Uncomfortable

2015-01-05 00:54

Well! Honestly, I think the reason you haven't seen any improvement in the past is because you rush rush rush rush rush. A lot of people who've been submitting lately have been doing that, and I've sent them all back to redo things more carefully.

Guess what you're going to have to do! :D

But I'll explain what exactly shows me that you're rushing.

1. These.. aren't actually particularly rushed. You did a lot of them, and they're not poorly done. Good work.

2. Your ellipses are definitely rushed though. Some moreso than others. First off, the exercises are intended to set out a certain space which defines the size and position of the ellipse you're about to draw. That's why we use rows, those lines define a certain height. Because of this, the exercises with a lot of ellipses inside of other ellipses are pretty much... not doing anything for you. So don't do those. The funnels are okay though. Take your time with each ellipse. I'm glad to see that you're drawing through them a couple times, that's great, keep that up. But be careful and while keeping your drawing pace for each ellipse reasonably quick, try and keep them tight. Also maximize the space on the page. There's a lot of blank space there that could be full of ellipses.

3. Your rough perspective boxes are kind of sloppy. They're not super sloppy, but to start with, your frames are just wobbly. Drawing, and learning to draw, is a lot about frame of mind. If your frames aren't clean and straight (you can use a straight edge here if you must) and if you're not arranging them efficiently on the page, you're automatically putting yourself in a sloppier mindset.

4. Same goes for the organic perspective boxes. It looks like you potentially have an okay understanding of how these forms would turn in 3D space, but you're going about it too carelessly.

As an example, here's the work that /u/Whirly123 submitted. Use it as reference for how to lay out your exercises and how to approach each one. The reason his are generally better than most peoples' is because he had taken the online version of the course I took, with the same instructor. He's done this all before (but he's revisiting it). Still, aim for that.

You're definitely capable of better than this already, take the time and put in the effort to prove me right.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-05 01:59

Most of it looks up to par. A few things to note, though.

• Your ellipses are quite good, though I'd strongly recommend drawing through your ellipses a couple times before lifting your pen. This will help round out any awkward bumps from the first time around (since your arm muscles will automatically correct some of them). This also gives your muscles better practice drawing the most correct ellipses possible.

• Your boxes in your organic perspective exercises are a little off. It seems you're not terribly comfortable with the idea of turning shapes around in 3D space. I'd recommend that you do the 250 box challenge, being sure to read over all of the notes I've included there. It should increase your level of comfort with that sort of thing.

Aside from that, you've done quite well.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-05 04:14

You've done well for the most part, though your organic perspective exercise is somewhat sloppy. The lines of your boxes bend, so they don't look solid. I'd like you to do one more page of those, with a far greater degree of care.

The lines and ellipses exercises we of the sort that will show the greatest improvement if you do them often - incorporate them into your warmup routine, as they're especially good for that sort of thing. When doing the ellipses though, draw through them a couple times before lifting your pen as you did in your first set. It's a much more effective way of doing the exercise.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-07 01:31

Well done! And I'm happy to see that you corrected your mistake on the rough perspective exercise. The second page is much better - your forms are straighter, your angles look right, etc.

Good work on the ellipses as well - I really like how neatly organized the page is, and how you put the whole page to use. Be sure to draw through your ellipse a couple times before lifting your pen. You usually do, but there's a handful of instances where you don't. I'd like to assure you that it is the better approach, since it makes the exercise more effective and gets you a rounder ellipse - even though it is a little messier. One day you'll be able to draw perfect ellipses on the first go-around, but it is not this day!

Here's one thing to look out for with your organic perspective boxes. It's a common mistake (drawing the near plane smaller than the far plane), but directly contradicts the rules of perspective so it immediately tips off the viewer's eye that something is wrong.

Anyways, you did well, so consider this lesson complete.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-08 00:49

Hm... as far as your lines go, based on your comment I expected to see some really wobbly messes. They're not awful though. They're rough, and you may be trying to approach them too quickly, but I think we can work with this.

The first thing I looked at was your lines exercise, the first ones - the shortest lengths. Usually what I expect to see is lines that line up more or less to a point on one side, and then fray a little on the other end. This is because the person drawing it would line up the tip of their pen with the line on one end, but their accuracy would be a little lacking while drawing.

In yours, I'm seeing fraying on both ends, which tells me that you're rushing a little. Not a whole lot, but you're not quite taking the time required to line your pen up properly at the beginning. When drawing a mark, there are three steps you should always follow.

1. Prep - line your pen up correctly, think about where you want to draw your line. Preparation and forethought are very important. Most of your time is spent here - like 80%.

2. Draw - this should be a swift, smooth motion. If you hesitate, if you slow down, your pen will wobble. Drawing is the realm of the muscles, and it is their job to do it. If you draw slowly, chances are that you're letting your brain micromanage the task, and you're not letting your muscles do what they do best. The main thing here is to move smoothly. Usually this means being fast, but it doesn't mean as quick as possible. It means confidently, with your pen gliding across the page.

You are by no means expected to match your guidelines on the first try. You should be doing this sort of exercise every time you sit down to draw. It works really well as a warmup - you don't have to do two full pages, but do a few here and there.

Your first page of ellipses was really well done. I like that you drew through your ellipses a couple times before lifting your pen, which makes the exercise more effective, and also makes your ellipses rounder and smoother. Drawing them just once will usually result in a slightly awkward shape that doesn't close up properly. Drawing through them is messier, but as long as you focus on trying to be clean, the result is far better - and it gives your muscles far better training. So always be sure to do it this way, as opposed to the way you did it on the second page. Like the lines exercise, these should also be incorporated into a warmup routine.

Both box exercises were alright. Messy, and likely rushed, but the understanding of perspective is there. I want you to make a few changes, though:

• Slow down. Treat each box with care, and give it the time it deserves. Don't be sloppy with your crosshatching, either. If you're going to add shading like that, don't do it quickly, you'll ruin your own drawing.

• If you make a mistake, don't try to fix it by adding more ink. That will just attract attention to it. Use the ghosting technique for all of your lines, and if the line happens to go a little haywire, just let it go. Hopefully it won't be too noticeable.

Your lesson was definitely messier than I'd like, but I'll mark this one as complete. I'd like you to take on the 250 box challenge next, both to help with your patience and pacing, but also to help you with your boxes. Be sure to read all the notes included in that post before starting.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-09 00:20

You're not too far off the mark. The first two exercises were done quite well. Your ellipses are a little wobbly, but I like that you're drawing through them a few times before lifting the pen. It's good to be careful, but loosen up a little and let your muscles do more of the drawing, rather than your mind.

Both those first two exercises should be done regularly - incorporate them into your warmup routine. Don't have to do a full two pages each, but however much you feel like doing. You'll definitely see improvement over time - though for now, you're where I expect you to be.

The other two exercises are a little less great. It's not so much a matter of you understanding the concepts, but rather, they're just a little sloppy. That kind of falls in line with all of the worries you expressed about whether or not you'd be good enough.

The fact of the matter is, if I expected everyone to submit perfect work, I wouldn't really serve much purpose here. I'm more interested in seeing flaws with potential, as I see in you and many others.

I'd like you to tackle the last two exercises again. Take lots of time. If you want to do a little each day, that's perfectly fine with me.

Here's a few things to remember, though:

Rough Perspective

• These are basically 1 point perspective, so remember that your horizontals are always parallel to the horizon and your verticals are perpendicular to the horizon. This is what was throwing your perspective off at first, though you seemed to correct that a little (not completely) through the exercise.

• If you are going to add shading, don't just scribble it on. Take the time to apply it neatly.

• On a similar note, presentation is everything. Draw your frames with a straight edge and arrange them nicely over the page.

Organic Perspective

• Treat each box with the patience and focus it deserves - each one is important, so take the time to ensure every body is neat and tidy.

