8:42 PM, Tuesday January 30th 2024
Hey there, MagneticScrolls. DIO tagged me in on this one to help address the issues you're still running into. To get this out of the way up-front, we've been going back and forth on this stuff for a good while, so most of these issues have been called out before (and have been called out in DIO's last round of feedback as well), but based on our previous interactions I think it's fair to say that something is hindering your ability to remember all of the points consistently.
I can't speak to what specifically is getting in the way of your recollection, and that issue unfortunately isn't one I know how to address, but while with most students we'd hit that limit and have to stop there, you are something of a special case. That is, you are quite literally the second biggest supporter of Drawabox when looking at the total lifetime support. While many of our students make use of the fact that the official critique program is subsidized (meaning the minimum one has to pay to get feedback is less than what we pay our TAs for the corresponding work), which forces us to limit how far we are able to go to help them, you are as far to the other end of that as one can be - so I will happily continue to call issues out, as long as that is something you're okay with. I do want to stress though - the issue is not that you're ill-equipped to draw. The issue is entirely with remembering the many considerations that go into how these exercises work. I'm saying this because there may be better ways for you to spend your money, from New Masters Academy which has a ton of different strategies for learning that can be a lot less strict about process as we are (of course disclaimer that they are our sponsor, so I have a financial incentive to recommend them), along with things like Brent Eviston's Art & Science of Drawing, courses like ArtWod, and so forth. So there's a lot out there, and Drawabox is not your only option.
All that said, before I get into calling out the points that were missed, I want to note that out of this set, this fox construction is generally looking to be the best. Particular points that stand out to me in this regard are how the foot positions imply a stance in three dimensions (there's depth to it, and while the front-right paw would benefit from being a little lower in the frame, they're otherwise pretty consistent in terms of standing on a level ground.
Additionally, I felt this contour curve did an excellent job of defining the joint between those two forms, helping them to feel more solid as a combined 3D structure, rather than just lines/shapes on a flat page. Of course it may seem silly to focus on a single contour curve, but when something is drawn well, and really captures that illusion of 3D, it really makes a massive difference even when it's just a seemingly minor aspect of the construction as a whole.
Next, let's look at what you need to continue to push yourself to remember when approaching these animal constructions.
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Additional Masses. This is the biggest one, as it's what stood out to me at first glance. Right now you're drawing them as we see here, which have two issues, one of which is more than likely causing the second (or at least making it easier to fall into its trap). The first issue is that you appear to be drawing these all with a single continuous stroke. DIO actually called this out specifically in their feedback, in the second last paragraph of the "Additional Masses" section. They also included this drawing to help demonstrate the point. In case for whatever reason that diagram wasn't clear though, I did the same kind of thing here on the wolf - each separate colour is a separate stroke. We are not drawing the whole thing all in one go, but rather with every section we're taking the time to think about how that part of the mass should be designed. That brings us to the second issue - you're sticking with outward curves for everything, rather than using inward curves where the mass is meant to wrap around existing structures.
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Observation. You asked a question about negative shapes, given that we're working in ink and can't actually draw the negative shapes on our construction. Ultimately the "negative shape" tool is one that is meant to direct how we look at our reference - they're not shapes we actually draw on our construction, although we can draw them directly on the reference image to help with the analysis. But as a whole, it is something we can use to help focus what it is we pay attention to when looking at the reference, so that we're not just using that time aimlessly, but rather with a greater sense of purpose of what we're supposed to be looking at. Otherwise we can look at our reference for a long time, but carry very little over into our construction - which I think may be something you're struggling with, especially if we look at the differences between, say, the wolf's ears in your construction (where they're very prominent, both visible) and the reference (where they're lowered, with the other ear barely being visible. This suggests that you drew what you thought the ears would look like, rather than specifically looking at the ears and laying that shape out as you actually saw it in the reference.
