Uncomfortable

2015-11-23 18:12

It crossed my mind early on, but I've since decided that it's not a good idea. Through the drawabox patreon campaign, I do receive compensation for the work that I do. Recruiting other moderators would complicate things immensely.

I think I'm just going to continue doing what I'm doing - taking breaks every now and then as I did back in August (where critiques were limited to patreon supporters). Eventually though I will stop and move onto something else, leaving the lessons up but halting critiques completely. That's an inevitability, since it does take up a significant portion of my time, but I don't have any concrete plans of pulling out just yet.

Uncomfortable

2015-11-23 21:10

It all depends on the person. It is however important that you take breaks regularly and spread it out over several days. There's a lot there, and if you spend too long on it in a single sitting, you'll get sloppy and lazy. So, if a shorter span works for you, then that's what you should do for now.

[deleted]

2015-11-27 11:56

I generally need to keep my mind busy if I want to keep motivation on the long run (unless the task requires it all).

For finishing lesson 1, I'd read the material, practice 1-2 cases, then have a podcast/TV show in the background while I write. If I'm drawing+listening, my brain doesn't have enough space left to complain. I used to do the reverse in class: drawing while listening to prevent myself from day-dreaming.

Uncomfortable

2015-12-11 02:17

That was the plan initially - or at least somewhat. Not so much a free-for-all critique (there are plenty of subreddits like that, and frankly just because someone's offering their two cents doesn't mean their critique is going to point you in the right direction). Instead, my intention was to have people who proved themselves by completing the core lessons to then go on and critique others. I did test that out a bit, but people have their own lives and their own pursuits, and don't really have the time to reliably meet the demand. There's no reason for someone who knows what they're doing to spend that time, so ultimately they don't.

The other end of the spectrum would be to take on a couple qualified folks to spread out the workload, but that would mean splitting up the patreon income. Really not worth it for me.

Uncomfortable

2016-01-21 14:48

I can't really speak to left/right handedness, and personally I tend to push my lines (drawing away) rather than pulling (drawing towards myself), but I have heard about people specifically pushing their straights and pulling their curves (specifically in regards to calligraphy - http://seanwes.com/2015/quick-tip-to-draw-straight-lines-avoid-shaky-hand-lettering/). That said, I remember when originally reading that article, the comments were full of "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T PULL YOUR CURVES" so there's definitely a largely split opinion on the matter.

I would say do whatever feels natural to you, but remember that the greater priority is that you think through and plan before every mark you put down. Put emphasis on ghosting through your drawing motion as described in the lesson, and be sure to draw from the shoulder for any larger lines. In this case, calligraphy works at a relatively small scale, so that article doesn't factor in what is required to draw longer, fluid, curving lines. So don't get caught up in the whole pushing/pulling thing and forget about locking your wrist and drawing from the shoulder.

Uncomfortable

2016-02-14 20:48

Looks like the lesson had the wrong link attached to it. This is the current submission thread for lesson 4: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/3jizw8/lesson_4_drawing_insects_and_arachnids_version_3/.

Uncomfortable

2016-03-22 18:51

Pretty much. People submit their homework as a comment to the corresponding lesson's thread (so for example, lesson 1's is https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/454qvk/lesson_1_lines_ellipses_and_boxes/, each lesson's got an orange button at the top that links to its post). Then I record the submission in the spreadsheet. It lets people know that their submission's been received, and it also helps me avoid missing submissions (which used to be a problem).

... it also lets me show people how hard I work! Almost 1000 critiques in 6 months!

Uncomfortable

2016-04-15 13:38

1. No idea what you mean by this. That said, the super-imposed lines exercise will generally diverge on one side from your goal, so you'll definitely see some separation at the end even though you're doing it correctly. The goal is of course to have the lines sit perfectly on top of each other with no separation, but that takes far more practice than the first lesson requests. All you're doing here is showing me that you understand what to aim for.

2. Right now you're more used to drawing confidently once you've got that momentum before the pen touches the page. Unfortunately this approach will not allow you to draw as accurately as you'll need to, and you'll end up with a lot of lines that start too early, or start too late. Just because a particular approach is easier doesn't mean it's better - it simply means you don't have enough practice with the other method. What you need to practice is your ability to draw with a confident pace despite starting from a resting position. When ghosting your lines, make sure you're repeating the same motion - that is, starting from a resting position at the fixed point, not before it.

On the topic of not understanding how to move your arm from your shoulder, try doing this exercise:

• Hold your arm up in front of your chest and pivot your hand at the wrist back and forth, familiarizing yourself with the limited range of motion it offers.

• Then lock your wrist and pivot your arm from the elbow, back and forth. This will give you a considerably wider range of motion as you move your arm back and forth, again familiarizing yourself with how it feels.

• Finally, knowing what it feels like to move your elbow, lock that joint (as well as your wrist) and try moving your arm from the shoulder joint exclusively. Being familiar with the movement from a particular joint should make it somewhat easier to also cease and lock that movement altogether. This in turn will allow you to familiarize yourself with what it means to draw from your shoulder.

When I was getting used to it, I'd perform this exercise whenever I felt a little bit uncertain about how I was moving my arm. It's a quick thing you can do in five or ten seconds to refresh your memory. The other important thing is not to pivot at multiple joints simultaneously - a lot of people try to get by moving their arm from their elbow and shoulder, but I don't recommend this for beginners as it makes the motion rather muddy instead of deliberate and controlled.

Uncomfortable

2016-04-27 12:31

Unfortunately, no. My reasoning against accepting homework done digitally goes beyond the disconnect that comes with a regular tablet, but rather hinges upon the medium itself. I explain that in detail here: http://drawabox.com/article/ink.

While there is certainly benefit to doing the lessons digitally, I do not recommend it until you've been able to go through the exercises in ink, so that you fully know what to expect of yourself when completing them.

Uncomfortable

2016-05-12 22:25

Homework can be submitted as a comment in the lesson's post on this subreddit. Each lesson page has a yellow/orange button on the top that says "View Homework Submissions on Reddit", which will take you to the reddit thread associated with that lesson. You'll have to host the images themselves elsewhere though - most people use imgur. Before submitting, go over the self-critique resources for that lesson (blue button on the top of the lesson, though right now they're only there for lessons 1 and 2), and that you've met that lessons' requirements in terms of medium, prerequisites, etc.