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This is something more than a few people have struggled with, and for good reason. Computer mice combine both hard surface qualities with smooth, organic curves, and can be very challenging to construct with the standard geometric means.
This recording has no accompanying audio commentary.
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Here's the image we'll be working from.
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So as usual, I construct a box. Here we're going to be using the encapsulating box approach, but with a bit of a twist. For now, make sure you subdivide the box and draw a line going down the center of the box length-wise, all the way around. Think of this as constructing a plane inside the center of the enclosing form.
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So here's the twist - instead of constructing our object with geometric primitives, we're going to start out by drawing orthographic studies off to the side. That is, a flat drawing of the mouse's profile from the side, and from the bottom. Make sure to factor in proportion, as that is our main focus. Feel free to subdivide these orthographic studies as much as you want, but be sure to subdivide the actual 3D planes as well, as you will be trying to replicate the same shapes there.
Note: The use of orthographic plans demonstrated here is very loose and basic. For more information on how to leverage these more fully in your own object constructions, be sure to read through these notes and the demo presented there.
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Take your time, and absolutely take advantage of subdivision to transfer the shapes accurately. Don't worry about any major details, just focus on the silhouette. Also, keep in mind how perspective causes distortion, due to the basic principle of things being farther away appearing smaller.
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Transferring the base orthographic onto the base plane.
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If you look at my side view orthographic, you'll notice that I've included both the overall silhouette as well as the shape that sits on the far sides of the mouse. Just as I transferred the other details, here I transfer this far side information to the planes on both sides of the box. Patience is key here, and make sure you draw the smooth curves from your shoulder, as your wrist will cause them to come out stiff and awkward.
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Carefully looking at the overall form of your reference, start connecting the pieces. You'll notice here that initially I tried to do so within the encapsulating box, but I quickly realized that I had underestimated the amount of vertical space needed. It is okay to go beyond your bounds, but don't do so lightly. In most cases it's very important to respect the space enclosed by your box, and to work towards fitting everything snugly inside of it. Beyond a certain point though, mistakes made early on can't really be avoided.
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Aside from the extra details I've started adding (probably too early), the major change to the form here is that I cut a substantial gap between the buttons, where the scroll wheel will eventually go. Note that I cut this equally on both sides of the center line, and that I pay close attention to how this cut curves down towards the base.
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When constructing the scroll wheel, I draw only one ellipse. You certainly can choose to draw two, and depending on your comfort level with visualization and cylinders in general, it may be the better choice. Still, here I made that decision in order to reduce the amount of clutter. As with everything else, with all of the subdivision, clutter is a major factor here. Still, the solidity of your forms and construction is of the highest priority. One of the main reasons I made that decision was because this was intended as a demo, so clutter would have made it much more difficult to follow.
You could also choose to build this cylinder as a box initially, but again, that would further compound the clutter problem and may not be entirely necessary. Make sure you pay close attention to the proportions and sizing of the scroll wheel in your reference image before beginning this phase.
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Just as with the other demos, this last step is reserved for organizing our linework, bringing the major forms forwards and generally cleaning things up.
Let's be real here for a second: fineliners can get pricey. It varies from brand to brand, store to store, and country to country, but good fineliners like the Staedtler Pigment Liner (my personal brand favourite) can cost an arm and a leg. I remember finding them being sold individually at a Michael's for $4-$5 each. That's highway robbery right there.
Now, we're not a big company ourselves or anything, but we have been in a position to periodically import large batches of pens that we've sourced ourselves - using the wholesale route to keep costs down, and then to split the savings between getting pens to you for cheaper, and setting some aside to one day produce our own.
These pens are each hand-tested (on a little card we include in the package) to avoid sending out any duds (another problem with pens sold in stores). We also checked out a handful of different options before settling on this supplier - mainly looking for pens that were as close to the Staedtler Pigment Liner. If I'm being honest, I think these might even perform a little better, at least for our use case in this course.
We've also tested their longevity. We've found that if we're reasonably gentle with them, we can get through all of Lesson 1, and halfway through the box challenge. We actually had ScyllaStew test them while recording realtime videos of her working through the lesson work, which you can check out here, along with a variety of reviews of other brands.
Now, I will say this - we're only really in a position to make this an attractive offer for those in the continental United States (where we can offer shipping for free). We do ship internationally, but between the shipping prices and shipping times, it's probably not the best offer you can find - though this may depend. We also straight up can't ship to the UK, thanks to some fairly new restrictions they've put into place relating to their Brexit transition. I know that's a bummer - I'm Canadian myself - but hopefully one day we can expand things more meaningfully to the rest of the world.
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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