Uncomfortable

2015-09-22 19:48

I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but there are a few things I want you to note.

Most importantly, you definitely need to rewatch the video for cylinder construction (from the 250 cylinder challenge post), as well as the demo videos from this lesson (since you're a patreon supporter). There's a few key tricks that you're completely missing and avoiding.

1. When drawing cylinders, be aware of the minor axis. Actually draw it, and then align your cylinder to it.

2. When drawing cylinders, especially when they need to be positioned in a very specific location or aligned to another object, start with a box. Find the center line of that box (the line between the midpoints of the top and bottom planes) and use that center line as the minor axis for your cylinder.

3. Look at figure 0.2 from the lesson. This technique is used to find the center of a plane, and is integral to constructing forms. You cannot simply eyeball this stuff. Get used to subdividing planes so you can align other forms to exact positions.

4. You're not ghosting your lines. As a reminder, I've included the ghosting methodology below. Force yourself to use it, even though it will take you far longer to draw a single mark on the page than it does right now. It's extremely important.

The Ghosting Method

1. Identify - where does your line start and end? Is it straight or does it curve? Is it an ellipse?

2. Prepare - find the most comfortable angle of approach (rotating your page if necessary) and ghost through the motion of drawing it. Don't just do this a couple times - the point is to make your arm and muscles feel that the motion is familiar and comfortable. Do it as much as is necessary.

3. Now your brain has had its say, and has given your muscles their marching orders. Keeping the rhythm of your repeated ghosting, lower the pen to the page and draw the mark using that same motion. Your brain should not interfere - your pace should be steady and confident, and quick enough so that your muscles can take over.

You're practicing a lot, which is great, but you're forgetting the key points of each lesson. If you apply these concepts, you'll see far greater improvement than you are currently. Ultimately it is completely up to you to put these principles into action and I hope you will step back and compare how you're approaching things right now to the various methods and techniques I've presented over the last six lessons.

Uncomfortable

2015-10-20 19:14

Not bad. I definitely think that your proportions and constructions come out much better when you start off with a box and build the object inside of it, so your later attempts came off stronger than your earlier ones.

As for the problems you're encountering, proportions will come with continuing to practice your observational skills, but sketchy lines only requires for you to really commit to ghosting your lines and thinking through each one before putting a mark down. That's less about building up skill and more about rejecting your bad habits. In a way that is harder, but it is an area where conscious effort will show more immediate results.

I'll mark this lesson as complete. Be sure to continue constructing within simple boxes as you move onto the next lesson, as it continues to be an extremely helpful approach. That goes for cylinders as well - start off with a box to establish the general space and more importantly to find your cylinder's minor axis, and then use that information to construct your cylinder. Be sure to check out the 'how to draw a cylinder' video in the 250 cylinder challenge post if you haven't already.

Uncomfortable

2015-11-01 19:48

I think you're doing pretty well. There's obviously room to grow, and you have a tendency to go wild with your ellipses (remember to draw through them 2 or 3 times, no more, no less), but there's a lot of improvement over the set. I also think you seem to be benefiting considerably from constructing your objects inside of boxes, especially your cylinders (which you weren't doing at first).

Anyways, keep up the good work. Continue to practice this stuff as you move forward onto the next lesson.

Uncomfortable

2015-11-14 18:44

It's a good start. I'd say that what you would benefit from working on is stepping back and getting a solid grasp on your basic forms. Boxes and cylinders specifically, with a greater emphasis on the boxes. After all, these objects are just combinations of these simple forms, so getting a hang of drawing boxes confidently with a full understanding of how they sit in 3D space is really important.

A lot of these drawings are coming along nicely, but the underlying boxes are a little less than solid - so, with a weakened foundational construction, everything built on top of it will also turn out a little weak.

Conceptually you understand what you're doing though, so I'm going to mark this lesson as complete. I do encourage you to go back and tackle the 250 box and cylinder challenges however.

Uncomfortable

2015-11-17 20:15

It's coming along well. The issue isn't so much with your constructions, but rather your sense of the rudimentary forms from which you build your constructions. So, I think it would be a very good idea for you to practice your boxes some more. You have a tendency to not quite nail down your near plane/far plane size relationships, and this ultimately undermines the solidity of your objects. Practicing simple form intersections will also help.

I'm going to mark this lesson as complete (since you understand how to construct the objects, it's just a matter of technique and practice at this point), but I definitely recommend that you revisit those basics before tackling the next lesson.

Uncomfortable

2015-11-23 20:46

It's coming along. There are two recommendations that I can give you at this point.

