Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

1:23 PM, Tuesday July 21st 2020

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Here's my homework for Lesson 3.

If I had to be honest, I felt like I really struggled through this lesson. For me, texture is one of the hardest things to do, but I realize that this was optional. Applying constructional techniques itself is just as hard at times. For the cactus and mushroom (not the demo drawings, but the other ones), they look extremely off like something has been done incorrectly. Even though I tried applying the constructional method, they feel to me like symbolic drawings rather than having a sense of believability.

I would like someone to be as brutal as they can with their critique, as I am trying to improve a lot with this. Even if you have to get me to repeat a lot of pages so that I can fully understand the concepts, I don't mind at all.

Thanks in advance.

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9:41 PM, Wednesday July 29th 2020

Hey there Lemon,

I said on Discord that you have two main weaknesses and I later found an additional one

1- Visible tails in compound stroke:

this is probably due to the fact that you may need a bit more practice with controlling your lines. If we look at the first mushroom for instant, we can see the line on the right side of the stalk is overshooting too much on the top end, way more than what is probably expected of you at this level. Also you should add more ellipses to your branches & stalks. Not only does that make it easier to get the lines right, but also because it makes those branches and stalks more 3D.You can notice how the lack of ellipses is making the stalks of the plant on your 2th page look 2-Dimensional.

2-Ellipses:

It's obvious how your ellipses in some plants don't match the size of the stalk or branch. Mainly because you don't use the center line in narrow branches. but even with the branches that you utilized the center line to draw, you seem to have a general problem with ellipses. This is more evident in your mushrooms.

3- Details on leaves

I don't think you drew enough of them on your leaves. Are they considered optional details? But in the cases you did draw them, there was no gradient between the dark shade of the details and the shade of the leaves, which looked a bit odd.

This community member feels the lesson should be marked as complete, and 2 others agree. The student has earned their completion badge for this lesson and should feel confident in moving onto the next lesson.
11:15 PM, Wednesday July 29th 2020

Thanks for your critique.

Did you mean this plant that was looking two-dimensional because of a lack of ellipses? https://i.imgur.com/ZGhFhEr.jpg

I thought that for narrow branches, we didn't have to use center lines, because that ends up causing too much distraction. Do we?

With the details, I believed this part was optional. Can you point out some specific examples of where I didn't apply a gradient?

12:25 PM, Thursday July 30th 2020
edited at 12:27 PM, Jul 30th 2020

The problem can be seen on that page, but it's clearer on the page after it

I looked other people's assignments. It seems that it is optional to not use the center line for narrow branches. But I would say you should use it a bit more.

the leaf on the top left of your leaves page is an example of lack of gradient.

This community member feels the lesson should be marked as complete, and 2 others agree. The student has earned their completion badge for this lesson and should feel confident in moving onto the next lesson.
edited at 12:27 PM, Jul 30th 2020
7:25 PM, Thursday July 30th 2020

Can you please explain what you mean by me having a lack of gradient exactly for that leaf? Like, what is the difference between the shade of the detail (I'm assuming the texture cast shadows) and the shade of the leaves? I'm afraid I don't understand.

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