• Try to fight the natural urge to fix your mistakes by laying on loads of ink. Instead, think and plan out your lines before you draw them. Visualize the perspective lines going back to the vanishing point, and use the ghosting technique to draw them. If you still mess up, it's perfectly fine - just leave it be. More ink will darken the line, and that will draw the viewer's attention, making them notice your mistake more easily.

• Always remember the main principle of perspective - if two objects are the same size in 3D space, when drawn in 2D it will be smaller as it gets further away. This applies to the individual planes of boxes as well - there's a near plane (the one that faces the viewer) and the far plane. NEVER draw the far plane larger than the near plane. The viewer's eye will pick up on that immediately, and they will realize something is wrong, even if they're not sure what it is.

Here's a good set of examples you can work from. It's a good idea to follow that sort of general layout for your work. Also, again, here's the ghosting technique for drawing lines. It's very effective once you get used to it, and helps you get accustomed to the idea of visualizing what you're going to draw, and thinking it through instead of rushing headlong.

There's nothing to be afraid of, not here. There are a lot of really shitty artists here, and a lot of them have, over time, improved drastically - all at their own pace, and in their own time. We won't make a master of you, but we'll set you on the right track.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-09 03:50

I'm glad you were able to work up enough confidence to post your homework!

You didn't do too badly. You certainly show a lot of potential, and your energy and enthusiasm definitely comes through. You definitely have a sense of perspective, which is great.

One thing I did notice was that you rush a lot. I've seen a lot of people who rush, but you're a little different. Most will rush by dealing with each exercise quickly - spending very little time on each individual component, and also not including that many components over all. You rushed each individual component, but included a hell of a lot. So it's not that you didn't want to spend a lot of time on the lesson, it's more that...

I think it's a combination of an issue with confidence, fighting with a deep willingness and eagerness to learn and improve. So you'll draw until your hands are worn to the bone, but you'll draw a million things instead of focusing on a single drawing for the same amount of time.

Not sure if I'm making sense.

Anyways, to summarize, you're putting quantity over quality. We want to put quality over quantity, and then ramp up the quantity as well. But the quality is still our focus, so each individual part of each exercise - each line, each ellipse, each box takes as much time as is required to be drawn as well as we can.

That really is the main point here - it's about how well we can draw. I know for a fact that you can draw much better than you've shown me here. You didn't do badly to begin with, but since I know you're capable of better already, I'm not satisfied. After all, you won't really be learning until you're pushing the limits of your own capabilities.

So, I want you to do one more page of each exercise. Keep in mind the following.

1. For the lines, there isn't much I would change. Maybe lay them out a little bit more neatly for my sake? They're where I'd expect them to be for now.

2. Your approach for the ellipses needs to be tweaked a bit. First off, draw through each ellipse a couple times before lifting your pen. This will help them round out nicely, since the first time around is usually approximate and awkward. Your arm muscles use this moment to get accustomed to the pen, the paper, and the kind of ellipse you'd like to draw. The second time around, your muscles have a better sense of things, so they'll automatically correct some of the previous mistakes, resulting in a better ellipse. This method does end up looking a little messier, since you've got some overlapping lines, but just work on keeping the flow of that drawing motion, while maintaining a relatively tight ellipse. The flow takes priority, though. Secondly, for the most part you did this correctly but I just want to reiterate. This exercise is all about setting out a space or criteria that the ellipse you're about to draw must fit into. Everything should fit snugly together, and you should already have an idea of what kind of ellipse you want to draw before you draw it. This means you either succeed or you fail when drawing the ellipse. Nothing floating around in ambiguity. This means avoid drawing ellipses inside of ellipses, those don't really do much good.

3. Rough perspective - Look at my notes regarding the ghosting technique for drawing lines. It will help you draw straighter individual lines, and will also help you build some patience in terms of taking time to draw individual elements. THINK before you draw a mark, always. Visualize what you want to draw, prepare to draw it (lining up your pen, finding a comfortable angle, etc), then make the mark. Also, a lot of people have a natural tendency to 'reinforce' our lines by drawing them multiple times. It's due to a lack of confidence. Consciously try and avoid doing that. One mark for each line. Once everything is done, you can go back and consciously add line weights where they are necessary, but that should be a decision on your part, not a drawing reflex.

4. The stuff from rough perspective factor in here as well. But also, I did notice that your boxes look just a little strange. Like they're too dramatic, as individual boxes. It's because the perspective distortion on each individual box is too sharp. They're converging too quickly, so the far plane of the box ends up being too much smaller than the near plane. It's not the worst mistake to make, as you can often get away with it - it just throws off the viewer's sense of scale. Perspective-wise, a good example of one that was done well is the bottom right corner of page 8. Each box is mostly free of perspective distortion (it has just enough to look real). You see distance as you take in a multitude of boxes, rather than on each individual box. This feels like a much more relatable scale. Quick perspective distortion/convergence sends up a flag to the viewer's brain saying "i'm looking at something of very large scale".

If you want to see a strong example of a homework submission to help you lay out your exercises, and know what to strive for, look at these. It was done by /u/Whirly123, who had already taken the online version of the course where I learned all of this stuff, from the same instructor - so he's definitely had a lot of practice.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-10 00:06

Very well done. Your lines are good, and your boxes show a lot of patience, thoughtfulness and a strong understanding of how forms work in 3D space.

You're right, your ellipses are weak - but it's not because of any lack of skill, you just approached them incorrectly. A lot of people do, so I just finished writing some notes that explain the issues - so I don't have to explain them again (I swear, I should have done this sooner - I've explained this shit a bazillion times by now).

The first part is what applies to you - you need to draw through your ellipses a couple times before lifting your pen. It'll fix up your curves and make the exercise more effective.

I'd like to see you do one more page of ellipses before I mark the lesson as complete.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-11 03:09

Pretty good! Your lines exercise is looking great, and your ellipses are well done too. On page 5, on the top of the page you start trying to draw the ellipses in one shot, probably slowing down a bit, trying to carefully get the shape right. It's best to avoid this method. Check out this explanation as to why drawing through your ellipses a couple times is better.

Those two first exercises will show much more improvement if you continue to practice them. Incorporating them into a warm-up routine whenever you sit down to draw is a good idea. It'll allow you to practice them more often (not necessarily two full pages, however much you feel is appropriate), and it'll also get you loosened up.

Your boxes are looking alright. The rough perspective ones are passable, but upon closer inspection you tend to have one or two lines on each box that don't go towards your vanishing point. You may want to go back and look at them yourself, perhaps draw over them with a different coloured pen to see what the lines should actually be. That way you'll be aware of the mistakes you've made, making you less likely to repeat them. The second page of rough perspective boxes has less of this though - they're looking pretty great.

Your lines are also looking a little wobbly. Check out the ghosting technique, it should help you towards sorting that out.

Your organic perspective boxes are okay, but there's one thing that bugs me a little. You can see a fair bit of convergence/perspective distortion on each individual box. This works fine if each box was seen as an isolated item, but when you put them into a space with other objects, each having this kind of excessive convergence, it confuses the viewer's eye.

I just drew/wrote out these notes to explain the concept a little better.

I'll mark this lesson as complete, because it was fairly well done. I do recommend however that you look into doing the 250 box challenge next, to help work on your ability to deal with forms that are rotated in 3D space. Be sure to read the notes included in that post, they should be helpful.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-12 23:46

Great work. I was going to ask you to redo one page of ellipses, but your second set is much better than the first. Not to say the first was bad, but your second works in the principles I covered in these notes.

You should continue to do the lines and ellipses exercises frequently - not quite so many, but they make great warmups so you should try to do them whenever you sit down to draw. Just a few here and there will definitely help fine-tune your skills.

Both box exercises are done very well. Your sense of perspective and 3D space is solid. To take them to the next level, you should work on your application of line weight. Check out these notes for an explanation.