• Subdivide more - start with the overall box for everything (cylinders included - might want to take a look at the video in the 250 cylinder challenge), then subdivide from there. Looking at your stool, you started off with a box and then estimated everything else. It's very difficult to estimate things like that, so you're much better off subdividing your planes and constructing smaller, more precise forms inside. Since this involves a lot of linework, it's a good idea to draw bigger as well.

• Ghost your lines. One mark per line. Same old story, but people do tend to forget. This stuff relies a lot on construction lines, so you've got to be mindful of how much ink you're putting down and how much of it is actually contributing.

I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I do highly recommend that you keep practicing it further until you start to feel comfortable with the idea of subdividing and building up constructions from smaller simple geometric forms before moving onto the next lesson.

As for your question, I don't really know anything about studying colour theory traditionally. I'm still primarily a digital artist so I might not be the best person to ask. I do have two recommendations for places to learn though:

• CtrlPaint, specifically section 11

• Color and Light by James Gurney. Buy it, read it, cuddle with it at night. It is largely lauded as the bible of colour theory.

Uncomfortable

2015-12-02 23:35

Quite well done. Your boxier objects are pretty solid (though you should get into the habit of always subdividing your initial lay-in box. Don't eyeball things, make a point of being specific and as exact as you can.

For your cylinders however, I think you should look at the cylinder challenge and be sure to read the notes/watch the video. Starting off with a box is really important, especially when it comes to figuring out how to draw your minor axis so it aligns to a specific position and angle. Once you've got your minor axis set in, you can continue to use the box as a general guideline, but you focus on aligning your ellipses to that minor axis.

When you skip the box approach, your cylinders don't end up aligning with other forms very well. For example, your desk lamp's base and shaft don't feel like they come together properly.

Anyway, keep up the good work. I'll mark this lesson as complete.

Uncomfortable

2015-12-03 00:19

You're doing okay, but there are some core issues that we need to iron out. They relate to your two core forms - boxes and cylinders.

Here's some notes/overdrawings.

First and foremost, you need to work on your box constructions. A lot of your boxes have far planes that are larger than their corresponding near planes, which means that your lines are converging as they get closer to the viewer - the opposite of what the rules of perspective demand. If your boxes aren't solid, then that will definitely impact the objects you construct from them.

Next, always remember the purpose each form you draw is serving. When you started off with that measuring tape, you drew a box, which is good. As I pointed out in my notes above however, you then did not acknowledge what that box represents in space. The far end of the measuring tape is not following the box as it should be. That box is there as a guideline, its purpose is to make your life easier. Don't ignore it while you draw, and never guess. Every problem you face in constructing an object can be solved by working up from your simple boxes, so when you're about to work off a guess, stop yourself and think through the problem instead.

Lastly, be sure to check out the cylinder challenge, specifically the video included in that post. There I talk about using boxes as a starting point for constructing cylinders. It's a very useful method when you need to align your cylinders to specific angles. You start off constructing the box in order to find your minor axis. You then use that minor axis as the hard-and-fast reference point for constructing your cylinder, and you can use the box as a rough guideline/suggestion to get a sense of how wide the ellipses should be.

I'd like you to do the following:

• 50 boxes

• 50 cylinders

• 1 page of form intersections using only boxes and cylinders

• 2 more pages of everyday objects

Take your time, and don't rush. Also remember in your drawings that whenever you add things like hatching lines, don't be sloppy. Draw lines that go all the way across your surface from edge to edge.

Uncomfortable

2015-12-03 23:25

I think you're definitely going in the right direction. I like seeing a lot of the lay-in boxes and construction lines. There are some issues though that I think we can work towards remedying.

I've pretty much included all of it in this image. I think the overall principles are there, but to start with, but I do notice places where some of your lines get a little wobbly, and perhaps some of your boxes get a little less solid. This might just be from your getting tired, because it's not entirely consistent across the board. Just remember to always apply your ghosting method, and be mindful of the integrity of your box forms, and most of all - take breaks.

In the bottom right you'll see how I would tackle curving objects - ignore the curves at first. They really complicate things, because it is much more difficult to get a sense of how to construct a curve if you're not giving yourself enough of a framework. So, in objects that have a lot of curves going on, simply starting with the overall box isn't quite enough. It may be necessary to subdivide your forms further, or construct the form out of numerous boxy forms first.

So, like I said, ignore those curves at first. Imagine what the object would look like if it were boxier, and construct it in that manner first. Your last step should then be smoothing out these boxy forms and rounding out the corners - but remember that the majority of your volumes are still going to be quite similar to the boxy construction - it's just the corners and edges that will be gently smoothed out.

I'd like you to spend some time practicing your basic line exercises from lesson 1 (as you should have been doing continuously), and also draw 50 boxes and 50 cylinders. Then I'd like to see four more pages of everyday objects. Take your time, take breaks, and spread it out. Always remember to do exercises from the first two lessons as warm-ups and don't leave them in the past.

