250 Box Challenge

7:51 AM, Saturday April 11th 2020

250 boxes - Google Photos

250 boxes - Google Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cTBWuweT2UKMxs8i6

It took me 3.5 months to finish this! (video of myself drawing a box: https://youtu.be/JmuIW90re1o)

A web app I made, called Y-generator, https://tasty-tangy-meeting.glitch.me/ was very helpful when I was in the block, even though I tried to think of boxes myself whenever I could. I think as long as you can set rules about after how many boxes or how often they can use the Y-generator, it can be very helpful for other people doing the same challenge as well.

Please consider adding a link here or you can use the source code from https://glitch.com/~tasty-tangy-meeting. I will not post any ads or change the contents of the site unnecessarily.

I saw noticeable improvements in my grasp of perspectives and the smoothness of my lines. I am so glad I found this and did the challenge, and so grateful for all the lessons.

3 users agree
3:10 AM, Tuesday April 14th 2020

Hi there Ericna, I have passed along this information to uncomfortable and he should be getting back to you. For now I'll be going over your boxes so let's get started!

Now you have made some serious progress throughout this challenge. Your line quality is better, your sense of space is better, your feel for the convergences of lines is right on by the end of it. Overall, this is what we hope for by the end. Not necessarily the ability to draw boxes super well, but growth from a mindful approach to this challenge, and I am definitely seeing this and the fruits of it here. You have done a pretty good job varying up your orientations and rates of convergences of your boxes resulting in efficient practice and growth, and you have done a good job extending your lines to check your convergences and use that to improve from page to page. One thing that you are still struggling with is your line weight around the silhouette. You have the right idea that you could be making your outer lines heavier to give your form more solidity, but the execution is what is lacking. Remember that applying line weight is just an applied version of the super imposed lines exercise from lesson 1. When you are applying weight to a line, you are not tracing the line but rather confidently drawing a new line on top of the old one. It is that confidence and mindset of drawing a new line that helps avoid shakiness.

Regarding your convergences and such, by the end of the challenge you are not having many issues. Your lines aren't skewing much and everything is more or less heading to the same target. Nevertheless, I will be showing you the infographic uncomfortable has made for the sake of being thorough. The main take away from this is about how we must look at all parallel lines in tandem as we draw them because they are all related to one another by the vanishing point and the location of said point is what determines the angles between these lines. You did a really nice job of keeping everything in mind while you are drawing your boxes and therefore don't have much in terms of your back lines getting skewed, but if you have any questions regarding this infographic please let me know.

With this, your 250 box challenge will be marked as complete. Keep practicing super imposing lines during your warm ups, and don't neglect boxes either. The next few lessons are very organic and you don't want to get rusty by the time you get to lesson 6. Additionally you may want to try drawing larger boxes (one to two per page scale) as they those pose their own unique set of problems and solutions, but are needed for the later lessons.

Next Steps:

Move on to lesson 2.

This critique marks this lesson as complete.
1 users agree
9:45 AM, Sunday April 26th 2020

thanks a lot for the y-generator, ericna! :)

0 users agree
2:16 PM, Tuesday April 14th 2020

I've given it some thought, and have decided that your tool may indeed be helpful. I've added a link to the box challenge page, and have told students that they can use if if they're having trouble, but must limit it to their first 100. Also, I don't have any issues with you placing ads on that page, as long as it's within reason. No reason you shouldn't benefit from your own creation, after all.

9:08 PM, Wednesday April 15th 2020

This is great! Thank you so much!

4:52 AM, Thursday May 28th 2020
edited at 4:56 AM, May 28th 2020

Great app! Your Reddit post about the Y generator asked for suggestions or changes. I duplicated the code to a new project and modified your code to allow version wider variation between the line angles. I explained the details in my reply to you on Reddit.

Modified app: https://draw-a-box-y-generator.glitch.me/

Modified source code: https://glitch.com/~draw-a-box-y-generator

My reply on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/fgrj0o/comment/frbpjg6

edited at 4:56 AM, May 28th 2020
0 users agree
6:12 AM, Wednesday September 30th 2020

Thank you eric na I was struggling about this! very cool !

0 users agree
11:10 AM, Tuesday March 9th 2021

Erica I'm just here to say thank you for the Y-generator - such a great app. I'll definitely be using it to get my intuitive understanding up for the first 50 boxes or so.

12:23 AM, Sunday March 28th 2021

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

0 users agree
4:01 AM, Thursday July 21st 2022

?????

0 users agree
10:49 PM, Tuesday June 4th 2024

Hi Ericna,

Here to say thanks for the Y-generator. Found it pretty useful as I completed my first 50 boxes.

Cheers.

The recommendation below is an advertisement. Most of the links here are part of Amazon's affiliate program (unless otherwise stated), which helps support this website. It's also more than that - it's a hand-picked recommendation of something we've used ourselves, or know to be of impeccable quality. If you're interested, here is a full list.
Staedtler Pigment Liners

Staedtler Pigment Liners

These are what I use when doing these exercises. They usually run somewhere in the middle of the price/quality range, and are often sold in sets of different line weights - remember that for the Drawabox lessons, we only really use the 0.5s, so try and find sets that sell only one size.

Alternatively, if at all possible, going to an art supply store and buying the pens in person is often better because they'll generally sell them individually and allow you to test them out before you buy (to weed out any duds).

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