Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes

3:04 PM, Monday December 14th 2020

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Hi there :) Off to the 250 boxes challange...

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10:13 AM, Saturday December 19th 2020
  1. Lines: I think you are missing one page of overlapping lines. Also could used some wavey lines and a few longer ones (keeping a the line straight and hitting its target on longer lines is substantially more difficult. Ghosted Planes look pretty accurate (not all of them work out, they never do).

  2. Ellipses: I wonder if you are going a bit too fast? I find I need a certain amount of speed to keep the flow, but if I go too fast the accuracy of the second loop goes out of the window.

  3. Perspective: Both you plotted and erough perspectives are excellent, as are the rotated boxes. Well done. The organic perspective maybe could have used a greater change in size between the closer and more distant boxes to make it look more 3D, but that's not incorrect as such.

In summary, in your shoes I'd be confident to move on to the 250 Boxes Challenge.

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7:08 PM, Monday January 25th 2021

Superimposed Lines: Incomplete. We're missing a page. Be sure to carefully read the instructions. We wanted 2 pages. The lines themselves are alright, with only a couple of instances of fraying on both ends. Always be sure to carefully set your pen down before making your stroke. On your second page be sure to add some "S" and "C" shaped curves.

Ghosted Lines: Solid. Their is some waviness to your lines, but we'll work on that with practice. Be sure that you're rotating your page and ghosting your stokes as many time as needed. Focus on smooth straight lines at first, accuracy will come with time and patience.

Ghosted Planes/ Ellipses in Planes: Solid. We got two nice full pages. Be sure to experiment with larger planes and more extreme angels in the future. Line quality is a little hit and miss with some nice straight lines bust also some wobblers mixed in. Don't worry about over and undershooting your lines. Remember that a straight line is preferable to a wobbly accurate line at this stage. Make sure you plot and ghost ever single point, the cross bisecting the plane as well. You ellipses are solid. We have a couple with some wobble and some not drawn through completely twice. But the majority are drawn through with the element of smoothness that we're looking for. Continue to practice to improve and to get those ellipses to touch all four sides of your plane.

Table of Ellipses. Solid. Again be sure to read the instructions. We should have created a table that was detailed in the lesson plan (https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/tablesofellipses) The ellipses are nice and smooth and mostly drawn through twice. Be sure to take your time ghosting each and every ellipses, we want them all to be touching. If you continue to have issues I would suggest to start drawing your ellipses off of the bound of the previous one.

Funnels: Solid. The Ellipses are fitted in the funnel and the minor axis is cutting them in half. Continue to practice to get those ellipses to touch and to get more consistent with drawing through them twice completely.

Plotted Perspective: Perfect

Rough Perspective: Good. You see to have a firm grasp of the exercise. With some sturdy boxes with the horizontal and vertical lines being parallel and perpendicular to your horizon line. My one gripe would be is that we should only add line weight with one additional stroke of our pen and only to the silhouette of our boxes, and it should never be used to correct or straighten our lines. Also I'm not sure what happened to your ruled guide lines back towards the VP? I can faintly see them as off-white marks on your paper. Is it a scanner issue? Whatever the case be sure that you can see them and learn from them and keep in mind that when you do the 250 box challenge we're going to need to able to see those guidelines to grade your work.

Rotated Boxes: Solid. We got some nice line quality and the image is nice and large. Also the use of hatching is appreciated and makes the image read clearly. Be aware that your are missing 4 boxes. 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. Also many of you boxes are not quite rotating. Be sure to read the common mistakes in the lesson plan (https://drawabox.com/lesson/1/rotatedboxes) Nothing to be two worried about, just be mindful of it when you re-visit the exercise.

Organic Perspective: Solid. A good attempt. The boxes are following the curve and you gave your best attempt to give a variety of sizes and angels. Ultimately we'll learn more about the "Y" method of constructing boxes and 3 point perspective in the 250 box challenge. My main conercne is that many of your lines in this exercise are wobbly. No matter how complicated the problems gets be sure to retreat to the basics: Plot your points, Rotate the page, Ghost your Strokes, and in one clean motion from your shoulder put down your line. Be sure to do this with every single line for these exercises.

Overall Thoughts: Solid. We're missing a page of Superimposed Lines, the Table for your Ellipses was not properly constructed and we can't see the guidelines in your Rough Perspective Exercise. Your line quality is good enough that I'm not going to ask you to repeat these exercises but do keep in mind to carefully read the instructions, and to be sure that your guidelines are clearly visible when submitting your 250 box challenge assignment. Cheers and Happy Drawing.

Next Steps:

  • Implement these exercises into a regular 10 to 20 minute warm-up (pay special attention to Ellipses)

  • Continue to the 250 box challenge.

  • Consider writing critiques for other students with this helpful guide (https://pastebin.com/dYnFt9PQ)

  • Join the DrawABox Discord to share your thoughts and concerns about your work. It's good to be part of a community.

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