Feel free to move onto the next lesson!

Milvolarsum

2015-01-13 11:44

To answer one of your questions I think it´s better to draw the circle in one smooth motion. As far as I know this allows you to do a more accurate and "whole" looking circle. Mainly because you´re creating little "breaks" in the line when stoping the motion ones

Uncomfortable

2015-01-13 14:04

1. It's best to draw the ellipses in a single motion (and better still to continue to draw through it a couple rounds before lifting your pen). Reason being, this maintains a clear and consistent curve to the shape. If you draw it in halves, you'll end up with the ends of each curve not wrapping around the ellipse enough, resulting in slight points on the top and bottom.

2. Pen, not pencil! Felt tip pen. But anyways, it depends on what kind of mark you want to make. You press lightly for a faint line, a little harder for a thicker line. One of the goals here is to help you learn appropriate pressure control. You have to find a decent balance to start off with - press too lightly and there will be no consistency/flow/confidence to your marks and they'll appear broken. Too heavy and your drawings will be a ridiculous mess.

3. Do each lesson once, and after each lesson is complete, submit it in the lesson thread. I'll tell you if you need to do more, or if you're okay to move forwards. If you want to do them more, that's fine, but I won't let you move onto the next lesson if I don't feel you've grasped the concepts of the lesson.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-14 00:13

Looking great. Your results are very good, though you technically didn't do the first two lessons correctly. I'm still going to mark it as finished, largely since I tell everyone to continue doing those two exercises as warmups - so you'll have the chances to do them correctly later on.

The lines exercise require you to draw a line (freehand if you're decent, or with a ruler) to use as a guide, and then you draw on top of it, superimposing your next 8 lines on this guide.

The ellipses are looking good, though you may want to read these notes to see how the exercise can be done more effectively. About your pacing - if you feel more comfortable going a little slower, that's fine, but just watch out for situations where your lines start going wobbly - that's the most common reason that I encourage people to speed up a bit.

Your boxes look great. The presentation's solid, your compositions are good, and the boxes are generally convincing. You may be right about the 250 box challenge, but at this point I'll leave that up to you. It certainly couldn't help, right? You're definitely showing a lot of strengths, anyway.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-14 14:40

I'm happy to see that you've decided to undertake these lessons! Unfortunately, due to the sheer volume of work required to keep up with all the critiques I have to do every day, I've recently decided that I won't be critiquing work that is done outside of the requirements of each lesson. Doing the work digitally instead of in ink falls under that... well, it is essentially an excuse, because running this subreddit is a lot of work. I've got to draw the line somewhere.

Here's an explanation of why I don't recommend doing the work digitally, if you haven't read it already.

That said, I am willing to make a compromise. If you can complete the two basics lessons (Lesson 1 and Lesson 2) in ink properly without significant corrections (the sort that would require you to repeat a section), I critique your digital work for the Dynamic Sketching section (Lessons 3-6, for which ink is a requirement).

This means demonstrating to me that you already have a solid understanding of the following:

• (From lesson 1) Drawing freehand straight lines that do not wobble or stray (too much) from the intended path

• (From lesson 1) Drawing freehand ellipses that are consistently rounded, as opposed to awkwardly bumpy, while fitting snugly into a given space

• (From lesson 1 and 2) How forms can be rotated in 3D space, and how they interact with each other

• (From lesson 2) How to successfully use contour lines to give flat 2D shapes the illusion of 3D form

• (From lesson 2) How to break down organic forms into components, cutting into them, exploring their insides, etc.

Basically, my approach to teaching the mechanics of drawing is strongly rooted in the challenges presented by having to work traditionally, specifically with ink. If you can show me that you already have a solid grasp of those mechanics (which most do not), that you can work towards transferring to your work in digital media. If you don't have a strong enough understanding of it, you'll end up progressing much slower when working digitally. You don't have to execute these things perfectly, but well enough to show me that you know what you should be aiming for.

Despite what one might think, based on this ink-only dogma of mine, I'm not a traditional artist. I worked digitally for many, many years before approaching things this way. The vast majority of my work is still digital - but I strongly believe that this method allowed me to progress with my digital work much more efficiently, in the long run.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-14 23:32

Not bad. Your ellipses look good, and your lines do too - although you seem to generally have drawn one, then superimposed one, then moved on. The lesson said 8 times.

Both of those exercises make great warmups, so you should continue doing them in whatever quantity whenever you sit down to draw. You should see a good deal of improvement as you continue to do them.

Your organic perspective boxes look pretty solid, as far as your understanding of forms rotated in 3D space. They're a little messy though, so keep an eye on that in the future. Each line should be made with a single mark. Sometimes we have the urge to be sketchy, largely due to a lack of confidence. You've got to consciously fight the urge to do that. The ghosting technique should help with that.

It looks like you forgot to do (or post) the rough perspective exercise. I won't be able to mark the lesson as complete until you submit that part.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-14 23:39

Not bad. Overall, you've done well enough to consider the lesson complete. There are a few things you could have done better, however:

1. Lines - very well done.

2. Ellipses - common mistake, I'm guessing you didn't catch the lesson notes in the comments section. Read these notes, regarding the ellipse exercise

3. Rough perspective boxes - great form, great perspective, I really like the bottom of page 5. Your hatching though is rather messy. If you choose to add something extra like hatching, do it properly and carefully. Evenly spaced lines that go all the way across the space. Or, just don't do it - that's definitely an option.

4. These show a decent understanding of how forms rotate in 3D space. My only concern is covered in these notes.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-15 01:35

Aside from the bottom right of page 5, where it looks like you're trying to show the bottom side of the bottom box, despite the fact that it's below the horizon and should be hidden (which I'm sure you realized after drawing it), everything looks pretty good. Clean, well thought out, and very few noticeable perspective errors.

The lines and ellipse exercise should be done as warmups, pretty much forever, so keep that up - you'll be able to work in the approach from the ellipse notes there. Aside from that, feel free to move onto the next lesson.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-15 02:19

In the future, don't submit until the lesson's done. There isn't much to say - everything's looking pretty good. Your boxes are a little messy (on your next set, don't plot your perspective lines back to the vanishing point in the rough perspective exercise. Visualize them and approximate, but don't draw them in. Your organic perspective boxes look alright, though once you finish this lesson, I will be recommending that you move onto the 250 box challenge to improve your comfort levels with turning simple forms arbitrarily in 3D space.

Oh, here's one thing that might help - no matter how badly you want to, don't try to fix a mistake by piling on more ink. That'll just draw more attention to the error. A clean mistake will be far less noticeable. Also fight that reflexive urge to draw several marks for a single line. One line, one mark.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-15 23:20

Pretty good, for the most part. I do find that you tend to leave a lot of empty space, though, especially for the first two exercises. Lucky for you, they're intended to be done often - so incorporate them into your warmup routine. Do a bunch of lines and ellipses when you sit down to draw. Also, for the ellipses, make sure you've read these notes. Your second sheet of ellipses has you drawing through them a few times before lifting your pen, which is great, but you don't do that in the first page.

Your boxes are good as far as understanding space and form goes, but try to be less sketchy. One mark for every line. If you make a mistake, don't pile on more ink - it'll only draw more attention to it. Check out the ghosting technique, it might help you with drawing straight lines for your boxes.

Feel free to move onto lesson 2.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-15 23:25

Your lines are solid (on page 6 - page 3 wasn't done correctly) and your boxes are alright, but your ellipses aren't quite done correctly. Be sure to read the lesson notes (they're in the comments section, they usually bubble up to the top if you're sorting them by 'top'). These notes on the ellipse exercise will explain what you did wrong.

