Definitely harder than I thought it would be. But hey, a challenge is what I did this for. I'm glad I did it.
I appreciate any critique either here or on imgur. I plan on making drawing my career, so throw it all at me.
I consider myself intermediate as far as experience level. I am using Draw A Box to help myself improve on my skill.
And thank you, Draw A Box, for providing this opportunity for myself and many others out there. I found this exercise helpful and I plan to continue the lessons.
There's a whole lot of this going on with your super imposed lines: Fraying/Separation on Both Ends. Take the time to line your pen up at the correct starting position before drawing - don't just draw and hope for the best. Your second page does improve on this front, but it's definitely something to keep in mind.
Your ghosted lines are hit and miss - mostly okay, some of them are arcing unnecessarily, but one common issue is that you often overshoot your lines. Try and keep them between the two points. Again, you improve on this front on your second page.
You switch between doing this and not, but you're not drawing through the vast majority of your ellipses: Not Drawing Through Ellipses. This isn't a suggestion, it's a rule - draw through all of the ellipses you draw for my lessons.
Your ellipses also have a slight tendency to be a little bit on the stiffer side. Make sure you're drawing them with a more confident stroke, after taking the time to apply the ghosting method's preparation techniques. Stiff or Wobbly Ellipses, http://drawabox.com/comic/1
Your funnels are completely missing the central line that's supposed to go down the middle. This line represents the minor axis of each ellipse. If you don't remember what a minor axis is, look back at the lesson part of the ellipse section.
Your rough perspective boxes reveal a trend of not reading instructions as carefully as you could. I do understand, my lessons are VERY text heavy, but ultimately it's on you to read them thoroughly, reread them when necessary, and to follow the instructions to a tee. The rough perspective exercise is to be done in one point perspective. Adding an additional vanishing point makes it more difficult, which in turn distracts you from the core principle I want you to learn.
Also, one helpful tip after you've completed your rough perspective work is to go over it as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. The nature of the exercise is to estimate your perspective, so this helps you identify where your estimation is weakest, and how far off it is.
Your rotated boxes are actually quite well done, felt like that should be pointed out.
Your organic perspective boxes are okay, but there are some issues here and there. This is by no means a problem - this exercise is intended to be your first exposure to the idea of rotating boxes freely in 3D space with no explicit vanishing points in frame, to introduce you to the challenge of it, and to show those who are familiar with more technical perspective drawing that this stuff can be very difficult. One of the issues I see is that your foreshortening is at times overly dramatic: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene. Some of your boxes also come out skewed at times (where the internal angles within the box are off).
Now, on the front of these organic perspective boxes, I'm going to recommend that when I mark this lesson as complete, you move onto the 250 box challenge. At that point, you should read through all of the notes on that challenge page, ESPECIALLY the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you get a fuller sense of how each box sits in 3D space, which will allow you to identify when your angles are off, and when your near planes are coming out smaller than your far planes.
BEFORE that, however, I want you to do one more page of the table of ellipses (draw through your ellipses, and draw them with a confident pace - don't wobble). I also then want you to do two pages of rough perspective boxes - do them in one point perspective, and when you're done go over them in that method I mentioned to check how far off your estimation is.
Haha, awesome. That's exactly the kind of critique I was looking for, so thank you. You're very constructive with your critiquing, and I appreciate that. You say "brutal" and I say "fair". After all, this is why I am doing these lessons, right? I'm not perfect, but I want to be better.
I'm glad I didn't start the next lesson yet. I will work on the things you mentioned and will post here when done.
http://imgur.com/a/r5vmw First lesson homework. Thanks a lot for all the work you do on this site. I killed my pen on the first page and realised I was pressing way too hard. The Rotated Boxes exercise gave me an incredibly hard time so I just pushed through it. After I did the Organic Perspective Boxes and felt more comfortable with the boxes I went back and did one more page of the Rotated Boxes.
You've generally done some pretty solid work here. You start off a little sloppy with your first page or super imposed lines, but you correct that by the next page. Ultimately, your lines and ellipses are well done. Your boxes are as well, for the most part. I do want to mention that in your rotated boxes, you've got some where you've drawn each box in its entirety, and others where you've clipped off boxes where they end up hidden behind a neighbour. I want to stress the importance of drawing each box completely, even if they are hidden by another. This exercise is very much about understanding how those boxes sit in 3D space, and how that changes as they rotate. You can't really get a sense for that if you only draw a box partially. Keep this in mind when you do this exercise in the future.
Your organic perspective boxes do have some issues, but you're doing better than my standard for this lesson. This exercise is just a first taste of the challenge of freely manipulating boxes in 3D space with no explicit vanishing points in frame to rely upon - I expect people to struggle considerably, and I don't expect them to conquer the challenge by the end of this lesson.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete. I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next, so you can get some more practice with the idea of manipulating boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on that page before starting the work, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This takes what I mentioned about the rotated boxes to its furthest extent, drawing even the lines on the hidden side of a box, so that the entire box is clearly defined. This helps you understand how it sits in space, and also emphasizes common mistakes, like near/far plane size relationships being reversed.
Thanks a lot for your critique. I already started working on the boxes challenge, however I'm facing some issues dealing with the proportions of the box. A lot of the times I intend on drawing a perfect cube from a specific angle and while I think that the perspective is fine and the lines are converging, the box still looks squashed. Like the size of the sides is not right. Do you have any tips on figuring out the proportions of the box? Or something that I should generally keep in mind? Is it simply due to lack of experience and I just need some time to get the hang of it?
At this point, worrying about proportion is just going to complicate things - so your goal of making perfect cubes is going to distract you from the more important challenge of constructing solid forms with the correct angles.
There are ways to achieve specific proportions, but that is all outside of the realm of what I teach my students, because it involves a shift towards the more technical aspects to perspective. Our approach is more organic and approximate, to reduce the overhead that comes with plotting out all of your vanishing points and measuring points and whatnot.
What you should keep in mind in regards to proportion is that the first box in a scene - regardless of how it appears visually - can be used to determine how proportion works within that scene. Basically how things scale on different axes can vary considerably, based on the focal length of your scene, how you decide to use your vanishing points, etc. but it is all essentially summarized by the first box you draw. If that first box is a perfect cube, then every other box you draw has to adhere to it as a rule. Of course, using a very long, stretched box as your rule is going to result in a very weirdly distorted scene, but technically it'd still be correct. Still not something we'd want to use, though.
Long story short, don't worry about it. Just draw your boxes, and focus on making them appear solid and weighty.
Thanks a lot for your feedback. It is a lot easier to understand when I tackle one issue at a time. I appreciate all the work and time you put into this.
There's one thing that stands out to me in the quality of your linework - this isn't entirely abnormal or uncommon, especially for a beginner, but it is something to be aware of. Right now your lines are very static and uniform. The same line weight all the way through.
As you practice, one thing you should try is to taper your strokes a little bit at the beginning and end. You can do this by applying just a little bit less pressure to your pen as you make contact with the page, and a little less pressure as you lift your pen up. This will add just a touch of dynamism and life to your lines.
This can also happen if you're simply drawing too small. I can't really tell what scale you're working at or what size your paper is, so I can't say if this is the case. That said, if your drawings are too small, your pen tip will be significantly larger relative to the drawing size, resulting in very thick-looking, clunky lines.
Looking at your super imposed lines in particular, I noticed that when it comes to your straight lines, you only really played with one (relatively short) length of line, not even trying to venture into anything more challenging. Those longer lines are harder, and you will screw them up - but that's part of practicing. You're going to fail, and given that you stick with it and don't give up, you're going to fail a LOT. Failure is your friend here, as it is a necessary part of the process required to improve. You also seem to avoid longer lines in your ghosted lines exercise.
I noticed that you didn't draw through your ellipses-in-planes exercises, but I'm glad to see that you did for the other ellipse exercises. These look reasonably good.
Jumping ahead to your rough perspective boxes, there's two things I'd like to note. First of all, the angles of your horizontals and verticals seem to be a bit all over the place. This may be due to a lack of understanding of how those lines should behave (in which case, read this: Guessing, Instead of Knowing), or it may be because you're not putting enough time and effort into applying the various steps of the ghosting method - that is, identifying where you want your line to go (and putting down points to mark the start/end), ghosting through the drawing motion to build up muscle memory, and finally executing with a smooth, confident stroke just fast enough to keep your brain from micromanaging and attempting to course-correct as you draw. My guess is that it's a combination of the two.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that it's important that you go over your completed rough perspective work as described here, to double check the accuracy of the estimation of your perspective: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
Your rotated boxes are alright, but keep in mind that you should not be trying to correct your mistakes by drawing new lines on top of them. This only results in a bigger mess, and draws the viewer's attention to your blunder. If you make a mistake, try and see if you can incorporate it into your drawing (not really an option in most of these early exercises), or just leave it be and keep going.
Lastly, your organic perspective boxes are definitely rather rough. Your first page is alright, the second shows a considerable amount of struggling with understanding how the boxes sit in 3D space. This is completely normal, and you are by no means expected to really have a solid grasp on the challenges of this exercise by the end of this lesson. It's really just intended to be a first introduction to the concept of rotating a box arbitrarily in 3D space with no explicit vanishing points in frame to rely upon.
Now, it's clear that you do have a lot to improve upon, but I am going to mark this lesson as complete. I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will give you the opportunity to both work on your arbitrarily rotated box constructions (like the organic perspective exercise), while also allowing you to practice your application of the ghosting method and work on reducing the uniformity of your lines. Be absolutely sure to read through all of the notes on the challenge page before starting the work - especially the tip about drawing through your forms, as this will greatly impact your ability to understand how each box sits in 3D space, and will make certain common mistakes much more obvious to you (so you know to correct them as you move forwards).
Thank you for the amount of feedback you provide. It is absolutely appreciated. I will move onto the 250 box challenge after I go through and apply all of your notes to new rounds of this exercise first.
Pretty well done! There's a couple issues but they're all fairly common and will be ironed out in time.
Firstly, with your funnels, there's two things I want to stress about this exercise. First off, make sure all of your ellipses are aligned to the minor axis - that is, the line running down the center. The minor axis should cut each ellipse into two equal symmetrical halves. Secondly, you missed the part of the exercise where the ellipses should decrease in degree as they reach the center of the funnel. Basically, they should be getting skinnier as they reach the center.
Next, a strong recommendation - after completing the rough perspective work, go over your completed homework as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This helps you identify where your estimation of perspective is off.
Next, your rotated boxes are alright (although the corner boxes tend to get skewed), and your organic perspective boxes are a little bit all over the place. None of this is surprising, or below my expectations - both of these exercises are only intended to introduce you to the challenge of constructing boxes arbitrarily rotated in 3D space with no explicit vanishing points in frame. You're more or less expected to have a lot of difficulty.
So, I am going to mark this lesson as complete. I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more practice with the boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms - it's this in particular which will help you get a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space. Also, when you go through the challenge, be mindful of applying the ghosting method to your lines. If you compare the lines you drew in your ghosting exercise, and those drawn for your organic perspective boxes, you'll notice that the latter are considerably wavier than the former.
Hi! I realized that drawing something as basic as a line needs concentration. As soon as my brain goes in automatic mode my lines and ellipses went off track. The hardest part was the freehand rotated boxes, i over analysed it and couldnt find the "formula" for it. I let it be for a couple of days and then gave the organic boxes a try, it felt easier to just "imagine" them on the paper and then just draw, instead of thinking of where the HL should go, which side should get longer, shorter and so on. Oh, and Im happy to say I am not afraid of using felt tip pens anymore! \o/
So I'm very new to reddit and want to make sure my homework posted lol I don't see it when I look on this page but if I go to my inbox thing when I click my profile it shows my post lol if someone could just help me out a tad lol I would be very grateful
Don't worry, your homework is probably just somewhere down below in the hundreds of submissions this post Uncomfortable gets. When I post my homework, I almost never see it after it has posted, but Uncomfortable still finds it anyway. I'm sure you could find your post, but you'd have to scroll down a very long way.
