I'm going to start this off by saying I'm sorry. It only occurred to me near the end just how much work I'm asking for-
Actually, no. You know what? I'm not sorry! You're going to do this challenge, and you're going to goddamnwell enjoy it! And by the end of this challenge, the hundred chests will be used to store your tears.
This challenge combines (relatively) simple construction and design, the latter being something we haven't really dug into at all here. I think this is a great opportunity for many of you to get your feet wet with the idea of creating things from your imagination, and understanding what is involved in doing so. That said, it's important that you've already immersed yourself in the lessons and challenges listed above - if you haven't, you are more than likely going to be biting off way more than you can chew.
Unlike other lessons and challenges, you are not restricted to a specific set of tools. While I'd still prefer that you not use pencil/charcoal/etc (these drawings require a good bit of precision), you are welcome to use whatever medium you are most comfortable with - be it ballpoint pen, digital, etc. as well as rulers, ellipse guides, french curves and whatever else will help.
The following videos may also be of use to you:
As expected, the challenge is all about drawing one hundred treasure chests. The challenge should be broken up into the following three sections. That doesn't mean I want you to do all of one section, then all of the next, and so on. I want you to do all of the sections in a given sitting, but in the recommended proportions.
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25/100 should be "Closed Chests." These are really simple. Take a box, and place a cylinder on top such that half of the cylinder is submerged into the box. Draw these at many different angles and orientations.
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Another 25/100 should be "Open Chests" - essentially the same deal as the previous section, but now the lid needs to be rotated on the axis of its hinges. I explain how to do this in the challenge video. The giant ellipses you see below are effectively creating circles in 3D space aligned to the rotational axis. Like before, these should be drawn at all different angles.
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Finally, 50/100 chests with detail. They can be open or closed (there should be a healthy balance of both here).
USE REFERENCE! PureRef is a great free cross-platform tool that will let you compile many different reference images into a single board, which you can then save and take around with you as a single file. Reference is extremely important here because your visual library is going to be considerably blanker than you think, especially on this topic. By learning to use reference images to inform your decisions, you will gradually commit different kinds of details and decoration to your imagination, which can then be used later. Observe things carefully - there's always going to be a lot more going on in these images than you think.
Chests can come in all shapes and sizes, with all kinds of little flairs. Some are banded with iron, some are rusted, some have additional planks of wood, some have filigree, handles, different kinds of locks.. The possibilities are endless. This is your chance to really push yourself to find new things.
Just remember - you will make mistakes. You will end up with MANY failed designs. That's no reason to be timid - be bold, all the time. Try new things, experiment, and when things go wrong, accept it and keep at it. This challenge is not about creating a hundred beautiful pieces of art. This is about producing a hundred pieces of crap.
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, but most of those that I've seen are produced by Alvin. 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.
Having your work reviewed by others is critical, as those who are just starting out aren't in a position to properly judge their own work, and won't be for quite some time. Don't be afraid to show your struggles - it's by analyzing your mistakes that we can help you grow. Perfect homework is not what we're looking for; we just need it to be complete.
There are currently two places you can get your work critiqued by the community - Reddit and our Discord Chat Server.
Both of these are completely free.
If you are interested in receiving extra help, I critique the work of those who support Drawabox on Patreon.
All of these private critiques are done through reddit, in specific threads where students post their work as a comment, including a link to their work (often hosted on Imgur, though most image hosts are okay).
My requirements are more strict than the free community critiques:
The minimum pledge for this lesson is $10.00/month. The orange button above will take you to the reddit thread for this lesson, you can post a link to your work there and I'll be notified. Once I catch the submission, I'll add it to this backlog spreadsheet.
Pledges are collected at the beginning of the following month, but you may start submitting your work immediately. If you're a new patron, I'll be reaching out to your shortly to collect your reddit username.
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