Hi guys. I really don't understand how I should draw the feet of mammals and birds. I know that it should be a 3d form like some kind of box but....not like a box? I don't know if that gets reworked or not, but it feels like all you find in lesson 5 on feet/ paws/ claws is just...."yeah just make it 3d".
Am I the only one with this struggle?
This is something that will be incorporated into the lesson more as the overhaul of the lesson material pushes forward, but for now here's a diagram we share with students in their critiques. Effectively, building up a series of boxes - a box for the base structure, boxes for the toes, etc. to build up the foot in stages.
Thanks, I try to keep that in mind and do it for the next animals I draw.
If I may ask. Which is the next lesson to overhaul and how close to releasing it are you?
We are still working through the last section of Lesson 1, but I cannot commit to any specific timeline. Circumstances are always changing (we started out overhaul back in 2021), and things continuously get in the way. From our apartment flooding, the constant flow of homework submissions to critique, and the latest being a change in Patreon's subscription model that reduced our monthly revenue requiring me to decide between either increasing the cost of feedback, paying our TAs less, or taking a pay cut myself. I've taken the pay cut, and as a result have had to pick up a contract work opportunity with my old employer, resulting in much less time to work on the updated material. It is what it is, and the overhaul will always be a "when it happens" situation.
Drawabox will always be in a position to be better, but I do not advise students to try and wait for the overhaul to be complete, or completed to a particular point - all of the recommendations people have heard about this course are based on the material as it exists right now, and the purpose of the overhaul is basically to incorporate what we've learned about how we can better address the material from explaining those concepts in the feedback we provide. So, those on the official critique track will get that information in one form or another as they work through the course, and those who are not will get it eventually as the overhaul moves forwards
As far as the "sneak peak" those on the official critique track get, you've experienced some of this yourself - for example, the emphasis on not altering the silhouettes of forms once you've added them to your construction, which was shared with you in your Lesson 4 feedback. So, rest assured, you will not be missing out on anything, it's more of a matter of when in the process you receive the information.
I sorry for you and your team that there seems to be always something in the way.
Thank you that you release sneak peaks of in the critiques.
Is there some way for the community to help with the overhauls?
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.
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