Just don't worry about it. If Uncomfortable hasn't gotten back to you in a few days, then your post may have been lost. Then just post again, mentioning that you tried earlier and it didn't seem to work. :-) No biggie!
Very nice work! Your lines and ellipses are solid. For your rough perspective boxes, I recommend that upon finishing the exercise, you go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will help you identify areas where your estimation of perspective is weaker, so you know where to focus the next time you attempt the exercise.
Also, your experience with the rotated/organic perspective boxes is right on point - the whole point of those two exercises is to rip you away from the "formula" manner of thinking. It requires a good deal of failure and struggle, but you have to force yourself to push the rules into the back of your mind (they're still relevant, but not at the forefront) and just try to jump into the deep end of wrapping your head around 3D space.
Now, your organic perspective boxes do need work, but you've made good progress. These two exercises are really just the first exposure to the challenge of rotating these boxes in space, and you're not expected to nail them just yet.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read through the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This will help you get a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, and will highlight common mistakes, like where your far plane ends up larger than your near plane.
Thank you very very much for your feedback! and so fast :D I did the "Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point", it was quite rare that the lines would actually hit the VP :O
I have some bad news for you - you did all of the homework in pencil, and it's pointed out in the homework sections of Lesson 1 that you must complete the exercises in the required media if you want to receive a critique. You can read about why I insist people work in ink (ideally felt tip pens although I allow ballpoint for lessons 1 and 2) in this article.
Overall you did okay, but there's one fundamental issue I can see through all of your work - your lines wobble. This is a fairly common problem that comes from drawing slow-and-steady, rather than taking the time to prepare by applying the ghosting method, and then ultimately executing each independent mark with a confident pace that keeps your brain from being able to course-correct as you draw. I talk about this in this comic as well as numerous places on the self critique resources page. This issue impacts lines, ellipses and ultimately boxes as well.
Jumping ahead to your boxes, I noticed that your application of hatching lines for shading is really very sloppy. While I get that it's easy to consider those lines as being less important than the rest, the quality of your presentation will be judged by the mark into which was invested the least thought and consideration. To put it simply, don't half-ass things.
The rotated and organic perspective exercises are generally very challenging, and they are for just about everyone. It makes a lot of sense that you'd not like it (although your fondness for a given exercise is entirely irrelevant) - these two exercises in particular were added here specifically to expose you to a very difficult concept: the construction of boxes that have been rotated arbitrarily in 3D space without any explicit vanishing points in frame to rely upon. Long story short, it's hard, and you're not expected to nail it just yet. It's just the first taste.
Now, I am going to mark this lesson as complete. I want you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Here you will be able to deal with the things you struggled with in this lesson - specifically applying the ghosting method to each and every line to achieve straight and smooth strokes, and learning how to get your head around arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. It's this in particular that will help you get a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
Hello, I'm new to Drawabox and have been on and off drawing for years now. I initially tried just learning by practicing gestures every day, but after a brief encounter with /ic/, some folks told me I'm trying for something too difficult at my level. So looking around, I found some links and resources and among them was this site. I like drawabox becuase it clearly sets out the goals and even gives me exercises and a way to get it critiqued by the author, which I love. The biggest thing I always felt I needed was proper feedback, which is actually hard to come by.
Anyways, on to the lesson: http://imgur.com/a/F4HPf Here is my attempt at lesson 1. I know its nowhere near good (actually its probably pretty awful) and I have alot of work to do, but I felt that posting it here and getting a direction on where to go, rather than retrying the assignment over and over again aimlessly is better.
Jumping ahead to your rough perspective boxes, here and there you have a lot of weirdness going on, though it's interspersed amongst fairly solid boxes. I think more than anything, it comes from you getting bored and trying to make the exercise more interesting (at least, that is definitely the case with the first page where you've deviated from just drawing boxes, tried slanting boxes, etc.) I talk about this in red at the beginning of the lesson - follow my instructions to a tee, don't try and change things up. The exercises are meant to be boring, and when you try and complicate things, you end up distracting yourself from what I want you to be practicing.
Seeing some of the wackier boxes on the second page of rough perspective boxes makes me want to get you to read this blurb about the three specific behaviours any given line in one point perspective MUST follow: Guessing, Instead of Knowing. When you don't know how a line should behave, most people will just guess and hope for the best. Instead, you should stop and think, as there are simple rules that govern all of this.
Also, you should go over your completed rough perspective boxes work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. The nature of the exercise leads to the inevitable result of a lot of our lines not quite being aligned to the vanishing point. Going over your homework like this will help you identify where your estimation is at its weakest.
Your rotated boxes are alright (as far as what I expect to see for this lesson), but there are two significant issues. First off, you shouldn't be extending your boxes so far. All of the boxes should be roughly similar in size, so there's no rationalizing having them get significantly longer as they turn in space. Secondly, one thing I'm noticing is that you only really turned your boxes about 45 degrees either way. It's normal for one's mind to fight against the rotation, and cause you to rotate in smaller amounts with each box. One way to get around this is to draw your central box, and then draw each of the extremities (top, far left, far right, bottom) as 90 degree rotations of the center (they're all easy to draw, since they're seen straight on from the side). Then it's just a matter of filling in the rest. Since the rotations are already set, you're kind of forced to fill in the ranges of 90 degrees.
Now, the rotated and organic perspective box exercises aren't intended to come out perfect - or even close. They're just the first taste of the challenges involved in constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes in 3D space. This stuff is hard, and you're expected to struggle a lot, and are by no means intended to nail it by the end of this lesson. We'll get to ironing these issues out.
First, however, I want you to redo the rough perspective boxes, and submit another 2 pages of it to me. Once that's completed, and assuming you've improved after reading through my critique and the resources I've linked you to, I'll mark this lesson as complete. Once I've done that, I want you to move onto the 250 box challenge where you can work further on getting that wobble out of your lines, while also working on your construction of arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you gain a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space, and will help you identify common issues such as your far planes being larger than your near planes.
Thank you. I will get on that when I begin my next practice session. I have a question though: I have asked other people and friends who do artistic stuff, either drawing or painting or whatever. I asked them if I should devote my time to doing the practice and avoid doing my own drawings and sketching for fun, just incase it will taint my experience. They said no, I should continue drawing for fun as well as do the lessons and practice. I know it may seem like a silly thing to ask, but I was wondering how you weigh in on this. If im learning, should I focus on my lessons and practice, or can I draw for fun after I practice?
Just doing exercises would be totally absurd, to be honest. You'd burn out long before you got anywhere. The important thing, however, is that when you do the exercises, you put your full focus towards following the instructions to a tee. People have a tendency of getting sloppy, glazing over things, or just skimming and expecting that they understand everything that I ask of them. As long as you follow the instructions, and continue to do the early exercises as warmups, you should be able to avoid letting any particularly foul habits set in.
Ok, so I redid the Rough Perspective boxes. I took more time to ghost through the motions and figure out my lines. I notice that sometimes, I kinda forget to do that and let the motions go forward, but that is not common. Another problem I notice myself having is that when trying to plot the line from a long distance away from the vanishing point, I have trouble actually imagining the line and it becomes harder to draw. I also have trouble drawing at very low angles, like when trying to draw the tops or bottoms of the boxes, depending on its position to the vanishing point.
Lastly, this may just be my unsteady hand, trying to work itself out and build the muscle memory and steadiness of drawing, but sometimes Ill be drawing a straight line and then it will just dart off at an angle, like I slipped. I don't think this is my brain trying to autocorrect cause its so far off. Maybe I'm just pushing too hard on the pen.
The issues you mentioned are problems everyone faces with this exercise. When going over their completed homework (which you don't seem to have done for this latest set), students are meant to identify the mistakes where their lines don't line up with the vanishing point. It's inevitable, because of the nature of the exercise (relying entirely on estimation and visualization). You're meant to fail a lot, and continue to do so, gradually failing less and less over time.
Your new set looks good, so I'll mark this lesson as complete. Make sure you go over your completed work as I mentioned, and then go onto the 250 box challenge.
Hello! This was my first time drawing in a very long time, and boy I'd like to say this lesson was surprisingly VERY HARD. There were a few times where I got very frustrated when drawing the rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes. It took me a while to complete all these assignments because I would end up giving up and I would just start practicing my lines and ellipses. But I am very happy that I didn't completely give up and managed to finished everything.
Anyway here are my results (sorry about the quality):
Pretty solid work! You've done a great job across the board - your lines are smooth and straight, your ellipses are even and confident, and your boxes demonstrate a reasonably good sense of space. I'm glad to see that you applied the double-checking method to your rough perspective boxes, and in general, your rotated boxes are actually quite well done (despite your struggles).
At the end of the day, the rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes are intended to be perhaps overly difficult - they represent the first exposure to the challenges of constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes in 3D space, something that you are not expected to fully grasp by the end of this lesson.
As I mentioned, you did a good job with your rotated boxes. Your organic perspective boxes are somewhat weaker, but still at or slightly above where I'd hope them to be for this lesson. One issue that I am seeing across the board with this particular exercise is that you tend to apply more dramatic foreshortening (the rate at which the far end of the box gets smaller than the near end) than you should, resulting in the scene looking somewhat awkward and not as cohesive as we'd like. I talk about this more here: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene.
I'll be marking this lesson as complete. One thing you may want to do (though I'm not making this mandatory for you) is the 250 box challenge. At the very least though, I insist that you read through the notes on that page, focusing especially on the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach will seriously improve your understanding of how each box sits in 3D space, which is often the key to improving one's construction of these freely manipulated forms.
Feel free to move onto lesson 2 when you're ready.
Yeah I was having a hard time imagining the rotations of the boxes for my organic perspective assignment. I felt like I was repeated the same rotated boxes over and over again. So I wanted to have more variety in my boxes so I would draw an initial line for an edge of a box before even thinking about it in my head. I think this caused my boxes to look very weird and inconsistent.
Hi Uncomfortable! I gave the first lesson a try thinking it would be easier than it actually was. Got a little messed up with the rotated boxes. Anyway, I
went trough the self critique notes and I tried (and failed) to avoid those mistakes, but I still feel like I need some feedback and direction from you, so here it is, my attempt at lesson 1: https://imgur.com/a/MhoZc
I used a ballpoint pen because I wanted to start right away and not procrastinate it, and that was what I had in my house (same thing with the sheets).
Also, I really liked your portfolio. I hope I can draw and paint like that someday. Very inspiring.
Pretty well done. I'm not looking for perfect work - what I'm looking for are signs that you understand what you should be aiming for with each exercise, so that you can continue to practice them on your own while moving through the lessons.
There are just a couple things I want to point out. Firstly, this doesn't exactly relate to your lessons, but I noticed that when going over your completed rough perpsective boxes, you used broken lines to plot the lines back to the horizon. In this particular case, since you used a ruler, it's not really an issue. For any other purposes however, especially when freehand-drawing a line, you should absolutely avoid using any sort of broken lines. As soon as a line is broken, you will not be able to recover its initial flow, so its direction will inevitably shift a little bit. So when people draw through forms (which will be important in a little bit), those who do so with broken lines end up experiencing more problems than those who do so with solid lines. Just something to keep in mind.
Next, your rotated boxes are pretty good. It's clear that you struggled, and everyone does - part of the point of this exercise as well as the organic perspective one to give you the first taste of a very challenging subject. That is, the manipulation and construction of freely rotated boxes in 3D space. It's very hard, and you are not expected to nail it by the end of this lesson (or even come close).
