Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes

1:40 PM, Tuesday November 2nd 2021

Draw A Box - Lesson 1 - Album on Imgur

Direct Link: https://i.imgur.com/JgTWyKp.jpg

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Hi Folks,

Really looking forward for what this course will still have to offer. Great concept, love love looove what you guys are offering for the artist community. Keep it up! And a big Thank You in advance!

So this is my lesson one submission, already seeing some mistakes but also improvements looking back. Am prepared for your feedback :) Had the opportunity to buy felt tip markers in a bulk for really cheap. They are 0.4 mm instead of the recommended 0.5 mm. Hope this is not a problem for future more strict restrictions.

Wishing you all a great week

Vinzent

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6:00 AM, Wednesday November 3rd 2021

Hi! No issues on the pen, anything in the .4 - .6 range is okay! Let’s take a look at this, then!

Starting off, your superimposed lines are a little mixed. Looking at them closely, the issue doesn’t seem to be one of course-correction, so much as you intentionally altering their trajectory, so it’s not too bad, but it’s something you’ll want to look into, nevertheless. The ghosted/lines planes look fairly confident, same from a similar issue – this time, near their ends. It seems like you’re a little too conscious of your end points, at times slowing down as you approach them, in an effort to stop at the right place. This is causing your line to become wobbly, or change its trajectory at the last second, so it’s not something we recommend. More than that, it’s prioritizing the accuracy, as opposed to the confidence, of your line, so it’s not a line of thought worth pursuing.

The table of ellipses exercise shows a decent start, though a similar misunderstanding (that what matters most is accuracy, not confidence). The first issue is that the ellipses are at times a little wobbly (particularly in their first rotations). This is indicative of a lack of ghosting, so see if you can ghost until you’re comfortable with the built-up motion, rather than an arbitrary amount. Second, the ellipses are at times pointy. Be sure that all of your marks are originating from your shoulder. Starting students have a habit of reverting to a lesser pivot when faced with a sharp turn – try to avoid that. The ellipses in planes exercise is more of the same. I’ll quickly remind you that a confident mark is, be default, correct, regardless of accuracy. A wobbly mark, on the other hand, is incorrect; all the accuracy in the world can’t help convey the illusion of solidity it’s after. On top of everything else, I’d recommend spending a tiny bit longer ghosting the funnels, and spending that extra time on the alignment of your ellipses. Though it’s, more often than not, good, you’ll occasionally have an ellipse that doesn’t seem to make too much of an effort towards its axis.

The plotted perspective exercise looks clean.

The rough perspective exercise shows some solid improvement throughout the set. The convergences, in particular, show some solid grown (and demonstrate a great deal of patience!), and the linework, though good from the start, maintains that quality throughout.

The rotated boxes exercise is well done. It’s big, the boxes are snug, and they do a solid job of rotating. Their far planes are, at times, a little bit flat, and their depth lines have the usual, expected issues (they’re diverging), but these are things that we’ll address, and clarify, in the upcoming box challenge, so not to worry.

Speaking of boxes, the boxes in the organic perspective exercise look really good. I’m pleased to see that you’ve drawn through them; though not necessary, for this exercise, you’ve ended up learning a lot as a result of it. The exercise itself looks quite good, too – the size, and foreshortening of your boxes doing a solid job of conveying their flow.

Next Steps:

I’ll mark this lesson as complete, so you may feel free to head on over to the box challenge. GL!

This critique marks this lesson as complete.
2:12 PM, Wednesday November 3rd 2021

Thank very much for your in depth reply. Will put more ellipses in the warm-ups. The pointy ellipses bothering from the start. Even when ghosting for what feels like ages. Will definitely try to put all emphasis on confidence for now.

Thanks again!

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