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2:51 AM, Tuesday October 13th 2020
edited at 2:52 AM, Oct 13th 2020

I appreciate you limiting your questions to the important ones, at least right now - I still have a couple homework submissions to critique before I can get to bed tonight, and unfortunately to ensure that I don't miss any responses, the system actually forces me to respond to them before I can grab the next submission.

Here's how I would approach constructing that horn. Keep in mind this is not a specific approach (especially in terms of the additional forms I add in the third and fourth steps), and it is not the only approach, but the gist of it is there. Construction is something like a puzzle - you have pieces you can use to move towards your goal, and so you keep using them until you get to an approximation of you're aiming for.

Edit: Sorry I missed your other question. If you can see part of a form, you should draw the whole thing. That doesn't necessarily mean the whole leg, but don't draw part of a form so it gets cut off where it is not visible. If you can't see any of the leg, you don't need to draw it.

edited at 2:52 AM, Oct 13th 2020
11:49 PM, Monday October 19th 2020

My redo

https://imgur.com/a/9eIlCvv

The references

https://imgur.com/a/H3mEt56

I tried to draw a cast shadow under the rhino beetle, but I feel like I ended up making it harder to read. I also had a difficult time drawing the protrusion on the top of the thorax, that entire raised region of the shell, so I would appreciate some more insight on tackling such things.

Other mistakes I noticed were some occasionally wobbly lines ruining the flow, best visible on one of the front legs of the water strider. I feel that the bee and ladybug were far inferior compared to the rhino beetle and water strider, but I can't pinpoint what the major differences between them are.

I also tried to use up more page space, as you mentioned last time.

12:53 AM, Tuesday October 20th 2020

Your first two drawings came along reasonably well, but the third was very weak. I put a number of notes directly onto the page here.

Now, two out of three coming along reasonably well is generally good enough, but I also noticed that you don't appear to have paid much attention to the instructions I gave in my previous critique regarding how you construct your insects' legs. This is an extremely important technique that I want you to be able to use, as it will come up again in the next lesson.

I'd like you to do just one more insect drawing, demonstrating an understanding of everything I've pointed out, including the use of the sausage method. To start, I want to recommend that you not start defining each leg with a center line - while there's nothing inherently wrong with doing so, it is not included in the technique I'm asking you to follow, and so starting with that step sets you on a different path from the beginning.

Next Steps:

One more insect drawing.

When finished, reply to this critique with your revisions.
1:57 AM, Tuesday October 20th 2020

what should i do when the legs are really long and skinny? I find it rather difficult to make consistently thin and long sausages without losing control. for some legs that are really thin, i used the tube method we used for plant stems.

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