Generally you're approaching the exercise well, but there is one thing I want to point out on that front - your horizontal boxes (from left to right) don't rotate enough. You reach roughly a 45 degree rotation relative to the center box to either side, when you should be aiming for a full 90 degree rotation. You get somewhat closer when doing your vertical rotations.
This is fairly normal - when allowed, your brain will fight against rotating these forms, because it wants to work on a solid, easily-understood grid. The way to avoid this is to draw your center box, then draw all of the extremities (far top, far bottom, far left, far right). Each of these will be a full 90 degree rotation, so it's going to be fairly easy to draw - you'll be looking at its side face dead on. Next, you can fill in the gaps between the extremities and the center. Since your 'rotation goal' is made fairly clear and is unavoidable, you're forced into tackling larger intervals of rotation to fill those gaps in.
Lastly, your organic perspective boxes aren't bad. As far as my expectations are concerned, you're doing better than many have upon reaching this point. There is plenty of room to improve, of course. So I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, and ask you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, ultimately allowing you to get more comfortable with rotating them, and identifying your own mistakes.
Generally well done. I do get a slight overall sense that you don't think or plan quite as much as you should before putting down a mark, but in general you did a fairly decent job. Here's a few things to keep in mind:
As I mentioned, not preparing enough before drawing each mark. Lines don't wobble, so your pace is fairly confident, but without taking the time to apply the ghosting method and build up a quick bit of muscle memory, your lines aren't entirely straight much of the time. Work on that ghosting method. It's time consuming, but it builds good habits and is absolutely worth it.
In your rotated and organic perspective boxes, I do get the sense that again, you're drawing without thinking things through. Drawing these freely rotated boxes requires you to really consider how they sit in 3D space. You've managed a decent job of it, but none of the boxes are really spot on, just roughly there, like a loose approximate sketch.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge, both to practice thinking more and preparing more before you draw, and also to get more general practice with constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on that page before starting the work, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you get a more solid sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
Very nice work! I'm always a big supporter of going back to lesson 1 if you've let things go for too long. A lot of people, when they do that, find that they've forgotten big chunks, but it seems that your work's still going strong. Your lines are straight and smooth, your ellipses are tight and confident, and your boxes generally demonstrate a solid grasp of 3D space.
There's only one part that I'm not 100% happy with, and that's your rough perspective boxes. Where your other exercises are very exact and well thought out, the angles of these lines are a little bit off here and there. The main thing to keep in mind is that in one point perspective, every line follows one of three possible behaviours. It's fairly common for people to get a little frazzled and feel the need to guess as to how a line should be angled, but the solution is instead to just step back and think about it for a second.
Assuming that all of the boxes run parallel to the ground plane, All your horizontals run parallel to the horizon and your verticals run perfectly perpendicular to it. All the lines that go off into the distance converge towards the vanishing point (this one's obvious). In your rough perspective boxes, I see your horizontals slanting slightly, and the same goes for your rough perspective boxes. From the looks of it, it's somewhere in between your not fully grasping those behaviour-rules, and you just not ghosting enough or being particularly warmed-up (resulting in you knowing where you want the lines to go, but the lines not cooperating). Anyway, definitely something to keep in mind.
Anyway, your work's generally solid, so feel free to move onto the next lesson. Also, since it's probably been a good while since you were last at this point, I definitely encourage you to read over the notes on the 250 box challenge page. You don't need to do the work, since your sense of space is fairly solid already, but the tip about "drawing through your forms" is one that generally helps a lot of people really solidify that grasp of form and how the boxes sit in space. Also, the notes on the 250 cylinder challenge page are also worth reading, since I don't really cover elsewhere how to tackle constructing them.
Oh, and I hope you don't mind - since you're starting from scratch, I've cleared off your flair badge progress, so you can start with a fresh slate.
Hi Uncomfortable! This is actually my second time going through these exercises. I went through lesson 1 as well as the 250 box challenge in pencil earlier this week (didn't have immediate access to a felt tip pen and wasn't intending to submit for critique). After starting in on lesson 2 and looking at some of the other material I decided that having access to your critiques going forward could be very valuable, so I decided to go back and complete this lesson in the proper medium, and from the look of things the additional practice was probably necessary. Despite doing the 250 box challenge I found that I still struggled with the rotated boxes exercise, although I think it started to click somewhat after a few failed attempts (still far from perfect of course).
Please don't hold back in your critique. I'm here to learn so the more issues I am aware of the better (=. One thing that often trips me up is figuring out a good relationship between the angles of the different planes of the boxes. In some cases, particularly in the rotated boxes exercise, I find that some boxes which are intended to be cubes viewed from a close to head-on perspective come out looking rather flat. Hopefully I will gain a sense for this with more practice (or maybe some Scott Robertson).
Generally good work. Your lines are smooth and straight, ellipses are confident and even, and while you did struggle with those last two exercises (which is totally expected) you did a pretty good job with your boxes.
Moving forwards, you'll want to keep working in your accuracy with your ellipses (although the smoothness you're achieving is still the top priority, so if you find that faltering in the name of being more accurate, go back to focusing on keeping things confident and smooth). Also, take a look at this: Draw Through your Forms. This particular approach should help you get a better sense of how your boxes sit in 3D space, which is key to being able to manipulate and rotate them freely.
Anyway, feel free to move onto the next lesson when you feel ready. Keep up the good work.
Yes, these lessons are targeted both at those who are complete beginners, and those who have experience but are self-taught, and therefore have holes in their fundamentals. For both groups, the remedy is the same - to go back to the beginning and build their foundation from the ground up.
Ok, please give me any feedback you can (once I upload). Your art is beautiful. I would love to attend Design School, where you attended. But unfortunately I live in New Zealand. :<
As long as you complete the homework with the necessary requirements (outlined in the homework sections, in regards to quantity and tools used) you're welcome to submit your work for critique.
Lesson 1 done! This is my first time using Reddit and imgur so hopefully I'm posting and uploading things the right way. Thanks for the great lesson content, this first lesson alone has been really helpful.
Pretty good work. Your lines and boxes are fairly well done - the main thing that you need to work on are your ellipses. Specifically, yours are a little stiff and wobbly, as you are making the common mistake of focusing too much on your accuracy, to the detriment of the general flow and evenness of their shapes. This generally comes from drawing the ellipses more slow-and-steady, rather than with a confident pace.
One recommendation I have, in regards to your rough perspective boxes (which were generally done quite well) is to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. Due to the nature of the exercise, we estimate and approximate our perspective, so it's inevitable that it'll be off a fair bit. This helps you identify where you tend to be weaker, so you can tweak your approach to reduce those mistakes.
Lastly, I'd like you to give this a read: Draw Through your Forms. This isn't something that was included in the lesson, so you weren't expected to apply it - it's just an approach that I believe will help you as you move forwards. It will help you gain a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space, which is key to understanding how to rotate and manipulate these forms.
Anyway, I'll be marking this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the next one when you feel ready.
Nice work. Generally you draw with a lot of confidence, which keeps your lines straight and your ellipses smooth and even. Your sense of space is also fairly well developed, which shows with your boxes.
One thing I have noticed though is that you tend to 'shoot from the hip' in a sense - that is, I don't see a whole lot of thought and planning behind each line, and after you draw a mark, I see signs of you reinforcing them reflexively (in a way that comes more from a need to mask mistakes, rather than attempting to add more lineweight). It's a common issue, especially with those who've been drawing for a while and are largely self taught.
As you move ahead, try to hold yourself back. It's all the more important that you apply the ghosting method - that is, the three step process that requires you to think and prepare before every stroke. It's long, it's tedious, and it's going to make you feel like you want to jump out of your skin, but if you stick with it you'll develop strong habits that will in the future merge with your confidence to produce clean precision.
Here's a couple points I think you should read through:
Also, while I'm not going to absolutely require you to do this, I strongly encourage you to take a look at the 250 box challenge. It's the perfect, painfully tedious exercise for you to work on holding yourself back and sorting out your habits.
Regarding pencils and pens - would you recommend always using a pen for the outlines/sketches and whatnot, or would a pencil be acceptable? Sometimes it seems to get a bit crowded when using only a pen.
Oh, and thanks for the great lesson, really helpful stuff!
Generally your work is pretty well done, though I am catching a little bit of a wobble in your linework, so you should continue to work on achieving a confident pace after taking the time to apply the preparation techniques of the ghosting method. You're doing reasonably well at it, but there's a little tweaking to your pace that needs to be done in order to achieve truly smooth lines. This goes both for straight lines and ellipses.
Next, the hatching lines you used in your rough perspective boxes is sloppy. Draw consistent, parallel lines that stretch all the way across the planes from edge to edge. Nothing falling short.
Lastly, your organic perspective boxes are coming along well, though there is plenty of room for growth here. This exercise was primarily included as a first taste of this sort of challenge, so this is entirely expected.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read through the notes on the challenge page before starting the work, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach will help you gain a more solid sense of how each box sits in 3D space, which should help inform your constructions.
As for your question - if the lesson's homework section says to use a tool, then that is the tool you must use if you wish to submit for a critique, no exceptions. Lessons 1-7 specifically require ink (ballpoint is allowed for lessons 1 and 2, though felt tip is preferred, and required for 3-7), and later lessons aren't quite so firm in their requirements. Now, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by outlines/sketches, but in principle the construction methodology doesn't work with loose, rough or approximate sketches at all, in case that's what you're referring to.
Hey there Uncomfortable, here is my first submission for Lesson 1. I did a few extra on the ones I've been struggling on, still struggling but hopefully less so with each iteration. I'll keep at them for now though I figure it's about time to submit!
Thanks for putting this up and doing this for all of us. I'm going the self-taught route and your tutorials really make it easier to see the tangible results of practice, and your explanations for each exercise kinda helps with the confidence in knowing I'm not just flailing around in the Internet's infinite resource bucket for Beginner's Drawing.
Firstly, your lines are well done, but your ellipses feel a little stiff and wobbly. I talk about this issue in a few places, and I'll list them below, but essentially it's a matter of balancing putting all of your time into applying the ghosting method's preparation techniques to build up muscle memory on the spot, and then executing with a swift, confident stroke. It can be difficult to find the right balance, and it does look like you're moving in the right direction, but right now it appears that in certain areas your ellipses are showing signs of course-correction while drawing.
The extra notes and resources on the issue can be read here:
Also, it helps to always remember that in exercises such as the funnels, the minor axis line should be cutting your ellipses into two equal, symmetrical halves down its narrower axis.
Next, I strongly recommend that you go over your completed rough perspective boxes exercises as described here to help identify areas where your estimation is at its weakest: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
Additionally, your application of hatching lines is rather sloppy. Try to maintain consistent, parallel lines that go all the way from edge to edge.
Lastly, you clearly struggled with your rotated and organic perspective boxes, but this is completely normal, expected and intentional. These exercises mark only your first dance with this particular challenge, and you are by no means expected to nail it by the end of this lesson.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more familiar with constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. It's this approach that will help you gain a stronger sense of how each box sits in space, which will ultimately help inform your decisions as you draw them, and will also highlight any mistakes such as those where your far planes end up larger than your near planes.
You certainly do have some things to work on. Your lines are generally okay (plenty of room to improve on keeping your lines straight and smooth, but you're moving in the right direction). Your ellipses vary depending on the exercise. Your table of ellipses are generally fine, though your ellipses in planes are very awkward and stiff. Remember to maintain a confident pace when drawing, and compensate for the inevitable decrease in accuracy that causes by investing more time into applying the ghosting method and preparing beforehand.
If anything, your boxes show me that you didn't read the instructions as carefully as you could have.
