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1:05 AM, Tuesday May 4th 2021
Starting with your form intersections, just a quick reminder - when adding line weight, you should not be tracing back over large chunks of a form's silhouette, especially when it comes to curving silhouettes like spheres and cylinders. Line weight should be focused on clarifying particular overlaps, being applied to specific, localized areas where the additional mark can be drawn with the same kind of confidence as the original linework. Tracing back over your silhouettes will tend to make them stiff and uneven, diminishing the original confidence of the stroke.
In general, I do feel like your linework in these form intersections could have received some more time, and more attention through the planning and preparation phases of the ghosting method. While it's not too bad, it is verging a bit on the sloppy side of things.
Moving onto your object constructions, one thing immediately jumped out at first glance. In the instructions, where I mentioned that students were allowed to use ballpoint pens, I specifically said that you should not be then going back over your lines with a fineliner. It's the same thing as above - tracing back over your lines is not how line weight is meant to be applied. Furthermore, remember that line weight itself should be kept subtle, like a whisper to the viewer's subconscious to help clarify how certain forms overlap others in key areas. Line weight is not meant to separate your object from the construction/scaffolding, as you did in this barrel construction.
The same point about not going back over your lines with a fineliner (should you choose to work in ballpoint) also applies to going back over blue ballpoint with black as you did here. Throughout this course, focus on the idea that what you're drawing - the focus of what you're drawing - is the construction itself. It's not about using the construction to create a final drawing that then needs to be pulled out from the mess. The construction itself, and what it helps us understand about 3D space, is the assignment.
As you progress through the set, with drawings like your camera, this chair, and this computer mouse, things start to get much better. It's clear that you are still going back over the silhouette of your drawing, which you should refrain from doing all the same, but that linework is confident so it doesn't undermine the construction as a whole. The result is that the objects feel more solid.
Now in terms of the general sloppiness I referred to earlier with your form intersections, there are elements of it in your constructions here - especially in the chair - but all in all it's moving in the right direction. Just take your time - don't jump into a drawing expecting it to take a certain amount of time. There will be drawings that simply demand so much of you that they cannot be completed in a single sitting, and you'll come across plenty of those in the last lesson.
Instead, remember that your only requirement in this course is to spend as much time as you can to execute each drawing to the best of your current ability. That will always mean investing the time, and avoiding rushing.
As it stands, I think you did well enough on those three drawings for me to be comfortable marking this lesson as complete - just take those last words to heart and take your time.
Next Steps:
Move onto the 25 wheel challenge.
Ellipse Master Template
This recommendation is really just for those of you who've reached lesson 6 and onwards.
I haven't found the actual brand you buy to matter much, so you may want to shop around. This one is a "master" template, which will give you a broad range of ellipse degrees and sizes (this one ranges between 0.25 inches and 1.5 inches), and is a good place to start. You may end up finding that this range limits the kinds of ellipses you draw, forcing you to work within those bounds, but it may still be worth it as full sets of ellipse guides can run you quite a bit more, simply due to the sizes and degrees that need to be covered.
No matter which brand of ellipse guide you decide to pick up, make sure they have little markings for the minor axes.