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2:07 AM, Sunday July 11th 2021

RE: Potato plant

Yeah I can see why you did it, but black areas in this course should be exclusively cast shadows. In the demo it is done as a cast shadow, with all the leaves above that area basically causing the entire area to be black. However, if you want to capture that cast shadow, you must capture all of the cast shadows in the composition.

RE: Cactus

I was mainly basing this on the demo where there was a pretty pronounced dish-like shape to them. Looking at more examples, I definitely see what you mean though. I guess that's just the nature of that particular plant.

RE: Trees

Remember that the purpose of this lesson is not to learn how to draw plants, but rather specific ways of construction that apply well to leaves and branches. Trees have way too many of both to construct them one by one, and therefore none of the construction techniques apply to them. You have constructed them well, but they don't really apply the principles of the lesson.

7:22 PM, Sunday July 11th 2021

Please do not take this in the wrong way as I mean this only to correct a misunderstanding of these great lessons but the darkness in the potatoe plant demo isn't a cast shadow. It is indeed there simply to clarify details and forms.

"Now, some will mistake this as being the use of shadow and light. It's not - or at least, it's not the point. What I'm doing here is using flat black spaces to help clarify my drawing and organize my shapes. If you look at the previous step it's very difficult for your eye to focus on any one area - everything is equal, so they're all vying for your attention. Stare too long, and it's going to start to hurt."

8:37 PM, Sunday July 11th 2021

Hmm, I thought I read somewhere that black spaces were for cast shadows and textures, but ok, that's fair. No worries, been a while since I've read the plants demo section myself.

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