You could stand to put more effort/time into applying the ghosting method to each and every line you draw
In your rough perspective boxes, your horizontals and verticals need to be parallel and perpendicular to the horizon respectively. Read this for more information: Guessing, Instead of Knowing
You've got a decent start with your rotated boxes. The thing about this exercise and the organic perspective one is that I've included them with the full expectation that people will struggle with them. It's just the first exposure you get to the challenge of constructing and manipulating rotated boxes in 3D space without any explicit vanishing points in frame. You're not at all expected to nail it by the end of this lesson. So, your general sense of how the boxes should be formed and how they should sit in space is one thing. Another thing entirely is the quality of your linework.
Apply the ghosting method to every line
If you make a mistake, don't draw another mark on top to correct it. Leave it be, otherwise you'll draw more attention to your mistake.
Now, before I mark this lesson as complete, I want you to do another two pages of rough perspective boxes, taking what I've mentioned here into consideration. Submit that to me, and I'll mark the lesson as complete.
Then I want you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to work on your construction of arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space, and will also highlight certain key mistakes, such as your near/far plane size relationships being reversed (which you're doing a lot).
I started out with the ballpoint pen I had at home, but decided to buy a cheap felt-tip pen about halfway through, which I don't regret. Since I don't have much prior experience, I felt much more confident and accurate after a few days, which is why I went back and re-did the ellipses exercise I was unhappy with. A couple of things I realized in hindsight I did somewhat sloppy, like the hatching lines, and lots of things about the last box exercise - specifically the frames and especially the composition. I don't quite understand what I'm aiming for with the composition, and how to approach it.
Thanks for making these lessons! I like to do structured learning, and practicing one bit at a time is less daunting and exhausting than doing full drawings while I'm a beginner.
Overall you've done well, but there is one underlying issue that comes up across all of your work - you're impatient, and this causes you to be a bit sloppy. That said, your linework is confident, so it flows very well, and you have no wobbling to speak of, which is definitely good. The problem rises more when it comes to the question of accuracy - you don't quite take enough time before drawing a mark to think through where you want it to start and end, and generally how it should behave. Ultimately you're not using the ghosting method to its fullest, and are missing out on a lot of the benefits of taking your time with those first few steps.
Aside from that, you're doing well. As I mentioned, your lines are smooth and confident, and your sense of space is fairly strong. There are some issues with your rough perspective boxes, but this is primarily coming from sloppiness - where your lines should be perfectly parallel to the horizon (or perfectly perpendicular to it), they slant slightly.
Lastly, if you want to work on your patience and application of the ghosting method, I strongly recommend that you tackle the 250 box challenge next. Whether you choose to or not, I do insist that you at least read through the notes on that page before moving on, it's got some helpful tips that will be valuable in later lessons.
I'll mark this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the next one when you're ready.
Thanks for this great resource, and for your critique. I want to stick with this, so being held accountable helps.
I have some extra pages of exercises in there. I also had a slight ink shortage during the rotated boxes, although that doesn't hide the fact that it was the hardest exercise for me.
Nice work. Your line quality is smooth and confident, while maintaining a good sense of precision. Your ellipses are also fairly even, though I notice just a touch of stiffness that comes from drawing a liiiiittle bit too slow (and letting your brain drive the motion of your hand). This is almost negligible, so just keep it in mind and don't go too far to try and correct it. Simple awareness is often enough to change your subconscious behaviour in a positive way.
Skipping down to your rough perspective boxes, your use of hatching is a little sloppy - in the future, make sure your lines stretch all the way across the planes from edge to edge, rather than having them float in the middle. Also, it's a good idea to go over your completed work for this exercise as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
Lastly, your organic and rotated boxes are coming along well, though there's plenty of room for improvement. This is entirely expected and intended, as these exercises are merely your first exposure to the challenge of constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes in 3D space.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will give you the additional practice you need to really solidify your grasp of construction and space. Furthermore, be sure to read through the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular really gives you a strong sense of how each form sits in space, allowing you to get your head around it more easily while also emphasizing and highlighting your mistakes.
Phew, getting back into the swing of art and this lesson is a great resource! It's been helping me out a ton and I can already see myself getting better as I go along. Before starting this I would have had a very hard time drawing a straight line, and now I can feel myself getting better and better at it! I had a tough time with some of it (especially the wall of boxes in perspective) but I think overall this is pretty good!
Thanks for your time and thanks for all your hard work!
Very nice work! Your lines are smooth, your ellipses are confident and your sense of space seems to be fairly well developed. One thing I do want to recommend in regards to the rough perspective boxes is that you go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. It helps to identify areas where your estimation of perspective is at its weakest, so you know where to focus your efforts when you attempt this exercise in the future.
Your organic perspective boxes are quite well done. This is intended to be a fairly challenging exercise that most struggle with immensely, but you've done a good job of it. As such, I'm not going to require you to do the 250 box challenge but I do encourage you to at least read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. It goes a long way to help you understand how each box sits in space.
Keep up the great work and consider this lesson complete!
I am very new still so I am still a bit self-conscious about my line consistency, but I feel like I just need to start getting over it and just get it out there. Also I feel like I very much struggled with the rotating boxes and organic boxes exercises. Let me know what you think and thank you for taking the time for critiques!
There's no need to be self-conscious. I fully understand that it's not entirely within your control, but consider that the expectation is for you to make mistakes, and then to reflect upon them and learn from them. Without mistakes, without embarrassment, there is no progress.
You've generally done quite well, but there's a couple things you'll want to work on as we move forwards.
Your ellipses are a touch on the stiff side. Work towards achieving a more confident pace when drawing, and always be sure to apply the ghosting method beforehand to build up that necessary muscle memory on the spot. Once you actually execute the mark, you want to do so quickly enough to keep your brain from trying to course-correct as you draw. Trust in your muscle memory and loosen the reins just a touch. Once you've managed to capture a degree of confidence, enough to achieve smooth, even ellipses, then you work on the second priority, which is regaining your accuracy and tightening the ellipses up. That always comes second.
Make sure you always apply the ghosting method when drawing your lines - in your rough perspective boxes (as well as your organic perspective boxes) I see some areas where you've fallen back to being a bit chicken scratchy with your lines. Every line should be executed with a single stroke, no more. Even if you make the one mark and it's gotten away from you a bit, don't correct it. Leave it be, otherwise you'll just draw more attention to it.
Also on the rough perspective boxes exercise, I encourage you to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will help you identify where your estimation of perspective is at its weakest, so you can consciously work on them the next time you attempt the exercise. Also, it would be a good idea to read over this as well, just in case you're not 100% sure about how your lines should behave in one point perspective: Guessing, Instead of Knowing.
Lastly, the rotated and organic perspective boxes were included as a first exposure to the idea of constructing and manipulating arbitrarily rotated boxes in 3D space, with no expectation of any significant successes. It's a very difficult challenge, and it takes everyone some time to become comfortable with it.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will give you the opportunity to dive deeper into the whole rotating boxes thing, while also allowing you to iron out the issues with your use of the ghosting method. Remember, no chicken scratching, one mark per line, etc. Also be sure to read through all of the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This method in particular should help you gain a better grasp of how each box sits in 3D space.
Looking pretty good! Keeping your elbow on the desk will function a bit like an anchor, and it's at a fairly key point so I'd advise against it. Having your wrist resting gently against the page can have a similar effect, but to a lesser degree - so as long as you're aware of it, you can consciously force yourself to lock your wrist and move your whole arm despite the drag.
Overall your form seems to be on point. Rotating your page a lot, locking your wrist, and ghosting consistently. Keep up the good work.
[deleted]
2016-07-24 05:56
For the "speed" part, I've learned watching Peter Han's video, that it is all relative to you.
Some people need to go slow to make a line that is straight, some people don't.
I am just pointing what Peter Han said, which is where this lesson one mostly comes from, at least the pages and pages of lines, ellipses and such.
There's plenty of things that you'll need to work on, but identifying the weakspots is the first step to being able to fix them.
In your ghosted lines exercise, it does appear that you could do with spending a little more time on each individual one, specifically investing more time on the ghosting phase. Right now, your lines are arcing a little bit, and your accuracy could use some improvement. You may want to read these parts from the self critique resources: Overshooting, Arcing Lines.
For all of your ellipses, you completely missed the instruction about drawing through your ellipses. This is something I insist you do for every ellipse you draw for my lessons.
In your plotted perspective boxes, I noticed that your verticals slant at various angles fairly often - as this exercise is in two point perspective, it's imperative that your verticals be completely perpendicular to the horizon. Basically, they should go straight up and down, and not lean to either side.
Your rough perspective boxes need a lot of work. First off, you're Not Framing Compositions. Secondly, you don't appear to be entirely certain of how each line should behave. Because this is drawn in one point perspective, there are only three possible ways a line can behave, and you can figure out how a line should be drawn by simply stepping back and thinking. Instead, it appears that you're guessing a lot of the time. This is worth reading: Guessing, Instead of Knowing.
Another thing that would be very valuable is for you to go over your completed rough perspective boxes as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This would help you to identify areas where your estimation of perspective is at its weakest. At a glance, you're going to find that most, if not all of your lines are off by quite a bit.
Your rotated and organic perspective boxes certainly need work as well, though we'll deal with that separately - when I mark this lesson as complete, I'll as you to move onto the 250 box challenge where you'll be able to further practice those boxes, and where the notes - especially the tip about drawing through your forms - should give you additional help.
Before I mark this lesson as complete however, there are some things I'd like you to redo. Firstly, I'd like you to do the entire ellipses section over, as you did not read the instructions carefully enough, and missed a key point (drawing through your ellipses). Then I'd like you to do two more pages of rough perspective boxes.
The overall trend that I'm seeing is that you're eager to rush into the drawing, so you're not reading the instructions as carefully as you should, and you don't spend enough time thinking through each line you put down. The ghosting method in particular embodies this notion of thinking before you act, and it's imperative that you apply it to everything you draw.
You drew your funnels rather small - drawing smaller leaves you with very little room to think through how what you're drawing fits in space, so try to avoid making smaller, cramped drawings.
You seem to have forgotten to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. Please ensure that you do this, for your own sake.
I'll mark this lesson as complete, so go ahead and move onto the 250 box challenge.
Though, i immediatelly gave up on making the cube because i was unable to make a straight line when doing them, they felt really bad, and i felt like an idiot for not being able to make it, it's the same with drawing the square, i couldn't do it, my hands, with the shoulder locked on, they couldn't stop being trembly, it sucks.
I don't do critiques for incomplete homework, so you'll have to very least make an attempt at completing the remaining exercises to the best of your ability. That said, if you're struggling with wobbly lines, then it means you're not applying the ghosting method correctly, and should be spending more time on the preparation phase, and less time actually executing the line. This comic talks about the issue.
Remember that the first step of the ghosting method involves placing points where you want the line to start and end. If you lay down the corners of your boxes, you'll be able to focus only on the challenge of putting a line between two points, rather than worrying about the complexity of constructing a box. Breaking difficult challenges into smaller parts like this often makes them easier to overcome.
Hi Uncomfortable, first I want to say thanks so much for the lessons. All the material you've put up is immensely appreciated!
I looked through the self-critique and caught a lot of mistakes I didn't realise I made. I've listed them in bullet points, but still would like to hear if you have any more to catch, or if you have any other comments on what I could work on.
The only thing I noticed that you haven't caught yourself is that in your rough perspective boxes, you have several horizontals that aren't running parallel to the horizon. That is, what I mention here: Guessing, Instead of Knowing. Aside from that and the things you pointed out yourself, you're doing a pretty solid job.
I do believe you'd benefit from trying the 250 box challenge next - your organic perspective boxes are about where I'd expect them to be, but your understanding of how to manipulate those boxes in 3D space could use some extra work. Be sure to read through the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This is also a good opportunity for you to practice applying the ghosting method to your lines, and to work on not automatically reinforcing or correcting your marks by reflex.
