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While this lesson primarily focuses on leafy plants, there are a number of plants and fungi that serve as an excellent introduction to working with basic organic forms, and mushrooms are a great example of this.
The demo video includes full audio and discussion of the concepts demonstrated in the drawing.
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The reference we're using for this demo is a king's oyster mushroom. I specifically chose it because it has some really nice volumes, and because it doesn't look too much like a particular piece of human anatomy - unlike virtually every other mushroom I found.
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To start with, I lay down some ellipses to establish cross-sections along the length of our mushroom's stalk. Being that this is very much like a cylinder, the same principles do apply. For example, we certainly would benefit from aligning these ellipses to a single minor axis line - and if you struggle at all with keeping them aligned to each other, I would definitely recommend this.
A less optional point to follow is the fact that the degree of these ellipses shifts visibly as you move from top to bottom. The topmost ellipse is more in line with the viewer's eye level, so we see less of its surface. As the cross-sections move further down, the angle at which we see it becomes greater, resulting in more of that surface being visible to us.
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Next, using a similar technique to the branch construction exercise, we build the outlines of the mushroom stalk's silhouette. Because these curves are rather complex, I've built them in segments, doing my best to keep them overlapping and flowing directly into one another so as to avoid any visible ends peeking out in between.
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With the mushroom stalk constructed, I apply the same approach to constructing the cap. At this point, our construction is basically complete. It's a dead simple form with just two major components, and we've got them both constructed here.
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Now we start to move into the territory of detail. To start with, there's a lot going on directly underneath the cap, along the top of the stalk.
Before we get into anything too complicated, I did notice several strong, dominant valleys coming down along the length, so I decided to block these in first with a few simple lines, establishing how they flow downwards.
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Next, there are a lot of smaller recesses between these major valleys, so I've outlined them gently. I haven't yet decided if I want to fill these in with black or leave them empty - that will be determined by where I want to concentrate my heavy darks, something I have not yet decided.
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The rest is simply a matter of applying the principles covered in lesson 2. Observe your reference, identify specific elements present and transfer them one or two marks at a time before looking back at your reference to refresh your memory. Don't rely on your brain's ability to remember large amounts of information, because it will disappoint you. Instead, build a rhythm of looking at your reference, drawing briefly, then looking back again to study it once more.
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There are many kinds of mushrooms out there with all kinds of crazy structures. The bit between the cap and stem of this one was pretty simple in comparison to what you can find on the morel mushroom, as shown above.
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).
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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