I'd like to see one more page of ellipses (after reading those notes) before I mark this lesson as complete. Since I'll probably forget, I'll tell you now - once you've finished that and I've marked the lesson as complete, you'll want to look at the 250 box challenge. It's got a bunch of helpful notes in the post, and the challenge itself should help you increase your comfort level with drawing forms rotated arbitrarily in 3D space.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-16 23:07

Pretty good. Your lines and your organic perspective boxes are solid, though your ellipses were not quite done correctly. Check out these notes to see what you did wrong. Be sure to check out the lesson notes in the comments of every lesson, there's usually notes like this in there.

Your rough perspective boxes are generally fine too, just be aware that what you drew isn't one point perspective. If it were one point, your verticals would be perpendicular to your horizon, and your horizontals would be parallel to it. You've got at least two vanishing points in most of these, which again, is fine - just make sure that you're aware of that convergence when you're drawing, if you're going to do 2 point. Sometimes people will angle the lines that don't go to the one VP in the frame a little arbitrarily.

Anywho - I'd like you to do one more page of ellipses, taking into consideration the notes I linked above.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-16 23:35

Good work! Everything looks really quite good, honestly. I'm glad to see that you applied some nice line weights to the end of the organic perspective boxes.

If there was one critique I had to give, it'd be that your perspective in your organic perspective boxes exercise is inconsistent, so it confuses the viewer's eye a bit. It's the sort of situation where something looks a little bit off, but it's hard to tell what.

It's not an entirely uncommon mistake - i'd written these notes a while ago to explain the issue in greater depth. Take a look.

Anyways, good work! Feel free to move onto the next lesson.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-17 18:23

The lines, by the time you finished the exercise, are looking pretty damn good. That, and the ellipse exercise aren't intended to come out perfectly on the first try. I tell everyone once they've finished, that they should continue incorporating it into a warm-up routine, so they're doing some lines and some ellipses (not necessarily 2 full pages) very regularly. Same goes for you.

On the note of the ellipses, at first you were doing them incorrectly (not drawing through them as described in these notes but you seem to have corrected yourself halfway through the first page. I'm also not terribly pleased with all of the wasted space on the second page of ellipses, but ultimately you have understood the concepts. Since you'll be doing these as warmups, I see no reason for you to submit any more of them to me.

Your rough perspective is fine, though I would recommend that in the future you draw a little bigger. Drawing things at such small scale tends to get much more difficult for a few reasons (including the fact that your lines look ridiculously thick relative to the size of the tiny box you're drawing).

I agree with you about the organic perspective boxes. They're not bad, and I like your line weights, but I think doing the 250 box challenge would help you increase your comfort levels with rotating forms in 3D space.

Overall, good work. I'll be marking this lesson as complete.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-18 00:42

I think you're fighting the urge to rush through these exercises. The ellipses are good, the organic perspective boxes are okay (but on the verge of being rushed), and the rough perspective and lines exercises are definitely rushed.

With the lines exercise, I usually look at the shortest ones to get a sense of whether or not a person is giving it the focus it requires. The longer lines, waves, etc. tend to be quite challenging, so I try not to judge too harshly on those.

What I look at most of all is the very beginning of the shorter lines. When they're done well, they'll line up nicely at the beginning, and fray near the end. When they're rushed, they'll fray at both ends (as yours do). This is not due to a lack of ability, but rather you're simply not taking the time to position the tip of your pen correctly when you start the line. If you start poorly, then you've nowhere to go but down.

Your rough perspective boxes are looking kind of sloppy as well. A lot of your lines are arcing a little, and your line weights are inconsistent. Try to limit yourself to one mark per line, and fight the urge to either reinforce a line immediately after you've drawn it (a lot of us have that natural reflex) as well as the urge to correct mistakes by piling on more ink. This will only draw more attention to the error.

I'd like you to do one more page of lines, as well as a page each of the rough perspective and the organic perspective exercises. For both of the box exercises, draw bigger. You don't have to do as many individual frames, but I usually find that when a person draws things smaller, they tend to come out messier and sloppier. Also, be sure to draw your frames with a straight edge. When the frame is half-assed, it's hard to get in the right frame of mind to draw your boxes neatly.

Take a look at the ghosting your lines notes, they may help with drawing the boxes.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-18 03:12

Not bad. At times you seem to be somewhat rushed, especially in the rough perspective exercise. Everything you do deserves your full attention and care, starting with the frames for your compositions, all the way down to the hatching at the end.

Sometimes I find that working bigger (drawing small boxes like this can be tricky) helps. The ghosting technique for drawing lines is also something you should look into if you haven't already.

Overall, your lines, ellipses and rough perspective exercises do demonstrate a decent understanding of the concepts. Be sure to keep doing the lines and ellipses as a part of a warm-up routine, as they have the most impact if done frequently over an extended period of time.

Your organic perspective boxes are probably your weakest point. I'm still going to mark the lesson as complete, but I suggest that you look into doing the 250 box challenge. The notes included there should be helpful, and in general it helps increase one's comfort levels with drawing boxes that are rotated arbitrarily in 3D space. Those skills are rather important for lesson 2's form intersections.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-18 05:28

Your lines are looking good, but by and large, I'm seeing a lot of sloppiness from the boxes. I think that you went in more for quantity rather than quality, and from the looks of it, you could do much better if you put in a little more time and thought into each line you draw.

Also, be sure to read the lesson notes (in the comments - they should bubble to the top if you're sorting by 'top'), they've got important additional notes, explanations, requirements, etc. For example, these notes regarding the ellipse exercise. Give them a read, and then do one more page of ellipses.

For the boxes, as I said before, just take your time. Do one more page of rough perspective and one more page of organic perspective. Draw one mark per line, and think before you draw it. Make sure all your lines connect nicely where they're supposed to. Using the ghosting technique for drawing your lines should help with that. Also, take the time to lay out your frames nicely on the page. It's fine to use a straight edge to draw your compositional frames, and keeping them straight usually helps with your frame of mind while drawing. If the frame is all wobbly and slanted, you tend to care less about its contents.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-20 14:00

Nope! The only places where it's okay to use a ruler is to draw the template line in exercise 1 (on top of which you attempt to super impose 8 more freehand lines to each 1 template line), and drawing the frames for the two perspective exercises. Everything else should be done freehand.

If you're having trouble with that, you may want to look at the ghosting lines drawing technique.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-20 23:58

You may have struggled, but you won the fight. Great work, you hit all the points I was looking for, and you presented it all neatly and cleanly.

The first two exercises (lines and ellipses) should be incorporated into a warmup routine. You don't have to do as many, but try and do some of each when you start a drawing session. You should see improvement over time.

The boxes look great - you can push them to the next level by working on your line weights. Take a look at the notes included in the 250 box challenge post. The challenge is optional, but the notes on line weight should help you make your drawings pop.

Go on and move ahead to lesson 2!

Uncomfortable

2015-01-21 16:00

My thoughts are right here. It's not an uncommon query, since digital art is extremely popular, and people tend to want to jump right into it.

I don't think it's a good idea. For a while, I would sort of accept homework done digitally (it'd usually be full of obvious driver issues, and other things that made critiquing the quality of the techniques themselves very difficult to comment on). Now, I've closed that door - mostly due to the massive number of critiques I have to do every day. Since I work full-time and I have my own projects going on the side, I'd rather not spend more time having to figure out how to critique special cases.

I am a digital artist myself, and I tend to dislike the vast majority of what's involved in working traditionally. Still, it's a very good idea to ground yourself in traditional practices, as they'll give you a much better sense of what you should be aiming for when working digitally.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-23 04:17

I'm about to go to bed, but I figure I should do this critique before I go. It's not a long one.

Overall, I'm very much getting the sense that you're rushing. It's not abnormal, especially at the first lesson, so I usually try to break spirits here instead of later on. You're too eager to get through the lesson! At the same time, you're not afraid to deliver a whole lot of quantity, which is great - but not worth much if you're not going to focus on the quality as well.

You are capable of much better than this. I'll quickly summarize what you should look to fix.