Finally finished this after doing this on and off due to the sheer hardness in my opinion of some of these exercises and me doing some of these over and over again until I can at least get some decent results and actually understand the lessons. Hope you can be as brutally honest as possible. Tell me if I need to redo some things. Cheers mate!
For the most part you've done reasonably well, but there are a few things you can focus on:
Your ellipses are a bit stiff, especially when it comes to the ellipses in planes. I talk about this in general here: Stiff or Wobbly Ellipses, and in more specific terms about that ellipses in planes exercise here: Stiff, Uneven Ellipses.
Your rough perspective boxes are well done (though I strongly recommend not adding greater complexity to the exercises), but you should go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This helps identify areas of greater weakness so you know what to focus on when revisiting the exercise.
Drawing your rotated boxes exercise as small and as cramped as you did wasn't really a great idea. It leaves you with very little room to think through the spatial problems, and as you've done it, doesn't really teach you a whole lot about the rotation of boxes (as your boxes ended up all being very thin). I'm not sure if you drew this before or after I updated the instructions in the lesson (which I did this weekend), but you should probably take another look and try to do it as shown there, not putting your own approach on the task.
Your organic perspective boxes certainly need work, but this is expected as this exercise merely represents a first exposure to the challenge of manipulating boxes freely in 3D space.
Anyway, I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will help you improve your sense of space, and help you further practice the construction of boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you understand how each box sits in 3D space.
I'm new to drawing in pen, so I'm struggling with being neater and more confidant in my lines. It really does make you think before you put down a mark rather than after.
Ellipses in planes was helpful to see how irregular I was drawing those. Some were almost curved diamond shapes.
Rotated boxes was really my third or so attempt at this and it had improved except I drew one of the boxes in two places on accident.
Your lines section is well done. Your ellipses are generally okay, aside from the stiffness of your ellipses-in-planes which you caught yourself, and the fact that you didn't draw through your funnel ellipses. Also, you failed to draw the central minor axis that should be cutting down the middle of each funnel, and to which each ellipse should be aligned (if you don't remember what a minor axis is, look back at the lesson section for the ellipses). Back to drawing through your ellipses though - you should be doing this for every ellipse you draw for my lessons. For more information on what I mean by that, you can look here: Not Drawing Through Ellipses
Your plotted perspective boxes are fine. Your rough perspective boxes are alright, though the hatching you applied to them is very sloppy and poor. You should be taking the time to ensure that the lines are consistent, parallel and stretch all the way across the planes from edge to edge. Nothing falling short or floating aimlessly in the plane.
Your rotated boxes are coming along. From the looks of it, you likely haven't yet seen the updated instructions to the exercise that I added this weekend - it would be well worth your while to take another look, as they're much more detailed now.
Lastly, your organic perspective boxes aren't great, but this exercise as well as the rotated boxes exercises are really just intended to be a first taste of the challenge of freely manipulating boxes in 3D space without using explicit vanishing points. You're not expected to nail it so soon.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will help you improve your sense of space, and help you further practice the construction of boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you understand how each box sits in 3D space.
First off I'd like to thank you for a free critique like this! Direction like this means a lot to an beginning artist like me. This was definitely very difficult for me, but that's probably a good thing at the end of the day. Anyways looking forward to your critique and hope I didn't do anything too horribly!
You've got to reel yourself back - you're overeager, and are rushing through everything. When you do an exercise, your mind seems to be on the next one, trying to tear through it all hoping to reach the next checkpoint. That's not going to help you very much.
The use of the ghosting method is key - it forces you to place the starting and ending point of every line, to ghost through the motion in order to build up the necessary muscle memory on the spot, and then you execute with a single, confident stroke. You certainly have the confidence going, so your lines are smooth, but they're not planned at all. Same goes for your ellipses - you don't take the time to ghost through the motion beforehand first to compensate for the inevitable inaccuracy that comes from drawing quickly.
This isn't abnormal for beginners, but it isn't something I let slide - I'm going to ask you to do the entire lesson again. Don't try to do it all in one sitting, spread it out over several days, and give each exercise the respect and focus it deserves.
You've done fairly well. Ellipses and curves do take plenty of time and practice to really nail, so there's no expectation of perfection this early on. It will develop gradually, as long as you continue practicing these exercises.
For your rotated boxes exercise, I'd say one thing that is causing you to struggle with your scaling is that you're not drawing through your boxes, so you don't really have a full sense of where each box ends on its far side.
Both this exercise and the rotated boxes are really just the first exposure to the idea of rotating boxes freely in 3D space, so again there's no expectation of even beginning to grasp the concept. Your rotated boxes, aside from the inconsistent scaling, were quite well done. Your organic perspective boxes certainly need more work, but they're coming along fairly well too.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read through all of the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your boxes - I've mentioned this in regards to your rotated boxes, and in general, it's a very helpful approach that allows you to fully grasp how each box sits in 3D space.
First of all, you are so awesome for doing this, thank you so much!
I love how you explain things and I just love the lessons. I learned so many things from just this first lesson, not just with art fundamentals, but with time management and discipline as well. I cannot thank you enough for making these lessons.
I found the ellipses quite hard to do, and the rotated boxes and organic perspectives were really challenging for my mind to grasp, but after a few times of reading and execution, I understood them a little more. Using a pen was also challenging for me since I've always just drew with pencils. I hope to get more precise with my lines and less wobbly.
Generally quite well done! Just a few things I'd like to draw your attention to.
First off, with your superimposed lines, your lines are fairly accurate, though they wobble quite a bit. What I can infer from this is that you're drawing slowly and carefully, rather than confidently. This gives your brain the chance to course-correct as you draw, resulting in a wobbly line. Instead, you should be drawing your marks with a confident stroke, relying on muscle memory and not allowing your brain to maintain such close control. This will allow you to maintain a smoother flow. Your accuracy will suffer, but you can compensate for that by applying the ghosting method's preparation techniques.
Jumping ahead, the only other thing I wanted to point out was that your organic perspective boxes do need some work. They're generally not bad, and this exercise and the rotated boxes exercise are intended to merely be a first point of exposure to the challenges of freely manipulating boxes in 3D space. They are difficult things to master, and you are by no means expected to nail them by the end of this lesson.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you gain a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
I started practising lesson 1 a few days ago and i don't feel ready to submitt my homework yet, since i'm really struggling with lines for now, i just wanted to ask you a few questions first, i'd really appreciate if you could answer.
I've been looking for tutorials and "how to draws" for a while and ai'm really glad i found draw a box, but it's really different from others tutorials that i've seen, for example, i found a bunch of tutorials where they actually draw really sketchy lines with pencil in the construction first and then they'd make the real line or circle they wanted. But, in your lessons, it seems that every drawing is supposed to be done with the ghosting technique and with a pen. So, we're never supposed to do the "sketchy lines, circles or whatever" with pencils?
*Sorry for possible english mistakes, this isn't my main language
That is correct. While sketching isn't inherently bad, people rely on it far too much, and end up being extremely wasteful with their lines. One important thing to learn is the concept of 'line economy'. To put it simply, it's a matter of not using more lines than you need. By being forced to draw with pen, and to carefully plan out every single line you draw in my exercises and lessons, you slowly develop the habit of thinking and planning before you make any mark on the page. Ultimately, even a person who reverts to sketching afterwards is going to have a split second before their pen hits the page that they will consider what kind of mark they want to draw, instead of simply drawing and hoping the line they want will appear somewhere.
Long story short, no loose sketching, no pencils. You are forced to draw only what is important, necessary, and ultimately helps you understand the forms you are drawing and how they sit in 3D space. Anything that does not accomplish a specific task is not to be drawn at all.
Hi, Uncomfortable. I'm new to Drawbox and this forum and hope that this is the right place to submit my homework. First of all I would like to thank you and after completing lesson one I have a few questions:
[1]What should be the recommended amount of time to practice? (For me, I practice at least 1hr, 3hr at max, but find that not sufficient enough)
[2] After our lesson is marked as complete, should we still practice previous lesson or will they improve in latter lessons? (I planed on doing different lesson after a warm up each day, but just wanted to know if I should set a time to practice.)
[3] This questions has nothing to do with the lesson, but it has been bothering me. Should I go to art collage? I've heard and read about how much art collages cost and you can get a job without a degree as long as your art skill is exponential. I'm not sure about this, but wanted some advice form someone who already went to collage.
Well thats all I have, maybe more will come in the future, once again thank you for making draw box. Who knows how long it would take me to find other site like this.
One major thing I'm seeing in your work is that you appear to have a tendency to rush through things. Fairly early on I stress the dire importance of applying the ghosting method to every mark you put down, be they straight lines, curves or ellipses. Your ellipses however are drawn very quickly with next to no planning - it appears that you're merely repeating the action over and over without pause. Because of this, your precision suffers immensely. Your lines are smooth, and a certain degree of inaccuracy is expected in favour of drawing confident, even ellipses, but your ellipses take it too far and end up being very flimsy and overly loose.
The same applies to the lines you've used to draw all of your organic perspective boxes - you're not going through the three stage ghosting method, you're merely reverting to a loose, sketchy approach. The construction of the boxes themselves also needs work, but I don't hold this point against you - the exercise is a very difficult one that was included largely as a first point of exposure to the challenge of freely rotating boxes in 3D space. You're not by any means expected to nail it by the end of this lesson.
Your plotted perspective boxes are well done, and your rough perspective boxes are pretty good too (though I highly recommend that you go over your completed work for this exercise as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. Your lines section is also generally well executed, though I see that you skipped the ghosted lines exercise and jumped straight into the planes exercise.
First, I'd like you to redo the tables of ellipses exercise. Take the time to apply the ghosting method to each ellipse, and work on maintaining both a smooth and confident stroke while also keeping the ellipse as tight and solid as you can. The first point takes priority over the second, but you should definitely be capable of drawing them with greater precision and solidity than you have demonstrated here.
Once you've completed that, you may submit them to me and I will mark the lesson as complete. Once that is done, you will move onto the 250 box challenge. This is both to further practice your use of the ghosting method, as well as to get you some additional practice on constructing those freely rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you to better understand how each box sits in 3D space.
As for your questions-
This is a question I actively avoid answering - how much time you put in is up to you. I probably wouldn't go any lower than half an hour in one sitting (and even that's quite little, an hour would be better as a minimum). Overall it really depends on what works for you - rather than giving you time estimates, I will tell you this: if you start to get tired, take a break. Don't ever expect to complete an entire lesson in one sitting (or anything close to that, these are very time consuming), and plan to spread them out over several days or more. Focus not on completing them within a given time frame, but on completing each exercise to the best of your ability. Never rush, never turn in sloppy work. There's a difference between sloppy work, and work that simply reflects a a lower level of skill.
A lesson being marked as complete merely signifies that you understand what to aim for with each of these exercise. You are absolutely expected to continue practicing them, especially in terms of the material from the first two lessons. You should pick two or three exercises from the material you've covered each day to do as a warmup, changing them up every day so as to ensure that you don't end up getting rusty at any one of them. I talk about this here: http://drawabox.com/comic/2
I didn't go to art college. I did attend a private art school where I took individual courses for two terms (six months), but I never went to a proper art school for a 4 year program. I can speak to two things though - the benefit of a classroom environment, and the benefits a proper art school can potentially give you. To put it simply, a classroom environment gives you two things - first, face-to-face time with an instructor. Assuming they know what they're talking about (not all art schools are equal, and not all instructors within the same school are equal either), this can be extremely valuable. What I found to be even more valuable than this was the second point - the other students. Being around other students at roughly the same level as you can be immensely motivating, especially if you're the competitive type. You can get something similar from a group of friends, but the added pressure and discipline that comes from having the instructor around and the whole structure of the class is hard to find elsewhere. Then there's the benefits that the school itself can give you - not all schools will have this, and generally it's only the ones with strong reputations and strong connections to whatever industry you wish to pursue a career in, but some schools will give you access to job listings and resources that come into play after you graduate. Of course you can get a job without going to school, and going to school certainly does not guarantee you a job (nor does it guarantee that you'll improve all that much), but it's not an option I would discount entirely. These points should be weighed against the cost. Of course, there are other alternatives to 4 year programs. Online schools, private schools that serve courses à la carte, etc. Just be sure to do your research into all of these, as art education is a lot like navigating a minefield of scams and over-inflated prices.