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Head Construction. For head construction, we generally focus on two main demonstrations. The informal head construction demo here and then this additional application of the head construction demo's methodology to a rhino to show how the core of that process can be applied to a variety of areas. While I can see some signs where you appear to be trying to apply elements of the head construction demo, for example we can see you being a little more intentional with the shape of the wolf's eye socket and how it fits very tightly against the edge of the muzzle (something we also see in the fox), this is only part of that demonstration instructs us to be doing. For example, I'm not seeing you defining the forehead plane as shown in step 5, or the cheek structure shown in step 6 (again, referencing this demo). There are also cases, like the gazelle construction, your eye socket was drawn with 6 sides, as a hexagon, rather than a 5 sided pentagon. When approaching your head construction, if you aren't already, you should have the demos open alongside your work so you can look at the specific steps and apply them directly, rather than trying to perform the steps from memory.
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Leg Construction. Here you're mostly applying the sausage method correctly, but there are some issues I want to call out. Firstly, remember that sausages are not ellipses. We draw through our ellipses two full times (something you don't always allow yourself to do two full times, so keep an eye on that), because it allows our arm to more actively get into the elliptical motion required to draw the shape. When drawing sausages however, we absolutely do not want to draw through them, because it's going to make it more likely that instead of drawing a sausage, we end up drawing a stretched ellipse. So for example here on your gazelle we can see where you employed the approach we use for drawing ellipses to that sausage segment, and as a result, ended up with more of an ellipse.
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Foot Construction. In their feedback, DIO provided this quick demo on foot construction. The only place I actually saw you attempting to construct feet beyond a basic nub was this fox, where you approached each toe as its own separate ball form, rather than using the boxy approach DIO shared.
So, as I mentioned before, the bulk of these issues come down to your not always remembering the things that were shared with you in your feedback, when you actually get into doing a construction where you would be expected to apply that information.
I'm going to assign the same revisions as last time, but what I would like you to do is the following: at the start of every session you spend working on these constructions (so if you spend multiple sessions on a single construction, you'll be doing this multiple times), start by going back over the feedback you've received. For our purposes, this would be compromised of DIO's original feedback, and what I've called out here.
As you do so, make a list of all of the diagrams that come up in the feedback, with a brief summary (a sentence or two) of what they cover, in a text file or something, so you can actually bring up the demonstration later. Do this every time - meaning, you make a new list of summaries each time.
This will ensure that the information you need to be keeping an eye on will be as fresh as possible in your mind.
Then, whenever you reach a particular point in a given construction, open up the diagrams related to it. So for example, when you're doing head construction, you should have the informal head demo and the rhino head demo (as well as any other demos that may have been called out which related to that) open. When you're approaching the leg structures, you should have the sausage method demo open, the various draw-overs of your own previous leg constructions that DIO did, the foot construction demo, and so forth. Have them option and glance at them so you're aware of what you need to be thinking about at that moment.
Just to ensure that you're aware of this and that you did apply it properly, I'd like you to also include a screenshot of each of these lists of diagram summaries from each session with the submission of your revisions.
To finish up, here's a brief summary of the major points:
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When drawing your additional masses, don't draw them with just one stroke. You need to piece them together with separate strokes so you can actually use inward curves where they're necessary to capture how the mass wraps around the existing structure, and outward curves where there's nothing to press up against.
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Keep working not to draw what you think is there - always look back at your reference and confirm that you are at least pulling from an accurate impression of the animal you're drawing - so for example, the wolf's ears were entirely different from the reference, suggesting that this was something you did not observe, but rather invented.
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Head construction follows a specific process when approached in this course, and it is critical that you follow it in its entirety, rather than in bits and pieces.
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Draw through your ellipses two full times before lifting your pen, every time.
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Do not draw through your sausages, as this will shift them more towards being ellipses rather than sausages.
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Use the foot construction demo that was provided.
So, with all that said, your revisions will be another 5 pages of animal constructions.