1. Lines - you actually did this wrong. From the looks of it, all you did was draw lines arbitrarily. The exercise is to draw a single guide line (for the straight lines you can use a ruler), then super impose 8 freehand lines on top of the guide line. This is hard as hell, and gets even harder as the line gets longer. Focus on keeping up a smooth pace and drawing from your shoulder. If you slow down too much, your line will get wobbly. If you go too fast, you'll end up very inaccurate - but this is at least fairly normal, there's no way you'll be 100% accurate at this point.

2. Ellipses - The way you draw through your ellipses at the beginning is good. You should do that all throughout. Focus on getting your ellipses to fit snugly in the space allotted to them. Don't just draw a bunch of circles quickly, pay special attention to each and every one. Picture the kind of ellipse you want to draw, decide where and how it should fit, and then draw it. You either draw it accurately, or you don't.

3. You clearly grasp your 1 point perspective, but your lines are sloppy. Take care with drawing each box, give it your full attention. If you make a mistake, fight the urge to 'fix' it by adding more ink. This will only draw more attention to the error.

4. Like many people, you are having trouble rotating forms in 3D space. Read over the notes listed in the 250 box challenge. I will probably ask you to do the challenge after you've completed this lesson, but for now just read the notes and try to apply those lessons to your organic perspective boxes.

Every lesson has notes associated with it, which I post in the comments. They're usually the top comment, but with the first two lessons, it's not always guaranteed that they'll be at the top (because there are so many comments that some get hidden, which breaks my CSS hacks that are supposed to force them to the top). If you sort by top, it should be the first one. These notes often contain helpful hints and extra notes which you should read. Make sure you go back and read the notes in their entirety.

I'd like you to tackle this lesson again. Keep in mind, when I completed this lesson when I was taking this class, it took me at least six hours, if not more. Slow down, take your time, and take as many breaks as you need. Don't practice when you're tired, otherwise you'll merely practice sloppiness.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-23 23:01

The party keeps on going. Some people leave, others arrive to replace them, the music keeps thumping and I'll never get any sleep. Welcome to my house!

Your work's looking a little soppy there, like you're attacking it too quickly. The fact that you didn't do the full set of homework is definitely adding to my theory. You've got to slow down in order to really complete the lesson to the best of your ability. Based on what I see, I can tell that you are capable of doing this better - and if you don't practice at your best, your progress will be stunted.

Patience is a huge issue when it comes to learning a skill, and a lot of the people who tackle these lessons tend to come in rearing to go, full of eagerness and enthusiasm. They're looking so far ahead, trying to reach the later lessons, and they don't pay proper attention to what they're doing now. I generally take the first lesson as an opportunity to break their spirits and toss their mangled souls onto my assembly line.

Lets look at how you could approach things better:

1. The lines. You didn't read the lesson properly. This exercise involves drawing a single guide line (you can use a straight edge for this if you like), and then superimposing 8 freehand lines on top of it.

2. The ellipses. Check out these notes, they cover what you did wrong. A lot of people make the mistakes you did, which led to me writing up something more consistent to throw at people. You did however draw through your ellipses a couple times each, which is very good to see. Definitely keep that up. The second part of that link is what applies to you.

3. The rough perspective boxes. There's two issues here - first off, be careful with your lines. Strive to draw only one mark for each line - draw it straight and steady, from your shoulder - and if you mess up, try to fight the urge to correct it. Piling on more ink will only draw attention to the mistake. If you leave it alone, there's a good chance it will be less noticeable - this becomes more likely when you start dealing with varying line weights. The ghosting technique for drawing lines should help you here. Drawing straight lines is goddamn hard, so I don't expect you to nail it every time. Secondly, your hatching is just awful. They're just scribbles. If you're going to draw something, you should take the time to draw it well. That means, if you're deciding to add shading, take the time to draw those hatching lines, regularly spaced, covering the entire surface. If you half-ass it, it'll take what could be an otherwise good drawing without any shading at all, and make it shitty.

4. The organic perspective boxes. My comments for the previous exercise stand for this one as well. Other than that, you didn't do a particularly bad job of it. You seem to have a decent sense for how simple forms turn in 3D space. It would be nicer to see each box treated with the care and focus it deserves, of course.

Every lesson as a set of 'lesson notes' posted in the comments. If you sort the comments by 'top', you should find them as the first comment. If not, hunt around a little bit. They always contain extra little pointers as well as extra content that I provide as time goes on, and I see the same questions or issues coming up again and again. Checking that out before tackling a lesson should save us both time.

I hope (and expect) to see a full eight pages next time you submit. There's nothing at all wrong with doing these in more than one setting. You should take breaks often - don't practice when you start getting tired, because you'll end up practicing your sloppiness. Also, the longer you take, the better.

I'm looking forward to seeing your next submission!

Uncomfortable

2015-01-24 19:09

Nice work! You definitely show a lot of perseverance, and your hard work has paid off a great deal. You still have a ways to go, but you are certainly on the right path.

Your lines look good, and are either where I'd expect them to be at this stage, or a little further along. The longer lines tend to fray a fair bit, but what I look out for most is wobbliness (due to drawing too slowly). I don't see much of that - the rest will gradually be fixed with practice.

You clearly understand the intent of the ellipses exercise, and you do a fairly good job of pursuing it. I did notice that your ellipses are at times a little obbly (moreso with the larger ones, because they tend to be more difficult). Try to push past the urge to be extra-careful, and try to let your muscles do the drawing. When your lines wobble, it's because your brain is micromanaging the operation - it's telling your arm - go here, no, do this, go at this angle, curve a little more, etc. This leads to a lot of small variations which come out as bumps.

If you trust more in your arm, and simply draw at a somewhat faster, but constant pace, your lines should flow better. They may come out less accurate, but over time your brain and your arm will learn to co-operate better. Be sure to read these notes if you haven't already.

Both the lines and the ellipses are exercises that are best done often. Incorporate them into your warm-up routine, so you draw a handful of each before you settle in on whatever you intended to draw.

Your boxes are well done. There are mistakes here and there, but you've more than met my expectations for this lesson. Your lines are clean, and what I really like is that for the most part you've fought the natural urge to bury mistakes with ink in an attempt to correct them. All this does is draw attention to the mistake. Yours on the other hand give a greater sense of confidence, so the mistakes are less noticeable.

You should read up on the ghosting lines technique, however. If you haven't tried it already, it should help you achieve smoother, more accurate lines in exercises such as these.

If you're feeling concerned about your boxes, you should definitely look into the 250 box challenge next. There are a lot of extra notes included in that post, and you should read all of them. Then try to apply those concepts to the challenge itself.

The challenge should, while improving your confidence and comfort levels, get you ready for the form intersections on lesson 2. A lot of people have difficulty with them, but the box challenge tends to help solidify peoples' understanding of how simple forms can be manipulated and rotated in 3D space.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-25 04:52

Definitely an improvement over last time. The only critique I would like to add at this point is that in the future, you should try and fight the natural urge to correct your mistakes. Usually when a person makes a mistake in drawing a line, they'll draw another on top of it. This darkens the line, making it stand out against all the others. In doing so, you're basically just drawing the viewer's attention to the things you messed up. Leaving them alone may be a much better approach. This becomes even more effective when you get into using line weight to give your drawings more life.

Anyways, good work.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-25 18:50

Generally I'd say do it the way you find most comfortable, assuming that the level of comfort translates into better results. The one on the left is looking sloppier for sure, though technically speaking in terms of perspective, it's more correct. Presentation-wise, the one on the right looks better, but it doesn't follow the rules of perspective (your far plane, defined by lines 1 and 5, is larger than your near plane, defined by 3, 7, 8 and 9.

All that said, did you do those particular boxes digitally because it was easier to demonstrate what you mean? Or are you doing the entire lesson digitally?

