of drawing your lines confidently and committing to the stroke once you started it. Fraying is only visible on the end of your lines that proves you took the time to start each stroke on the same point, well done!

2. Ghosted lines

Well done your Ghosted lines do not wobble. Your lines remain straight, that's good in the future keep the habit of drawing with your whole arm so you have long confident lines! You did a good job of having your lines end up near or on the final dot, keep practicing this exercise (and the others) in your warmups to get even better at it!

3. Ghosted planes

You did a really good job of doing your ghosted planes, your lines are as good/better than the ones from your previous exercises.

4. Table of ellipses

Great job on drawing through every single ellipse twice! Make sure you keep doing that with every single ellipse you draw along the course! You tried to fit every ellipse and circle snugly along the borders of your tables good job, it is tough to achieve but as long as you keep striving for it you'll improve! Most of your ellipses are evenly shaped and appear smooth good job! Getting a perfect ellipse is a really hard job but you'll have time to work on it through your warmups.

5. Ellipses in planes

Once again good job on drawing through every ellipse twice! You tried and managed to fit your ellipses right between the four sides great job on managing to do that! Most of your ellipses are evenly shapes good job here too.

6. Funnels

Here too you tried to fit every ellipse snugly along the curves well done, even if it is tougher to do with a non straight edge it's a really good practice. You kept most of your ellipses along the direction of the minor axis, keep practicing this exercise as a warmup in your next lessons.

7. Plotted perspective

As mentioned in the exercise you used a ruler to draw your boxes that's all good. You kept the first lines of your boxes perpendicular to the horizon as you should've, well done. You made sure to plot every single line back to the right vanishing point so good job, even though some back corners don't come out perfectly that's completely fine :)

8. Rough perspective

Managing to land every single line exactly back to the vanishing point is a near impossible task at this point but what's important is you tried and most of your lines do try to reach that center point! The front back of your boxes is rectangular each time, that's great. You managed to draw every line extension in the right direction, that could get a little tougher in the 250 boxes since you have to extend in 3 directions but this shows you got the base of how to do it! You seem to have used the ghosting method for every stroke that's good! Keep using it for every stroke and your exercises will look much better than if you didn't!

9. Rotated boxes

The setup of your rotated boxes is well laid out with the cross and the 4 cubes to strive for in each cardinal direction :) You kept the gaps between each box tight and consistent. That's a key to having a good result with this exercise. You are correctly rotating your boxes, if you traced the vanishing point of every box you'd see it moving as your boxes rotate more and more! Drawing through your boxes is also a key part of the exercise and is also making you start practicing this skill that will be used for every box in the 250 challenge. You drew every single box well done! Many people forget some boxes in the corner but you didn't!

10. Organic perspective

Once again using the ghosting method for every single stroke of this course is a crucial part into getting good habits for your whole drawing journey! Some of your boxes seem to have parallel or diverging lines, that's a common mistake when drawing shallower foreshortening boxes and the only way to get better at it will be through taking the time to place each stroke carefully while drawing your boxes, take your time. You will also improve on this as you move through the 250 boxes challenge! You did a good job of drawing shallower foreshortening here as some people tend to go into more dramatic foreshortening which in this exercise as the effect of making the boxes seem inconsistent in scale compared to each other, overall making the drawing less solid and less believable.

I saw you already got a review from Fiabesca but since they didn't mark your lesson as complete I thought I'd give you one too :)

Great job overall and as Fabiesca said Happy new year and I hope you'll have a good recovery and btw I didn't really see a "drop in quality" so don't worry abot stuff like that x)

Good luck with the next exercise!

Don't forget to complete your 50/50 rule and to add these exercises to your warmups for future lessons!

Also I strongly encourage you to go review some submissions on the website :) You can review some lessons 1 and once you've completed future lessons review those as well. Don't hesitate to do a review every so often. It really benefits you so you don't forget the point of the previous exercises and helps other people who are waiting on a review :)

Next Steps:

Feel free to move on to the 250 Box challenge

This community member feels the lesson should be marked as complete, and 2 others agree. The student has earned their completion badge for this lesson and should feel confident in moving onto the next lesson.
3:39 PM, Tuesday January 14th 2025

Thank you very much for the thoughtful feedback! I'll make sure to read submissions and maybe even review some myself.

I wish you a Happy New Year as well and assure you that the recovery went nicely. Now, I'll be focusing on getting the 250 boxes done a few at a time!

3:49 PM, Tuesday January 14th 2025

Thank you !

Nice happy to hear that ut went nicely :)

Good luck indeed for the 250 Boxes! A few at a time is the way you're starting a marathon not a sprint!

Good luck!

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