Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

5:43 PM, Monday January 3rd 2022

Drawabox lesson 4 homework — ImgBB

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Hi everyone, here is my submission for lesson 4, together with the references I used - sorry for the hairy spider, and a big thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to critique :)

if I may preemptively comment some of these:

  • I'm still very frustrated with my sausages with contour lines, I struggle with varying the degree of the ellipses, fitting them inside the bounds and achieving smooth lines all at the same time, so I regularly practice doing them in my warm ups

  • I realize that I'm very heavy handed on the line weight sometimes, but don't hesitate to still mention it in your critique if you also feel that it is an issue, repetition doesn't hurt ;)

  • I'm also not super happy with my hairy spider, I probably should have been more subtle & intentional with my use of texture for the fur, it's kind of all over the place

  • a bit unhappy with some of my insects' legs as well, especially for those who had weird leg positions in the reference photos, the result is that their relation to one another in 3d space is not always entirely clear I feel

  • probably also overdid it with the contour lines in some instances, especially for the black widow's butt, er I mean abdomen

  • shadow silhouettes are riddle to me

2 users agree
5:20 PM, Sunday February 6th 2022

Hello Leefebul! In general try to keep your comments to specific questions instead of critiquing your own work directly. For example you could ask "I struggle trying to draw contour on the appropiate degrees on these perspectives, or I'm struggling drawing organic forms on these situations" These kind of specific questions make it way easier to help you in whatever you're struggling, so try to do it next times whenever you want to ask something!

Starting with the organic forms with curves I think the main thing you're struggling with isn't varying the degree, which I think you're doing a good job on, but the allignment of the ellipses with the minor axises. Remember that the minor axis must cut the ellipse in 2 identical halves, and in your sausages sometimes your ellipses are tilting too much, which makes this impossible. Make sure you keep an eye on that, and maybe try to actually draw the major axis on some of the ellipses so you know what I'm talking about.

About your insect drawings, overall you're doing a great job and they show a very good grasp of form. They feel very solid! You're also doing a good job defining the intersections between most forms and using the sausage method, though there are a few cases on which you don't draw some intersections or make some mistakes on the sausages you draw.

About the intersections, in general every single form you draw should be connected to whatever you had drawn previously on your drawing by defining the intersection between forms. Here are some examples where you didn't add intersections to some forms.

Another important thing is how you approach simple organic forms. On the first part of the lesson you did a good job with all of them, but on the insect drawings you make sometimes stretched ellipses instead of sausage forms. Always remember that the simple organic forms we use here are formed by 2 balls and a tube of consistent width. The tube cannot grow in the middle! Here are some examples.

Pay attention to the part on which I add masses to a simple form. Whenever you wanna draw a complex form always approach it like that. First drawing a simple form, and then add more simple forms with intersections making clear where the forms connect until you get the complexity you wanted.

On textures you haven't done much on them, but in general you've done a good attempt, like on the fur of the spider you drew. Main thing is that sometimes you do color some form shading on some forms. Remember that you should never do generic form shading on drawabox exercises like you did on the eyes of the bugs. I know it's tempting to color them but do your best to restrain yourself!

Another thing is that I recommend you always take a photo before adding texture and cast shadows to your drawings. It will make much easier to critique and the critiquer will be able to pick up more things that can be useful for you, so don't forget to do it!

In general like I said you've done a pretty good job, so I don't have much else to say. Make sure you focus on drawing intersections between all your forms, making clear how everything connects, don't forget to ask any questions you might have, and move on the the lesson 5!

Next Steps:

lesson 5

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5:57 PM, Tuesday February 8th 2022

Thanks Elodin !

I'll keep your advice regarding comments vs specific questions in mind, that makes a lot of sense.

Thank you so much for the observation about ellipses, it's a real eye opener, I'll be trying that out for my next warmups.

Unfortunately I was a bit too eager and made the mistake of actually finishing lesson 5 before getting this critique, so I didn't take "before" pictures on my animals with textures & cast shadows, but I'll definitely be sure to do that for future lessons. I'll go over those exercises and see if I can make some revisions based on your comments about intersections & using the sausage method before posting them.

Again, thanks a lot for your time and effort !

10:41 PM, Tuesday February 8th 2022

That's a shame D: , good luck with the rest!

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