Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction
7:07 PM, Saturday March 9th 2024
Any critique, tip or comment is welcome :)
Hello Sasogo, I’ll be critiquing your submission today; if you have any questions, feel free to ask below. With that said, I’ll go ahead and review your submission.
Note: There are some extra pages of exercises included in this submission. I understand the temptation to redo an exercise, but try to hold off on doing more than the recommended number of pages.
Organic Arrows
Your lines prove to be smooth and consistent within both pages, and the principles of mark-making from lesson 1 are adhered to properly. Retaining good linework for hatching goes a long way in allowing the viewer to follow the overlaps of the arrows, and it's nice to see you’re keeping up on that aspect here. You're on the right track with the execution here; however, the illusion of depth ends up being a weaker aspect. If we visualize the arrows as ribbons flowing in space, we can interpret how the arrows should flow on the page. To put this idea into practice, focus on which end of the arrow is closest to the viewer and quickly compress the space between the overlaps. as a method to convey the perspective of the arrow growing further away.
Organic Forms
Starting on your forms, sausages clearly show the intent of a tube with two spheres on opposing ends, but they still have some bulging or pinching at the ends. Try to aim for the width of sausages to remain consistent throughout the entire length and to round off the ends as much as you can.
Organic Forms with Contour Ellipses
Ellipses on sausages are clearly drawn through at least 2-3 times, and the degree shift is correctly made relative to the viewer. However, use caution when placing the small ellipses that represent which side of the sausage is facing the viewer. Based on the way the ellipses are drawn, some of the poles wouldn't be visible. Also, don't forget to treat poles like ellipses and draw through them at least twice.
Organic Forms with Contour Curves
Contour curve degree shift is still properly applied when possible, as is hooking over the form. But the stiffness on a few of the contour lines makes the roundness of the form appear less convincing. Fundamentally, the curves are separated by the difference in only showing the visible part of the ellipse. The degree shift should be approached in the same way as the ellipses, only changing the degree shift of the curve as they progress through the sausage. It's pretty difficult at first, but try to consider the half of the curve that is not visible and how it would change depending on the degree. Same situation with poles; make sure the contour lines are consistent with which ends of the sausage are facing the viewer.
Texture Analysis and Dissections
If we take a look at the scale texture based on the observations noted, the texture contains multiple line formations. Always consider cast shadows as shapes, so instead of simply adding lines, it's better to approach them as skinny shapes. Overall, you seem to have a good understanding of how the cast shadows should behave as they progress from dense to sparse.
Now onto dissections. Overall, there's a great variety of textures that allow for breaking the silhouette. Unfortunately, some textures fall back into explicit outlining to bridge the gap in solving the rhythm of cast shadows. It's fairly easy to fatigue observing textures across two pages of forms, but try to implement the concept of implying forms as much as possible. When it comes down to transitioning from dark to light, remember that we should keep the rhythm consistent as the form hits the light. Also I suggest pushing the dense parts further so it's easier for the viewer to interpret how the cast shadows change.
Form Intersections
Solving the intersections in different forms is pretty challenging on the first go, so I’m not too concerned about your ability to cross each object. As explained on the lesson page, it's more about how cohesive the page appears —the illusion that these forms exist in the same space. That being said, at first the boxes remain relatively equilateral but on the following pages for both boxes and prisms, they lengthen quite a bit compared to the other forms. Lastly, don’t be afraid to push these forms closer together than just the 1 or 2 edges being connected. Experimenting like this allows us to push ourselves to solve these intersections in more than one way.
Organic Intersections
Forms look okay here, with the occasional complex sausage. Just a reminder to keep sausages simple and avoid awkward bends when possible. The use of contour lines appropriately describes the 3D aspect. But the structure of a few forms gives away the illusion that they could balance on top of each other. If we think of these forms as water balloons, it's much easier to judge how the masses will behave against one another. As far as the cast shadows go, remember that they shouldn't closely stick to the form and will project and curve onto the forms underneath. I'm assuming you didn’t have a brush pen to completely fill in the cast shadows. Alternatively you can use a chisel-tip sharpie/marker, as they work decently enough in filling in large areas.
All in all, I think you understand the Lesson 2 concepts well, so I’ll go ahead and send you off to Lesson 3. Keep up the good work.
Next Steps:
Remember to take these exercises into your warm-ups (10–15 minutes), and you can move on towards Lesson 3. Good Luck!
Right from when students hit the 50% rule early on in Lesson 0, they ask the same question - "What am I supposed to draw?"
It's not magic. We're made to think that when someone just whips off interesting things to draw, that they're gifted in a way that we are not. The problem isn't that we don't have ideas - it's that the ideas we have are so vague, they feel like nothing at all. In this course, we're going to look at how we can explore, pursue, and develop those fuzzy notions into something more concrete.
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