Uncomfortable

2016-01-01 23:02

There's a couple things that immediately jump out at me - first off, you're approaching these fairly organically. These are pretty solid, geometric objects, composed of solid primitive forms. While organic approaches may work to an extent, you'll be left with an object that doesn't quite carry the same weight.

I see that as you progress through the lesson, you start to try to apply some of the concepts I covered - for example, using a box to define the space in which the object will sit, and then subdividing that box. I can tell you're not terribly comfortable with this concept, and that you need to really push yourself to explore it.

In many ways prior to this, you've been relying heavily on your observational skills, and far less on your constructional skills - we discussed this in the previous lesson, where I tried to encourage you to define concrete, organic forms and not just draw exactly what you see. To understand those forms and how they come together.

Here, it's even more important. Don't start off with a rough idea of the object and draw it on the page. Look at your object and in your mind, start identifying the forms that make up its construction. They're mostly going to be boxes - so you're not going to draw that object, you're going to draw boxes. When you draw these boxes, your lines need to be solid and straight - you need to ghost the shit out of them and take your time as you prepare - then finally execute with a smooth, confident and relatively fast stroke.

It's not enough to start off with the overall box to define the space - the point of that box is to cut out a chunk of 3D space that you can then subdivide and fill in with more solid forms. This is why the chair/stool on page 8 didn't come out too well - there was very little subdivision, very little construction. You set out a box, subdivided once and then eyeballed the rest. As soon as you start eyeballing it, things start falling apart. So you have to push that approach away.

Now, there's two things I want you to keep in mind:

• Don't worry about detail. You're adding all of these hatching lines, extra little nicks and things, and they're not serving any purpose here. Instead, they're distracting you from what we're doing - we're taking forms and intersecting them to construct something greater. Forget about detail altogether.

• Draw bigger. Your sketchbook's really small, and you're drawing multiple things per page. You're restricting your ability to think (I've mentioned this to you before), and as such navigating 3D space is not going to be easy for you. By working in such a small space, you're already making things harder when they don't need to be, and when that added challenge will not benefit you.

Now, I want you to set this lesson aside. Instead, start off by drawing some boxes - you've done the 250 box challenge, but I encourage you to at least do 50 or 100. Also, I've formalized it on the website proper in that link, so I'd suggest reading what's there.

Then, 250 Cylinders. There's instructions there on how to construct a cylinder from its minor axis - this comes in very handy when you have to align an object in space.

Then, go back to Lesson 2, reread the section on form intersections (which I've actually recently rewritten), and do several pages of them. This is the meat and potatoes of constructing geometric objects.

THEN, finally, you can try this lesson again. The whole point of this is to get you away from organic forms for a time. Your approach to drawing is too observation-based, as I've mentioned, and doesn't focus enough on the small components that everything is built from. We're going to rewire your brain a little, and see how you fare with this material later.

Uncomfortable

2016-01-09 23:37

Not bad! You're doing well, demonstrating the beginnings of an understanding of how to draw these kinds of objects. There is a serious component missing here, though. It's one of those things that I start to notice more and more as people submit homework for a given lesson, and eventually culminates in me editing the content of the lesson itself.

Right now, you're still focusing on drawing the object in front of you. You see a camera, you see a pen with a pen cap, you see a hairdryer. You establish a box for that object, and then draw the object within it.

That's not what we're after.

What you should see is a series of simple forms. Let the detail melt away, and see how every single object is just a series of forms mashed together like the form intersections from lesson 2. Even the details themselves can be broken down into smaller forms appended to this network.

If you let yourself see nothing more than the object, then you'll be jumping into drawing something that is by nature, very complicated. If you draw the forms instead, you will lay down a scaffolding - once it is set down, you can round off a few corners, add a few little touches and all of a sudden the object will spring to life.

We're going to put a pause on the lessons for now, and jump back to basics. Do the following:

• Reread the content in the 250 box challenge, then draw 100 more boxes. Keep the foreshortening on these fairly shallow - dramatic perspective wouldn't make them terribly useful to us. Also be sure to draw through them so you can catch any near/far plane issues or other perspective mistakes.

• Read the content in the 250 cylinder challenge and then draw the full 250 cylinders. Again, keep them mostly shallow, though you may practice some that are more dramatic. You can submit these for the critique in the challenge thread.

• Do 4 pages of form intersections. Reread that section from lesson 2 first (I've rewritten it and added new demos anyways, so they should be new to you). Focus on boxes and cylinders, but you may throw in some pyramids, cones and spheres here and there.