There certainly are some things you can work on. Your lines section is generally well done. Your ellipses, however, are very stiff and uneven. This happens when you draw too slowly, and allow your brain to course-correct while you draw, rather than applying the ghosting method to prepare and build up muscle memory, then trusting your arm by drawing the mark with a confident stroke. I discuss this in a few places:
I noticed that in your plotted perspective boxes, your vertical lines are slanted every now and then. This, in turn, flows right into a lot of your rough perspective boxes' lines being the result of guesses and uncertainty as to how each one should behave.
In any perspective system (one, two, three point perspective) there are only a few possible behaviours that can be applied to any line. You should never be guessing - instead, you should take a step back and think through which behaviour should be applied to the line you wish to draw.
In two point perspective, you have two sets of horizontal lines and one set of vertical lines. Each set of horizontal lines go off to their own vanishing point. The vertical lines, however, have no vanishing point. They all run perpendicular to the horizon - basically, straight up and down.
The same principle applies to the rough perspective boxes, which were in 1 point perspective. You have three sets of lines - those that go off into the distance (and all converge towards the vanishing point), a set of horizontal lines, and a set of vertical lines. The horizontal lines have no vanishing point, they run perfectly parallel to the horizon. The vertical lines also have no vanishing point, and run perpendicular to the horizon (straight up and down).
Your rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes certainly need work, but neither of these exercises were included with the expectation that you'd nail them so soon. They were set here to help expose you to the challenge of freely rotating boxes without any explicit vanishing points in the frame. Don't worry too much if you're struggling with them right now.
That said, for your rotated boxes, looking at your work it seems to me that you may not yet have seen the new notes in posted this past weekend on this exercise. You should definitely go back and take another look, as the new, more detailed notes should help you understand how to better tackle this exercise.
I'm not going to mark the lesson as complete just yet - I'd like you to redo the table of ellipses exercise (to sort out the stiffness), and then I'd like you to do one page of plotted perspective boxes and one page of rough perspective boxes. Once those are done, you can submit them to me and I'll mark the lesson as complete.
Then I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge for more practice with rotating boxes freely in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on that page before starting the work, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular helps to give you a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
Thank you so much for this. I have been looking for a new outlet since I have gotten a physically demanding job and can't do my old hobby due to joint pain. I started drawing about a month ago with no prior experience and I have been looking for a lesson plan just like this. I could go on for longer but instead here is my homework for lesson 1. I have been going back and working on all three sections of the lesson since it's clear I'm having trouble drawing clean but my understanding of drawing in a 3D space has grown. I have been having a hard time drawing from the shoulder but it's gotten easier the further I progress through the sections.
Edit: I don't know if it makes a difference but I was using a fine point sharpie since it's all I have at the moment. If it does let me know and I'll make a trip to the store for some felt tip pens.
Fine point sharpies are okay - a little bit thick, but aside from that, they are felt tip pens so they'll do just fine.
Looking at your work, I see one trend across all of it - you have a tendency to draw slowly and carefully, and as a result your lines are coming out quite stiff and wobbly. This is something I talk about in a few areas, summing it up somewhat in this comic: http://drawabox.com/comic/1
This is definitely something you'll want to work on, as it's quite important.
Next, in your rough perspective boxes, to stress the importance of keeping your horizontals parallel to the horizon and your verticals perpendicular to it, I'd like you to read over this: Guessing, Instead of Knowing. It's also a very good idea for you to go over your completed work for that exercise as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
The rotated and organic perspective boxes are particularly challenging exercises - you are by no means expected to develop a full sense of how to work in 3D space by the end of this lesson, so the exercises really only represent a first taste of the challenges of freely rotating boxes without any explicit vanishing points to rely upon. That said, looking at your rotated boxes, it looks to me like you haven't yet had a chance to read the new instructions that I posted on Saturday - definitely give them a read, as they're considerably more detailed and should help you wrap your head around the exercise a little better.
Now, I am going to mark this lesson as complete. Keep in mind that you're expected to continue practicing these exercises as you move forwards - I further explain this here: http://drawabox.com/comic/2. I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more practice constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes, as well as the chance to continue working out your wobbly lines. You are fully expected to apply the ghosting method to all of your linework, so take your time to apply its preparation techniques before executing each line with a smooth, confident stroke - not a slow, belaboured one.
Additionally, I noticed in some places (more early on, so you are improving on this point) you seemed to be losing control of your ghosted lines a little bit. The lines were smooth, which is good, but after a certain point they'd just kinda turn into a wobbly wave. Keep an eye on that.
I also noticed that here and there you have a habit of immediately reinforcing a line you've just drawn with another one. This is a common habit, but not a good one - it's really just drawing by reflex, instead of planning and preparing before every stroke you put down. We're all about the ghosting method - every mark you put on the page should be the result of forethought. The automatic reinforcing of lines, on the other hand, generally comes from a lack of confidence - one we're working to snuff out.
Lastly, keep in mind that the rotated and organic perspective boxes do need work, but these exercises are really just intended as a first taste of the overwhelming challenge that is rotating boxes freely in 3D space. You are by no means expected to nail it this early on, so don't fret too much over that.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more practice with freely manipulating those boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This technique in particular will help you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
I'm guessing you're asking if you're allowed to use ballpoint or if you have to use felt tip/fineliner. Felt tip is always encouraged, but if you can't find one for the life of you, same rules as lessons 1 and 2 apply, and you are allowed to use ballpoint. Lessons 3-7 are felt tip only.
[deleted]
2016-07-28 19:46
Hi Uncomfortable. After much procrastinating here´s my homework for lesson 1, thanks in advance for taking a look at it: http://imgur.com/a/EKHrx
Very nice work! Your lines are confident and smooth, your ellipses are even and well planned, and your boxes generally demonstrate a budding sense of 3D space.
One suggestion I have in regards to your rough perspective boxes is that you go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. Also, I updated the notes for the rotated boxes exercise last weekend, so if you haven't had a chance to look at them you definitely should - they're considerably more detailed, and while you did a decent job of them, they'd be worth reading.
Your organic perspective boxes are also pretty good. I do want to recommend that you give the 250 box challenge page a read - you don't have to do the challenge (though it may be a good idea), but the notes, especially those about drawing through your boxes, should help you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
I'll be marking this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the next one when you feel ready.
[deleted]
2016-08-02 20:45
Cool! I´ll be sure to give those notes and the links a read. Thanks again for the evaluation and guidance!
Hi Uncomfortable, thanks for putting this all together. I find drawing a struggle and this is really helping me. Here is my Lines homework http://imgur.com/a/hA7k9
You generally look to be doing well, but you should read the instructions more carefully.
If you do choose to submit, please be sure to complete the homework in its entirety (all three parts as prescribed: lines, ellipses and boxes) in the required medium/media. While I am happy to help out, it does take a lot of time, and I'd greatly appreciate it if the time is taken to fully read and digest the material.
Don't submit your homework until all of the work for the entire lesson is complete.
Ive been drawing for about a year and decided to come to this course because while I improved a lot in certain areas, I felt that I was lacking fundamentals in others. I drew almost exclusively in digital because I found it easier to draw there. I liked the instant gratification, but more importantly its because of a medicine that I take that my hands tremble. It varies in severity but it is always present. It affects me most in traditional because I cannot user stabilizers that are built into software and cant erase lines gone wrong in ink. Regardless Ive done my best to complete these exercises.
The one thing that stood out to me the most was the organic box drawing exercises. I understand the concepts of perspective, but seem to sometimes only realize my mistake when Ive drawn the box, and by then I cant erase. When I set up the points on the box, I usually see that they converge appropriately, but sometimes I mess up and dont see that they are positioned wrong until Ive drawn. I wanted to know what your opinion on that particular issue is.
Keep working on improving the accuracy of your ellipses. Drawing with a confident pace to avoid wobbling is still the first priority, but if and when possible, you want to balance it with enough ghosting and preparation to be have your ellipses fit accurately in the space you've set out for them. Looking at your funnels, you definitely struggled with getting your ellipses to sit snugly between the two curving lines.
You didn't follow the instructions for the rough perpsective boxes entirely accurately. This exercise was supposed to be done in one point perspective, not two. It's really of no consequence here, but in other areas failing to follow the instructions can result in a lot of wasted time.
Looking at your rotated boxes exercise, it looks like you read over the material before I updated the information on this exercise last weekend. It would be well worth your while to go back and read over the new material, as it's considerably more detailed.
I see that you struggled considerably with your organic perspective boxes, just as you mentioned yourself. The thing is, it's entirely expected. This exercise was included as a first taste of the struggles involved in rotating and manipulating boxes freely in 3D space with no explicit vanishing points in frame to rely upon. You are not at all expected to have a fully developed sense of 3D space by this point, and so it was merely an opportunity for you to stumble and fall. Failure is inevitable, and it's necessary.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will give you plenty of opportunity to further practice the challenges first met in the organic perspective exercise. Be sure to read through the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach should help you improve your box constructions, as it goes a long way towards improving your understanding of how each box sits in 3D space.
Just as with every lesson, there's an orange button on the top of the webpage labelled "View Lesson Submissions on Reddit". It will take you to the corresponding submission thread.
I hope it's the right way to get a good critique from you. I now my superimposed lines and my ellipses are messy i will work on that in the future...so my gallery: http://imgur.com/a/fN7XJ
The hatching on your boxes is really sloppy - you should be taking the time to draw consistent, parallel lines that go from edge to edge across the plane, rather than lines that fall short or float in the middle. Absolutely no zig-zagging or scribbling.
The rough perspective boxes exercise should all be 1 point perspective, as per the instructions (I noticed a couple that were done in 2 point perspective). Always follow my instructions to the letter.
I see that you drew through some of your rotated boxes (drawing the hidden lines), but primarily for the horizontal ones and not the others. You should be doing this for all of them, as the exercise is about understanding how each box sits in 3D space.
Your organic perspective boxes are hit and miss, but this is completely expected. This exercise is just a first taste of the challenges and struggles involved in freely rotating boxes in 3D space. You aren't expected to nail it this early, it's just an opportunity for you to fight with it for a bit.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge to get more practice with constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you more fully understand how each box sits in 3D space.
Also, don't submit such tiny images in the future.
Generally okay, though some of your exercises give way to a hefty serving of sloppiness. Your lines section is fine. Your ellipses are a little loose, and you should be more mindful of applying the ghosting method's preparation techniques to them, just as you would to every other line you draw. Or rather, just as you should. I also see that in your funnels, you stopped drawing through your ellipses. I expect you to draw through all of the ellipses you draw for my lessons. Always push yourself to draw them with a confident, smooth pace, and strive to tighten them up, but always draw through them twice before lifting your pen.