Uncomfortable

2015-01-25 19:53

Pretty good. I have to admit though, my first reaction to you saying yourself that you got sloppy at the end was not good. At the end of the day, if you know you've done something poorly - not to the best of your ability - do it again. There's no time limit, no requirement to do everything in one sitting. If you're tired, take a break, leave it for a few days, whatever. The only requirement is that you submit work that is done at your very best. Only then can my critiques be of any value.

Anyways, you still did a pretty good job. Your lines are solid. Your ellipses look good, though I'm guessing you didn't have a chance to read over the lesson notes (there are lesson notes for every lesson in the comments - i've got css set up to force the comment to the top, though this doesn't work if there's over 250 comments in a thread, in which case those beyond the 250 threshold get hidden by default). You would have caught these notes regarding the ellipse exercise.

I won't have you redo them though. They look good enough for me to know you'll be able to do them properly in the future. Those first two should be done regularly anyway, so incorporate them into your warmup routine. You don't have to do two full pages of each, but some amount every time you draw would help you out immensely.

Your rough perspective boxes look fantastic. Your perspective is good, and your lines are confident. Your organic perspective boxes are so-so. Overall not bad, but I can see your sloppiness for sure. The biggest thing to watch out for is situations where the far plane of a box ends up larger than the near plane. This directly contradicts the rules of perspective, and you seem to be doing it pretty often.

Instead of having you redo that, I'm generally pleased with the homework so I'll mark it as complete and have you move onto the 250 box challenge before tackling lesson 2. It should help you iron out the major issues with drawing those boxes rotated arbitrarily in 3D space - something that might otherwise be a hindrance in lesson 2's form intersections.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-27 00:03

You've done pretty well. Two things that I'd like to mention, and they don't relate to your technique at all.

1. When you do an exercise that requires you to create several thumbnail compositions (the rough perspective and organic perspective exercises), take the time to draw out your frames properly - with a straight edge. It's all about the frame of mind it puts you in as you draw. If you start off with a wobbly frame, your eagerness to draw carefully will diminish.

2. When you're scanning, make sure you have it set to black and white photograph, or colour photograph - instead of b/w drawing. The drawing settings tend to raise the contrast a lot, which removes some of the nuances of your linework.

Take a look at the 250 box challenge. You don't have to complete it, but at least read the notes included in the post - especially the ones about line weight. Right now your lines are all very uniform (which is totally expected for this stage). Learning how to vary those line weights will help you take your drawings to the next level.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-27 15:49

Gel pens work nicely for drawing, but they lack a specific quality over the felt tip pens - that is, the ability to control the thickness of the line through pressure. These are the pens I use. They're generally not terribly expensive - you can usually buy them individually (at art supply stores) for four bucks each, or something like that. Not super cheap, but definitely not on the super expensive end either.

Anyways, as for your homework - you did pretty well. The lines and ellipses are well done, though keep in mind that ellipses-inside-of-ellipses aren't too useful as exercises. The ones where you have a clear goal that you can either hit or miss are far more effective.

Those two exercises should be included in a warmup routine - you don't have to do quite so many each time, the amount is left up to your discretion. It's more about doing the exercises regularly and often.

Your boxes are alright as well - not great, though. In the future, try to start off by drawing your frames carefully. Use a straight edge for that (even though I don't allow straight edges for anything else, here it's important to start off with a strong presentation, to get in the frame of mind of doing everything cleanly and carefully).

You should look at the notes on the ghosting technique for drawing lines. Your lines are at times a little wobbly - this might help.

Another thing to keep in mind, on the topic of cleanliness, is your hatching. Don't scribble haphazardly. If you're going to add shading - and in this case, you were not required to - do it well, otherwise it'll take a decent drawing and make it look worse. Each line should be separate, instead of a single line going back and forth. You should be controlling their spacing (there are situations where you'll want it to get more dense on one side, though this is something you should be in control of).

Your organic perspective boxes are much the same, though I do believe you should look into doing the 250 box challenge. It looks like you're struggling somewhat with rotating simple forms in 3D space, and the challenge should help increase your comfort levels with that. Be sure to read all the notes included in that post.

I'm marking this lesson as complete, but be sure to keep everything I've said in mind in the future.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-27 17:44

Well done! Your lines and ellipses are solid. These exercises will help most if you do them regularly, so try and incorporate some amount of each into a warmup routine.

Your boxes are also pretty solid - what stands out most t ome though is your crosshatching. At times it comes out somewhat haphazard and sloppy - if you're going to add crosshatching, or anything for that matter, make sure that you do it carefully and cleanly. Otherwise something that wasn't necessary in the first place could take a good drawing and make it look shoddy.

I'm a little on the fence about your organic perspective boxes. They generally look good, but I can't shake this feeling that you're a little uncomfortable with rotating the forms arbitrarily in 3D space. If you do feel that you're not quite as comfortable as you'd like to be, give the 250 box challenge a shot. The post itself has several sets of notes that might come in handy, and the challenge itself was included to bridge the gap between this exercise and the form intersections from lesson 2. The form intersections are notoriously difficult, so it's best to be as comfortable as you can be with boxes before attempting it.

Overall, I really like your approach. Your presentation is fairly clean, and you show a lot of care with most aspects of your drawings. You definitely demonstrate a lot of patience. Keep it up!

Uncomfortable

2015-01-28 23:37

The problem that you're experiencing with your lines isn't uncommon. The only problem is that in response to the problem, you slowed down, when you should have sped up.

Basically, with this exercise, there's two things that I expect to see. Either your lines are smooth, but flying off from your goal, or they're wobbly and kind of stick to your guide line (the first one you drew, on top of which you're trying to superimpose your new lines). Wobbliness is tough to fix, because what's happening is your brain is trying to direct your arm. It's micromanaging. When your pen goes off course, your brain corrects it, but then it goes off course again. Definitely not the best approach.

Instead, we want to train your muscles to learn how to draw smooth lines. Your brain gives your arm the message, "draw this line, from here to here," and then does nothing else. Your arm knows what's needed, so it gives it a shot. This results in the line being more smooth and consistent, but often times the line will not be all that accurate - because your arm started off in one direction, and kept on going.

But that's fine - that's something we can correct with practice.

Now I'm going to want you to redo this lesson. Every lesson has a set of lesson notes in the comments (usually they're the top comment, but sometimes if there's too many comments, they'll end up falling below the threshold). These notes have extra content and information that is important for completing the lesson.

The notes for this one have a few important pieces of information. Regarding the Ellipse Exercise and Ghosting your Lines. Give those a read - the former pertains to the ellipse exercise (obviously), and how you can approach that more effectively. The latter goes over a technique you can use when drawing your boxes that will hopefully make them cleaner.

With that in mind, I think you'll be able to do a better job on the homework for this lesson.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-29 00:47

That's surprising, because your ellipses came out very well. The first page, anyway. I strongly recommend that you do the ellipses in the way you did on page 1 of your homework, rather than page 8. This is why.

Your line exercises came out very well. The lines are smooth and clean, and while they're not 100% accurate, I don't expect them to be.

You should incorporate the lines and ellipse exercises into your warmup routine, as they will have the greatest impact if you keep doing them regularly over time.

Now, I do have concerns about how you drew your boxes. For the rough perspective exercise, you're not supposed to plot out the perspective as you did (drawing the lines all the way back to your vanishing point). You mark out the VP, and estimate based on that.

Secondly, I noticed that your lines in the box exercises are somewhat inconsistent. At times they seem sketchy, at other times they wobble a bit or arc. Take a look at the ghosting technique for drawing lines. Every line should be made with one mark. If you make a mistake, fight the urge to correct it, since laying on more ink will only draw the viewer's attention to your error.

Lastly, I noticed that your crosshatching is very sloppy. Shading in those exercises is completely optional, but if you choose to do it, be sure to put in the effort to make it clean. That means consistent, individual, parallel lines. No scribbling or randomness. That just ends up coming off as sloppy, and can take a good drawing and make it look bad.