• Finally, 4 more pages of everyday objects. Do not draw objects - draw intersecting forms. Start with the big picture - the overall box. Then break that box into smaller forms, and then those forms into more that are smaller yet. Every form you draw should be based on the scaffolding provided by the previous one.

Uncomfortable

2016-01-11 19:30

There's definite improvement here, but more in your linework (which is considerably less sketchy than before) than your sense of form. As I get more and more homework submitted for a given lesson, I tend to learn more about the subject matter myself, and I get a sense of what people tend to do wrong. More recently, I've been getting a better sense for this lesson.

The thing is, right now you're drawing objects. You're drawing a bottle, you're drawing a canister, etc. What you should be drawing however is a series of simple forms that come together. A box, a cylinder, positioned together so that they combine to create something more complex.

Drawing a cylinder means being aware of its minor axis (which you drew none of), drawing a box means being aware of how it sits in 3D space. While your observational skills are pretty damn good, your constructions are weak and flimsy and don't actually carry a sense of solidity or weight.

I'd like you to go back to lesson 2 and read the form intersection section again. I've actually updated that whole chunk very recently, so it will be a little different from what you remember. I'd like you to do 4 pages of form intersections.

Once you've done that, try another 4 pages of every day objects, but REMEMBER: you're not drawing objects, you are looking at your subject matter, breaking them down into their simplest forms, and then drawing those forms as if you were doing another form intersection. I want to be able to identify every rudimentary form in your construction, and if you include any detail, it should be as a greater breakdown of forms, not just visual details you've drawn on top.

I also recommend that you reread the lesson before doing the extra 4 pages, since your work here doesn't actually show any of what was covered in the lesson.

Uncomfortable

2016-02-09 20:55

You've done well, especially later in the homework set where you really start to break things down into their fundamental forms and lose any sort of shyness about putting in loads of construction lines. What I usually stress for people is not to look at these objects as what they are - you're not drawing a bottle, an iron, a camera, etc. You're drawing a bunch of rudimentary forms that are arranged in such a way that they resemble those objects. Every detail you put down must be supported by solid forms that have been constructed in a previous pass, and you gradually increase your construction's complexity with subsequent steps.

You're doing well, so besides that reminder I don't have much else to offer by way of critique. Keep up the great work and feel free to move onto the next lesson.

Uncomfortable

2016-02-25 22:24

Very nice work. Your drawings demonstrate an excellent balance of strong observational skills and clear, well thought-out constructions. I will always stress the importance of drawing your construction lines confidently and clearly, and then worrying about dealing with how confusing that tends to make the resulting drawing afterwards (or not at all), but you're doing pretty well despite that. I will say that in being more timid and faint with your construction lines, lines that should be straight sometimes arc, and in general there are some minor inconsistencies in your forms - but they're not entirely noticeable to the naked eye.

I am noticing a few minor signs of drawing from the wrist when you should be doing so from the elbow or shoulder, though. A bit of wobbling here and there, some lines that don't flow quite as well as they could. Always remember to force yourself to draw from the shoulder for the vast majority of your lines, and do so with confidence, speed and pre-planning in order to keep them even and smooth.

Anyway, I'm being picky. You're doing great, so keep up the good work. Feel free to move onto the next lesson.

Uncomfortable

2016-03-14 18:32

You're definitely moving in the right direction, and are applying a lot of the tools and concepts that have been pushed here. There's a few things that I want to mention that may help keep you on the right track as you move ahead:

• Especially when dealing with these objects, which are largely geometric, it helps immensely to try and stop looking at what you're drawing as a single entity, but rather try and perceive it as a lot of individual basic geometric forms. You actually do this already to a good extent, though more in some and less in others. Try to ignore any and all detail, and focus entirely on those forms. For the most part, these objects are composed of boxes and cylinders - so draw boxes, and draw cylinders, much as you would for the form intersection exercise from lesson 2.

• When drawing an individual box or cylinder, make sure you're focusing on constructing it as a solid form with structural integrity. I noticed on some of your boxes, you had a tendency of not quite constructing solid boxes with their near/far plane size relationships sorted out correctly. Making mistakes on those fronts early on will trickle down through the rest of your construction. I strongly encourage you to take a look at the 250 box challenge and 250 cylinder challenge, both to read over the material there and perhaps to attempt the challenge portions as well.

• There are some objects that still tend to be a little more organic (like the shoe), so in that regard a slightly different - but still quite similar - approach may be preferable. Check out this demo I did of a computer mouse. I start off by laying in the overall box to enclose my space, then I jump in to define a cross-sectional plane of the form, as well as another for its base.

Anyway, I'm marking this lesson as complete, but again, I strongly encourage you to tackle those two challenges before moving on.