Now, as I mentioned, you should be applying the ghosting method to every line you draw. It's fairly clear that you're not, however - your rough perspective boxes, your rotated boxes and your organic perspective boxes are all examples of this. With additional preparation and planning before each mark, your overall line quality would definitely improve. Also, I notice that as you move further through these exercises (and perhaps get more tired), you start getting considerably sloppier - immediately reinforcing or correcting after drawing a line (a very bad habit you should work towards avoiding, and that the ghosting method helps to mitigate). When you make a mistake, don't correct it. For now, leave it alone, though in the future you'll gradually see ways to incorporate the mistake into the drawing. If you correct it immediately, it'll merely draw more attention to that area by making it darker and more noticeable.
In all but your last page of rough perspective boxes, your hatching is basically just sloppy scribbling - every mark you put down is important and contributes to the overall quality of the presentation. Hatching should always be made up of consistent, parallel and individual lines that stretch all the way from edge to edge. Your last page of this exercise was much better.
Your organic perspective boxes certainly need work, but that's by design - that exercise was included as an opportunity to taste the struggles and challenges involved in rotating and manipulating boxes freely in 3D space. It's not a simple task, and you are by no means expected to develop a solid sense of 3D space by the end of this lesson.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next, both as an opportunity to get more practice rotating and manipulating boxes, but also to work on your use of the ghosting method, and ultimately the patience required to use it. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms - this is something that was mentioned in the rotated boxes exercises that you did not put into practice, and ultimately it helps you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space, making it easier to construct them on the page.
Sorry in advance for some of the pictures have been rotated to the side or upside down. Imgur is annoying. Don't wanna take a lot of your time but I just wanna say thank you for sharing these lessons with us. Hope I've done it justice. The line exercise was a bit hard for me to do because when I made the first line, it made a little physical indentation into the page and any other line following that is kind of 'influenced' by that indentation. The ballpoint pen/ felt tip pen kept getting caught in that crevice, tried my best to put less pressure onto the page but still made the indentation.
Getting better. I'll mark this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the 250 box challenge. Also, keep in mind that you should still continue practicing these exercises as warmups.
Your ellipses are generally alright, though I did notice that in the funnel there is one bit you're missing. That line going down the center of the funnel is the 'minor axis', to which all of your ellipses should be aligned. In case you've forgotten, in the lesson section I describe the minor axis as being the line that passes through an ellipse's narrower dimension, cutting it into two equal, symmetrical halves. All of the ellipses in your funnels should be aligned to this line.
Jumping ahead, your rough perspective boxes are reasonably well done, but I do have one recommendation - go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will help you identify areas where your estimation of perspective is weakest, ultimately allowing you to conscious compensate for it the next time you attempt the exercise.
Your rotated boxes are a good start, though there's certainly plenty of room to improve in terms of keeping the boxes evenly spaced out. Your organic perspective boxes are also moving in the right direction. Both of these exercises were included here with the intention of merely giving you a first taste of the challenges and struggles involved in freely rotating boxes in 3D space. You are by no means expected to develop a solid sense of 3D space by the end of this lesson.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get some more practice with those freely rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on the page before starting the work - especially the tip about drawing through your forms, which should help you get a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
For now, no. You're not going to be drawing any lines that should be drawn from the wrist for some time. Elbow is a bit of a grey area - but if you're having trouble with drawing from the shoulder, it merely means that you need to keep pushing through and practicing with it.
Yes, though I make sure to draw the whole thing first, then go back to start applying line weight, much in the way that the super imposed lines exercise works. It's important to separate those stages of drawing so that you don't end up with the habit of immediately reinforcing your lines after drawing them, as a reflex.
Generally looks like you nailed a lot of what's going on by looking over the self critique resources. There's a couple things I'd like to add though:
Your ellipses are looking a little bit stiff, but I get the sense that you're moving in the right direction. Keep that confident, fluid pace in mind, and try not to let your brain guide your hand while you draw. Brain plays its primary role when preparing and applying the ghosting techniques, not while actually drawing - that's the muscles' time to shine.
I see that when doing your plotted perspective, and when extending your rough perspective boxes' lines back to the horizon (which you should do with all of your rough perspective work, not just the one) you used dotted/broken lines. Avoid these at all costs. In these cases, it's less of an issue because you've drawn them with a ruler, but in the future you'll have to draw through forms, and doing so with broken lines is a bad idea. When you break a line, you break its flow - attempting to resume the stroke will do so with a slight deviation in its orientation. Basically, once you break a line, you can never trust that it's going to continue flowing in the same direction, making it useless. Don't worry about drawing extra lines - as long as those lines serve a purpose, they should be drawn completely and confidently. We are not here to draw pretty pictures, we are here to learn the lessons that will allow us to draw pretty pictures in the future.
Keep working on applying the ghosting, especially when applying those lines to drawing larger things like boxes and so on. You're heading in the right direction, but you need to keep on top of it.
Your organic perspective boxes do need work, but this is entirely expected right now - it's just a first taste of the struggles involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space, so it'll take more work to really pin it down.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next for more practice with manipulating boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms which should help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, which is key to drawing them successfully.
Yup, use the ghosting method for every single mark you put down on the page.
Technically it's not about drawing the line fast, it's about drawing it fast enough to keep your brain from course-correcting while you draw. For beginners, this does mean drawing faster and more confidently, though over time the required speed will decrease. Now, you say that your ellipses come out much better if you draw them slowly - can you show me a picture of one of your better ellipses?
You're being a bit too loose with your ellipses. Confidence and drawing fast is good, but now you've got to try and reel them back and maintain enough control of them to keep them tight and fit them inside of the targets you set out. This means putting more time into applying the ghosting method before drawing, to build up the required muscle memory before executing the mark. Also, it looks like you'd be better off drawing through your ellipses only twice - no more, no less.
Your rough perspective boxes are alright (though your application of the ghosting method here also could use some work). I recommend that you also go over your completed work for this exercise as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
Your rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes do need work, but this is to be expected. On one hand, it looks like you haven't had a chance to look over the updated rotated boxes exercise description (I rewrote it a couple weeks ago, it's considerably more detailed than it was before and is worth a look). Either way, both of these exercises are intended to merely give you the first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next for more practice with manipulating boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms which should help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, which is key to drawing them successfully.
Hey Uncomfortable, really appreciate the work you put into the lesson plans! Thank you so much, I look forward to completing all the lessons in time and hope to get the basics down and would appreciate if you would look over my homework for lesson 1: http://imgur.com/a/aIyze
I definitely think that my ellipses and the spherical box activity need some work and I've been working on them still and am looking into the 250 Box Challenge.
Not bad. One thing I caught early on is that in your planes exercise, you failed to apply the ghosting method to your lines as instructed, and overall were more chicken-scratchy than you should have been. Keep in mind that you should draw only one mark per line, and execute each mark with forethought and planning. I'm pleased to see that you do seem to have applied it to the box exercises as you were instructed.
Jumping ahead to your funnels, you forgot to draw in the central line (the minor axis), to which each of your ellipses should be aligned. If you don't remember, the minor axis is the line that goes through an ellipse's narrower dimension, cutting it into two equal, symmetrical halves.
Your plotted perspective boxes are fine. Your rough perspective boxes are alright as well, and are moving in the right direction, but you'd benefit significantly from going over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point
Your rotated and organic perspective boxes do need some work, but this exercises is only expected to give you an initial taste of the challenges of rotating boxes freely in 3D space. Ultimately, I will be marking this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge - as you already mentioned you're planning to do.
Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms which should help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, which is key to drawing them successfully.
Not bad! There are some considerable issues with your rough perspective boxes, but aside from that you've done fairly well. That issue in particular appears to be that you don't entirely understand what it means to draw in one point perspective, and as a result are guessing at how many of the lines should behave rather than truly understanding the rules behind it.
And of course, I always recommend going over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. It does appear that you were doing it already for some of them, but be sure to do it for all.
I'd like you to do two more pages of rough perspective boxes before you move onto the 250 box challenge. Once you've submitted those and submitted them to me, I do believe that it would be best for you to move onto the 250 box challenge, as it will help iron out some of the mistakes made in the organic perspective boxes exercise. Be sure to read through all of the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you better understand how each box should sit in 3D space.
I just want to say how much i appreciate what you're doing. Your lessons are not only amazingly informative and clear, but also fun to do. Thank you for the time you're spending to help us get better in drawing.
Generally well done, though I do see one consistent issue across your box exercises - you're not applying the ghosting method. This approach of identifying, then preparing and building up muscle memory, then finally executing a mark with a smooth, confident and fluid motion should be applied to every single mark you put down. This includes straight lines, curves, waves and ellipses.
Also, I noticed that for some of your later ellipses, you stopped drawing through them - I insist that you draw through all of the ellipses you draw for my lessons.
Aside from that, you did a pretty solid job. Your organic perspective boxes are do have issues, but that exercise in particular was included to give you a first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space. Also, as I recommend to everyone, you should go over your completed rough perspective boxes as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will help you identify areas of weakness in your estimation of perspective.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge. This will allow you to practice actually applying the ghosting method to actual construction, while also giving you much needed practice with constructing freely rotated boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms which should help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, which is key to drawing them successfully.
[deleted]
2016-08-02 20:39
Hey, Uncomfortable. Thank you for taking the time to check out my attempt at your lesson. http://imgur.com/a/msc39.
One question: I found it difficult to draw from my shoulder for smaller lines and had to force myself to lock my wrist. The times I did use my wrist the lines came out okay though - is it alright to draw from the wrist for smaller lines?
Quite well done! There's a little bit of stiffness in your ellipses (remember to draw them with a confident pace, and compensate for any inaccuracy this brings by applying the ghosting method), but aside from that you've done a good job and I have no major issues to raise. There's room to grow, of course, but you're moving in the right direction with all of your exercises.
As for your question, it's inevitable that drawing from your shoulder will be difficult in many circumstances, but I insist that you do it for all of your lines, big and small. There's reasons why it may have decent results for smaller lines, but ultimately it's not just the length of the line that is a factor in which pivot you want to use, but also the type of line itself. The wrist gives you a lot of control, but virtually no fluidity, and so those lines tend to come out much stiffer, and more lifeless. Right now, and for some time to come, you will have no need of drawing lines that are better off drawn from your wrist, so just keep doing it from your shoulder.
I'll be marking this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the next lesson. You may also want to take a look at the 250 box challenge. Even if you don't, be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms, which will help you gain a more solid grasp on how each box sits in 3D space.
Generally pretty nice work! There's a few issues, but nothing overly significant. Your lines section is very well done. Your ellipses are alright, though your funnels get a little too loose and a bit sloppy. Your ellipses in planes are also a little stiff, which isn't entirely abnormal - people tend to draw slower when they're trying to fit the ellipses into the somewhat awkwardly shaped planes, but it's important to try and maintain a confident pace to achieve a smooth, even ellipse.
Your rough perspective boxes are alright, but your hatching is sloppy as all hell. Make sure you draw consistent, parallel lines that stretch all the way from edge to edge. No zigzagging, no lines that float in the middle of the plane, etc. Every line you put down on the page is important, so don't half-ass anything.
Your organic perspective boxes are coming along decently - of course they do need work, but this is entirely expected. This exercise was included here as a first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space, and you're not expected to nail it by the end of this first lesson.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more practice with those boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page before starting the work, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This technique will help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space.
Generally you've done well, but my biggest concern lies with your ellipses. For your ellipses in planes, you don't draw through them at all, and for the rest you do, but you maintain a very stiff, slow stroke that results in an uneven shape and a wobbly line. I explain why this is not ideal here: http://drawabox.com/comic/1. You want to be drawing with a more persistent, confident stroke instead, that doesn't allow your brain to course-correct as you draw. To compensate for the inevitable drop in accuracy, you would instead invest your time in applying the ghosting method's preparation techniques before execution.
Jumping forward, you're generally doing a solid job with your boxes exercises. Your organic perspective boxes do need work, but this is entirely expected as this exercise was added here only to give you a first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space.
