This website uses cookies. You can read more about what we do with them, read our privacy policy.
Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants
Informal Demos
The demos here have been drawn in the course of a student's homework critique, but contain information that can be useful to all working through this material.
Building upon forms that aren't already flat
This is something we look at more in the next lesson, but with certain structures - like cacti and some mushrooms - you may find yourself wanting to build more complexity on top of structures that are already 3D and voluminous, rather than the flat leaves and petals we introduced at the beginning of this lesson.
Unfortunately, using the same technique of altering the silhouette of that structure doesn't work. Instead, we have to build up new, complete forms onto the existing structure, making sure everything continues to read as three dimensional.
Common pitfalls
Here you'll find some notes on issues I frequently see from students once you've broken free of the first two lessons. The bit about lines and the tendency to draw them with no real variation or liveliness to them is an especially common one. Remember that a line drawn confidently will always have a little bit of tapering where it touches down and where it lifts off the page.
If you're having trouble reading the handwriting due to the unfortunately small scale of the image, here's a transcription of it: https://pastebin.com/T9FAnStH
Complex leaf structures
All too often I have students who look at the leaf construction method and think, "this is for leaves, and therefore all leaves are inevitably constructed with these exact steps in this exact order".
Instead, think about what the steps are meant to achieve, and consider that a tool in your toolbox for approaching anything similar to a leaf. Sometimes a leaf is composed of multiple smaller leaves - so consider applying the technique to each smaller element, then merging them.
If you're having trouble reading the handwriting due to the unfortunately small scale of the image, here's a transcription of it: https://pastebin.com/niMEJiUD
Poles
Poles - like what you'll find on the top and bottom of a globe - are extremely useful when it comes to taking a circle and making it feel like a sphere. They are essentially contour ellipses, but the key point here is that the whole thing is visible and does not go onto the opposite side of the sphere, since it is facing us.
Proko's Drawing Basics
Drawabox isn't the be-all, end-all of drawing fundamental education. Our approach prioritizes certain concepts over others, and while we believe it do so for good reasons, ultimately it doesn't appeal to everyone. If Drawabox simply doesn't work for you, give Proko's Drawing Basics course a try - at the very least, you'll probably find it to be a hell of a lot more fun.