I'd like to see you redo the rough perspective and organic perspective exercises. I believe that with the notes I linked above (all of which were listed in the lesson notes, which are in the comments section of every lesson), you should be able to do much better.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-31 15:07

You did a good job (though I can see that you only did one page for each exercise - since they're good though, I'll let that slide. In the future, do the full set).

Just a few things to note:

• When drawing lines in your boxes, fight the urge to 'correct' mistakes. When you correct them, usually you do this by applying more ink, which only attracts the viewer's eye to those spots. Often leaving them alone works out better.

• Conversely, once you've drawn in your lines, it will help your drawings 'pop' if you go back and apply thicker line weights to certain lines. The notes on the 250 box challenge post cover that and more, so you should give them a read.

• If you're going to apply crosshatching, don't be sloppy about it. No scribbling, no randomness. Just controlled parallel lines, going from one end of the surface to the other.

• If you're at all having trouble with drawing straight lines in a drawing (like in the box exercises), you should definitely look at the ghosting lines technique.

Feel free to move onto lesson 2.

Uncomfortable

2015-01-31 15:12

These are definitely better. I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but here's a couple things to take note of:

• If you're going to use cross hatching to add shading, don't be sloppy about it. No scribbling, no half-lines, no randomness. Controlled, parallel lines stretching from one side of the form to the other.

• It does appear that you still have some trouble with rotating the boxes in 3D space - I strongly suggest that you do the 250 box challenge before attempting the form intersections of lesson 2. There are a bunch of notes linked off the challenge post, you should definitely read them carefully.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-01 22:04

Yup.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-03 00:23

Not bad. Your lines and ellipses look good (and those should be done regularly as a part of a warmup routine). Your boxes are okay as well, though admittedly they're a little sloppy. Take care to draw each box carefully, try your best to make each line straight (the ghosting technique might help) and also draw your frames with a straight edge. Having a loose, sloppy frame works against putting you in the right frame of mind to draw everything with care.

In general you did fairly well, so I'll mark the lesson as complete. I would like you to move onto the 250 box challenge though, so you can practice drawing each one with care and as much precision as you can muster.

Also, ballpoint pen is fine in a pinch, but try and hunt down a 0.5 felt tip pen when you can.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-02 19:55

The fine liner is a felt tip pen. The ones I use are staedtler's pigment liners. I usually go for a 0.5mm, because it can produce a wide variety of weights with proper pressure control. 0.4mm should work too, since it's not too far off.

Ballpoint pens can work in a pinch, but they're considerably different - it's a lot easier to sketch lightly with a ballpoint pen, so it doesn't stress the same principles of pressure control that I want people to practice.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-03 23:51

Okay, so it looks like you have no exposure to perspective - that's perfectly fine. In that case, I'd like you to look at the following notes:

• Perspective Basics

• When to use 1, 2 and 3 point perspective

I don't expect you to digest all of that information right off the bat. Read them once over, and let anything that doesn't stick fall away for now. I mainly want you to know what role the vanishing point plays.

Then, I'd like you to apply what you did absorb from those notes by doing this exercise. You can use a ruler for this. Right now all I'm concerned with is that you start getting used to how perspective is intended to be used, in a general level.

Do two pages of that (as best as you can), and then submit them as a reply to this comment. If you make mistakes, I'll let you know what they are.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-03 23:56

Not bad. A little sloppy, and it seems that you didn't read over the lesson notes (which are in the comments section). A lot of people forget to read them - is the red message above the comment box showing up okay? Or is my css broken...

Anyway, the notes contained lots of extra information but most relevant right now is these notes regarding the ellipse exercise. Give them a read. I won't have you redo the ellipses since I tell everyone to do those and the lines regularly as part of a warm up routine. So you should have plenty of chances to do them more effectively in the future.

Aside from that, your boxes are sloppy, but generally not incorrect. You should take more time to draw them, being more careful and using the ghosting technique for drawing your lines. Your crosshatching is also sloppy - if you're going to add crosshatching, make sure that it is clean and tidy. Consistent, parallel lines, stretching from one end of a surface to the other. No scribbling, no randomness, no half-hearted efforts.

I would definitely like you to do the 250 box challenge, and I'm glad that you feel the same way. It should give you the opportunity to build up your confidence, and also to ramp up your patience and carefulness.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-04 00:03

It's a good attempt, but you would have benefited from reading the lesson notes (included in the comments section). I'm not actually sure if my CSS is broken, but there should be a message in red text above the comment box that says "ALWAYS READ THE LESSON NOTES BEFORE DOING THE HOMEWORK".

Anyway, the main part of it (though there's plenty of other information in those lesson notes) is "Regarding the Ellipse Exercise". Give that a read.

In general, I find that you're putting in a while lot of quantity, which is grand, but not a whole lot of quality. From what I can see, you can do much better than this, but you're not spending enough time on each individual bit. I want to see everything done at your very best, no matter how long that takes. Take as much time and as many breaks as you need.

So, I'd like to see you tackle this lesson again. Keep the following in mind:

• You did the lines exercise incorrectly, you're meant to draw a line (with a ruler if you like, for the straight ones) then trace over it eight times freehand. Find a good pace that allows you to get as accurate as you can without wobbling. If you wobble, it's because you're going too slow.

• Read the notes regarding the ellipses that I linked above.

• Your boxes need more care. Draw each line carefully - one straight mark for each line, no gaps between them. Also try to fight the urge to correct mistakes, (this will only pile on more ink and draw the viewer's attention). The ghosting lines technique may help you with your line drawing.

• If you're going to crosshatch, do it neatly. Consistent, parallel lines stretching from one side of a surface to the other. If you're going to half-ass it, you're free to just not add crosshatching. If you decide to do something though, go all the way.

Be sure to give the lesson notes a good read too, there's probably a lot that might be relevant that I left out in this critique.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-04 00:09

In general you didn't do badly, but I'm firm about this felt tip pen requirement. Everything feels awkward when it's new, but I insist that you push through it. I was horrified when I was told I had to do these exercises in ink, but the medium itself helped develop an entirely different range of skills.

So, I'd like you to do the exercises again, but with a felt tip pen. The only significant critique I'd give you on your current approach is to take more care with the crosshatching you're using for your shading. It's kind of sloppy. Consistent, parallel lines stretching from one side of the surface to the other. No scribbling, no randomness. You're not alone on this though, I usually tell this to at least one person a night - today you're the third.

As for your question, there's a billion different ways to reach a goal, but in my experience, everything is connected. The lessons you learn from drawing humans will help in various ways to drawing creatures. Similarly, learning to draw inanimate objects will help you to draw living things.

That said, the lessons here are structured into sets - aside from the basics (which are prerequisite for all other lesson sets), you can choose to go into whichever ones you want - as long as you start each set from the beginning. So, if you want to skip the people-drawing, you can. I still recommend that people go through every lesson, though.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-04 02:41

Looking pretty good. Be sure to read the lesson notes though, which are included in the comments section. Since you missed them, you didn't catch the extra notes on the ellipse exercise. Be sure to give it a read.

Both the lines and ellipse exercises should be incorporated into a warm up routine, so you can do them regularly.

Your rough perspective boxes are alright, although you should go back and look at what you've drawn - a lot of your boxes really don't go off to the vanishing point. Try to be conscious of that vanishing point, and if you're having trouble approximating the perspective, do a few pages of this exercise, which involves actually using a ruler and plotting out your perspective manually.

Your organic perspective boxes are fairly good. There are mistakes here and there, but the majority are done decently. The biggest thing there that I'd keep an eye on is your line weights. You seem to be making the lines inside the silhouette of each box quite a bit darker, when those should actually be the lighter ones.

