Fighting the urge to restart 250 box Challenge?

6:06 PM, Friday September 13th 2024

Is there any one out there who has restarted the challenge? Any of them really. I'm only 21.75 boxes into the challenge but they all feel so extremely wonky it makes me want to restart our right.

Logically speaking I know that Im super early on into the challenge and the point of it is to learn and grow from your mistakes.

Even so it feels like I'm so far off from the target that I should just start from 0.

Is there anyone out there who acted on that impulse? Did it help or hinder you? Did you feel like restarting with a clean slate helped you mentally? Or did you overcome and fight the self-deprication.

In truth, I don't think I'm going to restart. The need to see how I improve at the end of the challenge outweighs the need for perfection in this case.

But I am really curious about other people's experience with this urge!

7 users agree
11:59 PM, Friday September 13th 2024
edited at 11:59 PM, Sep 13th 2024

So long as you did your best with those 21.75 boxes there's nothing to regret and no reason to be hard on yourself. This course asks you to perform to the best of your ability with every line you put down -- that's asking a lot, but what it isn't asking for is perfection. When I was doing lesson 4, there was a time about halfway through drawing each bug when I felt like scrapping it and starting over, but I fought the urge every time and finished the bug and I am very glad that I did. It's best to build a habit of finishing, not restarting. In later lessons, you will inevitably make more mistakes, and those mistakes will be opportunities to learn how to course correct and make the most of what you have on the page. I think that's more valuable than restarting every time you put down the wrong line.

edited at 11:59 PM, Sep 13th 2024
5 users agree
5:54 PM, Saturday September 14th 2024
edited at 8:07 PM, Sep 14th 2024

If you suspect you aren't following the instructions properly you should share your work here or in the discord to get guidance. Definitely don't start over. Restarting does nothing but make you feel more burnt out.

In the end what does the number you write beside the box matter? It isn't like 250 is some magic number that will let you master boxes. Just try to identify something specific you can do better in the next box and do you best to apply it. Boxes should be a regular part of your warmups pretty much forever onward after the challenge, anyway.

Drawing, or any creative endeavor really, is a battle first fought in the mind. Our neuroses - doubts, insecurities, impatience, perfectionism, frustration, reluctance, etc are all the demons we all fight in that battle. The more we give into them the stronger they seem to become. To the best of your abilities, don't.

edited at 8:07 PM, Sep 14th 2024
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 we've used ourselves, or know to be of impeccable quality. If you're interested, here is a full list.
Sketching: The Basics

Sketching: The Basics

A lot of folks have heard about Scott Robertson's "How to Draw" - it's basically a classic at this point, and deservedly so. It's also a book that a lot of people struggle with, for the simple reason that they expect it to be a manual or a lesson plan explaining, well... how to draw. It's a reasonable assumption, but I've found that book to be more of a reference book - like an encyclopedia for perspective problems, more useful to people who already have a good basis in perspective.

Sketching: The Basics is a far better choice for beginners. It's more digestible, and while it introduces a lot of similar concepts, it does so in a manner more suited to those earlier in their studies.

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