1 users agree
9:38 PM, Thursday March 2nd 2023
edited at 9:43 PM, Mar 2nd 2023

BOXES

Drawing Through Each Box

You’ve drawn through your boxes, including the lines only seen with x-ray vision, well done!

Checking Convergences / Line extension

A few boxes are missing line extensions, particularly for the back corner (190, 229 - 234, 247 - 250). The only guidelines I noticed going the wrong direction were in box 10 - otherwise, you’ve correctly extended your boxes’ lines away from the viewer, good work!

Line Weight / Hatching

Your hatching is consistent, controlled and applied to the correct spaces, good job!

A few boxes don’t have hatching (66, 89, 96) - it isn’t explicitly required, but hatching is useful to show what sides of a box face the viewer. That being said, all the ones afterwards do, so I don’t think this is something to worry about.

I would recommend using line weight (going over a line again with a planned, confident stroke) around your boxes’ silhouettes, as it’ll reinforce their shapes and give more practice with lines.

Foreshortening / Varying Boxes

A lot of boxes have very rapid convergence (vanishing points close to the box) - while we want a mix of this and minimal convergence (boxes with vanishing points further away), I’d recommend more minimally converging boxes for two reasons:

  • Dramatic foreshortening implies large objects (or things that are close up) - since most things we draw have “normal” distance/size (with shallower foreshortening), practicing those is a slightly higher priority.

  • Minimal convergence requires farther out vanishing points, increasing our chance for error. It’s not always beneficial to make something harder, but here it encourages more accurate estimations, which is useful for improving both types of boxes.

Other than that, you’ve given your boxes dynamic sizes and shapes, nicely done!

OTHER

Some boxes have redrawn/crossed out lines (142, 221, 247). Speaking from experience, it’s very tempting to redraw or cross out incorrect lines - resist the urge as much as you can.

When we redraw/cross out lines to show or correct a mistake, we give that spot more line weight - this directs our eye towards it, working against the 3D illusion we want to make.

Also, if we avoid redrawing lines, it motivates our brain to ‘get it right’ the first time, so when we can undo/erase lines (like outside of the Drawabox) we’ll be able to spend less time getting an accurate mark.

Otherwise, your linework is confident, straight, and accurate, well done!

The only other thing I want to put here is that the critiques I’ve given don’t mean you did poorly. You came here to learn, and did just that. Keep moving forward!

Next Steps:

You’ve and gained a solid understanding of the concepts 250 boxes can teach! There is only one revision I request:

1. Draw one page of four minimally converging boxes - do your best to avoid redrawing/crossing out lines, and I'd recommend applying line weight and hatching to the proper areas. After, extend each of your lines away from the viewer, including the back corner lines.

If you have any questions/concerns let me know, and I'll do my best to answer them!

When finished, reply to this critique with your revisions.
edited at 9:43 PM, Mar 2nd 2023
9:15 PM, Monday October 9th 2023

This is incredibly helpful! I did not see this comment until today (I did stop DrawAbox along the way ... Doing the box challenge once again lol

I will keep this in mind this time around!

11:49 PM, Monday October 16th 2023

Glad I could help :D

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.
How to Draw by Scott Robertson

How to Draw by Scott Robertson

When it comes to technical drawing, there's no one better than Scott Robertson. I regularly use this book as a reference when eyeballing my perspective just won't cut it anymore. Need to figure out exactly how to rotate an object in 3D space? How to project a shape in perspective? Look no further.

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