You might want to look into doing the 250 box challenge. That post includes a lot of notes regarding perspective and line weights, so you should definitely give them a good read.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-04 23:06

Solid work all around, and I approve of the decision to move onto the 250 box challenge. Be sure to read all the notes included in the challenge post. They should help you push your boxes to the next level.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-06 14:34

I'm a little bit on the fence, but I think I'll mark this lesson as complete. Most of all, I'm concerned about the sloppiness of the boxes - so since you'll be doing the 250 box challenge, you'll be able to demonstrate that you've improved.

Here's a couple things to keep in mind:

• Draw all your lines straight, and be aware when your lines are bending or arcing. The ghosting technique may help you draw straighter lines, with a greater degree of forethought and planning.

• Take as much time as you need, and focus on what you are drawing. Give each individual component the time it requires.

• Crosshatching should NEVER be messy. Individual, consistent, parallel lines that stretch from one end of a surface to the other. No scribbling or random lines.

• If you make a mistake, be aware of it, but often attempting to correct it will only darken the area with more ink, drawing the viewer's eye to your blunder. Leaving it alone is often the better solution.

• All lessons have "lesson notes" included in the comments section that include extra notes and helpful content. There should be a message in red above the comment box that tells you to read it before doing the homework. Always be sure to do so!

charles_barkley_bot

2015-02-06 06:36

*turrible

Uncomfortable

2015-02-06 14:51

The sharpie seems to be just fine - it's a felt tip pen, and the thickness seems to be appropriate. I've got a brown ultrafine sharpie somewhere around here, and in my experience, it's quite comparable.

A few things to point out:

• You didn't do the ellipses correctly. Every lesson has 'lesson notes' in the comments section, which includes extra content. There should be red text that shows up above the comment section that says "ALWAYS READ THE LESSON NOTES", though I'm not 100% sure if it shows up for everyone. Anyways- go back and read them.

• You're right, the boxes are.. off. The likely reason is that you don't actually seem to have had any experience with perspective drawing, which is perfectly fine. For now, read these notes: Perspective Basics, When to use 1, 2, 3 Point Perspective. Give them a good read, but I don't expect you to fully understand them at this point. Then try this drawing exercise. Use a ruler, and plot everything out. I'd like to see 2 pages of that - once you're done you can post them here.

• In the future, don't skimp on the quantity. The minimum was 2 pages each.

For now, in addition to that perspective exercise I mentioned above, I'd also like to see you do two pages of ellipses, done correctly as described in the lesson notes.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-08 20:44

I think you need to slow down and give each exercise a little more time and attention.

The lines exercise is a little hard to judge when it's done in pencil, since everything blends together, so I don't have much to say about it. For the ellipses, read over these notes, which were included in the 'lesson notes'. Each lesson has lesson notes included in the comments section, and there should be a message in red text above the comment box reminding you to read them.

The rough perspective boxes are, perspective-wise, okay. But they're kind of sloppy. Take extra care to draw the lines as straight as you can. The ghosting technique may help. Those notes were also included in the lesson notes. More than anything, it's a matter of taking the time to think and plan before each mark you make.

Same goes for the organic perspective boxes, though they're generally not badly done.

I'd like you to tackle these again, once you can replace your felt tip pens. Don't do these exercises in pencil, it takes a lot away from the lesson.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-08 20:51

I think the biggest issue here isn't so much related to your ability. It's a matter of patience, and care. You're rushing far too much.

Looking at your lines exercise, what I usually expect to see is fraying on one end, especially with the longer lines. With yours, I see fraying on both ends - this means you don't take the time to line up the tip of your pen to the end of the line before you start. You kind of rush into it, putting your pen wherever. Slow down, and think before you make a mark.

The ellipses are alright, though I want to be certain that you read these extra notes, which were included in the lesson notes (in the comments section). Every lesson has them, and it's very important that you read them before doing the homework.

The rough perspective boxes are quite sketchy and rough. Perspective-wise, they're okay, but I'd definitely like you to look over the ghosting technique for drawing lines. The technique takes a lot more time, but it requires you to think and plan before every line is drawn. Try to fight the reflexive urge to draw a line with multiple marks. Draw a single mark for the entire line, and if you make a mistake, don't correct it - that'll only pile on more ink, which will draw the viewer's eye to your blunder.

The same goes for the organic perspective boxes, though to a lesser extent. Try to focus on drawing the lines straight as well. Ghosting should help in that area as well.

Another thing that stands for both of the box exercises, is that you should draw the frames for the compositions with a straight edge. The boxes themselves are to be drawn freehand, of course, but with a neat, clean frame, you can maintain that sort of mindset of care, attention and patience much more effectively.

Since you're showing such an eagerness to rush, I'd like you to do the entire lesson over again. Take your time, and take as many breaks as you need. Just focus on doing it all as well as you possibly can.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-09 23:24

Nice work, everything looks to be in order. In the future, work towards slowing down a little when you draw (in this case, boxes). Plan and think through your lines before you actually draw them, and strive to nail them in a single stroke. Often I myself have the urge to immediately follow up a mark with another to 'reinforce' it. That kind of reflexive behaviour should be something we all strive to avoid. Every action should be done with clear intent and purpose.

The ghosting technique is a little slower, but it helps to draw more thoughtfully. Give it a shot.

Also, the lines and ellipse exercises will continue to help you if they are done regularly - so work them into a warm-up routine.

Feel free to move onto lesson 2.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-09 23:29

In general, I'm getting the sense that you're rushing through things way too much. The technical skills you're demonstrating are fine, though you really need to slow down.

For example, for the lines exercise - I usually expect to see fraying on one end of the line (where the pen strays from the intended path). With yours, I'm seeing it on both sides, because you're not taking enough time to line up your pen at the beginning. Similarly, your ellipses are very rushed, and while I'm glad you acknowledged the notes I included, I'd like to see you push yourself to overcome your natural tendencies.

In order to help you pull back and slow down, I'd like you to take another stab at the whole lesson. Take your time, and focus on delivering the best work you can possibly do. Aim for the examples included in the lesson notes.

The more time you take, the better. Also, there is no expectation for you to do it all in one sitting - take as many breaks as you need. All that matters is that in the end, it is the best you yourself are capable of.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-09 23:33

Not bad. I do feel that you drew things rather small - in future lessons, try to draw things somewhat bigger. When you draw tiny, the tip of the pen (and therefore the average line weight) looks much thicker relative to the drawing itself. This robs you of the ability to add the subtler elements that really carry a drawing.

Also, make sure that you read these notes, in regards to the ellipse exercise. It was included in the lesson notes (which are posted in the comments section of each lesson and should be read prior to completing the homework). I won't ask you to redo the ellipse exercise, since you mostly did what you were supposed to on the second page.

That said, you should continue to do the lines and ellipse exercises as part of a warm-up routine, as they will continue to help you if done regularly over along period of time.

Feel free to move onto the next lesson when you feel comfortable. You may also want to look into the 250 box challenge if you felt the organic perspective boxes exercise was too difficult.

Uncomfortable

2015-02-11 23:46

Your lines are well done, and your ellipses show a lot of care and patience (though you didn't do them correctly - give the lesson notes a read, you'll find these notes regarding the ellipse exercise). I see that kind of fall apart when you hit the boxes.

Make sure you lay out these exercises (both rough perspective and organic perspective) in frames (as you did later on, though those came out kind of sloppy, I think they required more attention and focus). Also, if you find that it's difficult to draw your lines accurately at the size you're working, work a little larger. Often times it's tricky to work smaller, since the thickness of your pen (and therefore your lines) ends up huge relative to your drawing.

Overall, I think that with the boxes, you are fully capable of doing both exercises fairly well. You simply need to invest more time. I'd like to see you do the boxes exercises over. Deliver to me the absolute best of what you're capable. I would also like you to do one more page of ellipses (to incorporate the things mentioned in the notes I linked above).