Before I mark this lesson as complete, I'd like you to do one more page of the table of ellipses exercise, drawing through each ellipse twice, and doing so with a smooth, confident pace rather than a slow, belaboured one.
Once you submit that to me, I'll mark this lesson as complete. Then I want you to move onto the 250 box challenge for more practice with those freely manipulated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms, which should help you get a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space.
For your rough perspective boxes, it's a great idea to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This is something I suggest to everyone, and was not a part of the actual exercise itself.
For your rotated boxes, you did a good job as far as the final result is concerned, though by neglecting to draw each box in its entirety (instead stopping each one where it is hidden by its neighbour), you did not really get as much out of the exercise as you could have. The exercise is focused on understanding how the boxes sit in 3D space, and how this changes as they are rotated - this is achieved largely by drawing the entire thing. I talk about this in greater detail here: Draw Through your Forms. Keep this in mind for the future.
Aside from that, you did a solid job. I'll mark this lesson as complete - feel free to move onto the next one, though you may want to take a look at the 250 box challenge next as well. That is up to you, but reading through the notes on that page is definitely worth your while.
Very nice work. The only thing I'd like to mention is that in your rotated boxes exercise, you're demonstrating a purposeful aversion to letting your boxes overlap. I fully understand why you might wish to do that (to reduce clutter and such) but in general keeping those boxes close is much more helpful when it comes to looking at a box's neighbours to figure out what angles certain lines should follow. You can see how your corner boxes tend to be incorrect - part of this is because you're not able to easily refer to their neighbours.
Also, your organic perspective boxes are looking well done (and much improved), though it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the idea of drawing through your boxes, if you haven't had the chance to read that yet. I believe I mentioned it in the last critique I gave you for this lesson.
As for your questions,
It's still best to use your shoulder for everything for the first few lessons - drawing from your wrist will result in a sort of stiffness that will result in ill effects, and is only really useful in every specific cases that you will not come across for some time.
I generally encourage people to pick two or three exercises from the basics section to do for 10-20 minutes as a warmup. The important thing here is that you do it regularly, and that you ensure that you're not just sticking to a few exercises (and neglecting others).
This is kind of specific to you, and how your brain and body work. If you feel that you've stiffened up, a warmup won't hurt. There's no hard/fast rules to this sort of thing.
I have no idea what the pomodoro technique is, but if you find it helpful then that's ultimately all that matters.
A couple of points: I did it all using a kinda crappy ballpoint pen and only used my micron on the rotated boxes cause I can't afford to buy a new one right now and i'm kinda saving it, I usually draw really light, so I used the lighten filter on some of my pages to make it better to see. On my ghosting exercise, I tried to mix ghosted lines and curves, since I saw Scott recommending it on one of his videos.
Generally quite well done! Just a few things to point out. The only significant one is your rotated boxes, where you appear to have made a fairly conscious effort not to draw each box in its entirety, instead stopping your lines where they become hidden by neighbouring boxes. It's important to follow my examples and instructions closely. You'll see how I drew every box for this exercise completely, going so far as to draw through each form, including the lines that exist on the far side of each one. This exercise is all about learning how each box sits in 3D space, and how that changes as the box rotates. Not drawing each box in its entirety won't really give you much of a sense of this.
Keep in mind that while presentation is important, these exercises are not intended to result in a pretty picture. They certainly can, but any effort towards that end is wasted and can distract you from your goal.
Of course, your organic perspective boxes certainly do need work as well, but this one is entirely expected. This exercise was only included as a first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space. You are not expected to be able to nail it this early on.
So, I'll be marking this lesson as complete - I do however want you to move onto the 250 box challenge next, to get more practice with those freely rotated and manipulated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you better understand how each box sits in space, as I mentioned in my critique of your rotated boxes.
Very nice work! Your lines and ellipses are solid. For your rough perspective boxes, I highly recommend that you go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will help you better identify areas of weakness in your estimation of perspective.
Your organic perspective boxes are generally quite well done, though there is some room for improvement. This is entirely expected - this exercise was included primarily to introduce you to the challenges of rotating boxes freely in 3D space, which is not something I expect you to conquer fully this early on.
I am going to be marking this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to put the finishing touches on your understanding of working in 3D space. Be sure to read through all of the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you better understand how each box sits in 3D space.
Hello Uncomfortable. Here is my homework for Lesson 1: http://imgur.com/gallery/POXoE. I finally got around to completing it. I appreciate any advice you have to offer. Thanks!
Nice work! There's certainly plenty of room to grow, but you're moving in the right direction with each exercise, and are about where I'd hope you to be. I can see that you struggled with your rotated and organic perspective boxes - by the end the rotated boxes came together a bit better, though the organic perspective boxes certainly are still quite difficult. They're supposed to be - you're not expected to fully grasp the concepts involved with freely rotating boxes in 3D space just yet, it's merely there to introduce you to those challenges.
I'll be marking this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next for more practice with those freely rotated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page before starting the work - especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you better understand how each box sits in 3D space.
Generally quite well done. The biggest issue that I'm noticing isn't so much with the quality of your work. It's with your ellipses, where you didn't really follow my directions in regards to Drawing Through Ellipses. Please ensure that you apply this technique to every ellipse you draw for my lessons. Based on what I can see, you should have no trouble keeping those ellipses tight, but it is important that you draw each one with a confident pace - not slow and steady - and that you go around the shape one more time before lifting your pen.
Jumping down to your organic perspective boxes, you are still struggling with this area, and that is entirely expected and intended. This exercise introduces you to the challenges of rotating boxes freely in 3D space, with no expectation that you're going to nail it this early on.
I'll be marking this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge for more targeted practice with constructing these arbitrarily rotated boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular should help you better understand how each box sits in 3D space.
Thanks for the feedback, I'll do that box challenge next, but I would like to say that while some of the ellipses I didn't draw through the majority of them I did and I was able to overlap the same line so you couldn't tell I did.
Then that's pretty impressive - but keep in mind that you want to draw with a confident pace - that's a much higher priority than your accuracy. But keep up the good work!
This lesson has three sections, each with its own set of homework. Complete the homework for all three sections (there's a certain number of pages per exercise), and then submit that to me here. The instructions are all there on the lesson page.
Fantastic work - all of your exercises are on point. Your lines are smooth and straight, your ellipses are confident and even, and your boxes are generally quite solid and well constructed. I have only one recommendation, and this isn't something that was included in the notes:
When drawing boxes, or any forms where certain lines are hidden on the opposite side, it's a good idea to draw through your forms. This helps you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
Additionally, these notes on the use of line weight should help you take your boxes to the next level: Line Weight.
Keep up the great work and feel free to move onto the next lesson.
I have a question. I am just starting my homework today. How unacceptable is it to draw with the elbow? I end up locking my wrist and using my elbow + shoulder (sometimes leaning on the elbow and using it as a fulcrum when i get tired) to do some line practice and they turn out quite straight and even. But, when I lock the wrist + elbow and just move the shoulder it feels very stiff and I end up making huge mistakes. Is it alright to try and use my elbow/elbow + shoulder, or should I force myself to lock the other two and only use my shoulder? I don't want to go about the whole series wrong.
You're much better off using your shoulder, locking both wrist and elbow. There's two reasons for this:
The awkwardness you're feeling, drawing from your shoulder, is normal. You're not used to using it, so of course it's going to feel strange at first. Push through it. If you avoid it now, you won't be able to use it when it's especially necessary.
Combining two pivots is a bad idea this early on, because it's going to muddy the waters. You want to be in full control of your arm - locking all joints but one will give you a greater degree of familiarity with how your arm works, allowing you more control in the future.
Also, don't lean on your elbow for support, as it will end up behaving like an anchor, making you fall back to drawing from your wrist without realizing it. You get a similar effect if you lean on the side of your hand for support, but to a much lesser degree, so it's alright if you must. Either way, it's very important that you remain conscious of what you're doing, and whenever you catch yourself no longer drawing from the shoulder, stop and practice pivoting from your various joints to refresh your memory as to how each one feels, and then resume drawing from the shoulder.
Very nice work! Your lines and ellipses are looking solid. Your boxes are also generally very well done. For your organic perspective boxes, I have only one suggestion, and this wasn't included in the lesson 1 notes. It's a good idea, when drawing boxes or any forms where there are lines on the opposite side that are hidden, to draw through your forms. This will help you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space, and will avoid any mistakes in regards to far planes being larger than near planes. Your boxes are generally quite well done though, so keep up the great work.
You likely noticed this, but in your first plotted perspective, you encountered a lot of distortion. Your drawing was still technically correct, but if your boxes fall outside of the space between the two vanishing points, things are going to start looking weird. Same goes for above/below - if you imagine either vanishing point sitting on opposite sides of a circle, anything that falls outside of this circle is going to start getting distorted. Same thing actually happens with your eyes - anything in your peripheral vision is quite stretched, we just don't notice it.
Roug perspective boxes: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point (I recommend this to everyone, it's a great way to identify areas where your estimation of perspective is weakest)
I'll be marking this lesson as complete - I do want you to move onto the 250 box challenge next however. Specifically practice boxes with shallower foreshortening - so where the far planes are only slightly smaller than the near planes, rather than significantly smaller. Also be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms.
Not bad. There's a few issues that we can work towards resolving, but generally you're doing well.
As you continue working on your ellipses, work towards tightening them up. Draw through each one twice before lifting up your pen (more than that seems to be causing you to lose control a bit). Don't stop drawing through them however, as you did for your funnels - I fully expect you to draw through all of the ellipses you do for my lessons.
For your rough perspective boxes, be sure to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This helps identify areas where your estimation of perspective is at its weakest.
Your rotated and organic perspective boxes are definitely weak, but this is totally expected. This exercise was only included as a first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space, and you were by no means expected to nail it by the end of this lesson.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more practice with constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you better understand how each box sits in 3D space.
So I'm exercising on lines, I tried both digital and on papes and I think it looks really bad. s it normal for begginners or am I doing something wrong? There is some way I should keep my arm, pen and shoulder? How much time should I spend on this exercises to move on?
That's fairly normal, fraying/separation towards the end of the line is completely expected. You should be spending enough time on lining up your pen at the correct starting point however to completely avoid any signs of separation at the beginning. Besides that, make sure you're drawing from your shoulder, and you're locking your elbow and wrist. Keep your elbow off the table, but if absolutely necessary you can rest your hand on the page, just be aware of how this may cause you to fall back into the habit of drawing from your wrist, and correct this whenever you catch yourself doing it.
Your work falls within the range I'd expect. The homework section states exactly how many pages you should fill with whichever given exercise. Don't waste time doing the exercises digitally until you've completed the work on paper, as digital media introduces several layers of disconnect (driver issues, software issues, getting used to your tablet, etc.) that will add to your confusion in terms of whether or not you're doing it correctly.
Ultimately if you're planning on submitting the work for critique, I don't accept work done digitally for lessons 1-7, so there's that to consider. Regardless, you're better off doing each lesson in its entirety traditionally, then considering redoing it digitally. There isn't a point where you'd put your pen and paper down entirely.
Generally pretty good! Your lines and ellipses are solid, both confident and smooth. Your boxes are well done as well, though I noticed that you neglected to complete the plotted perspective and rotated box exercises. The plotted perspective one isn't that important, largely there to help beginners bridge the initial understanding of the use of vanishing points, but I would like you to complete the rotated boxes exercise before I mark this lesson as complete.
Once that's done, I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Your organic perspective boxes are pretty good, though in some of the later ones I noticed a little bit of (totally understandable and expected) weakness in regards to how each box sits in 3D space. Read through the notes on that challenge page - the tip about drawing through your forms in particular should help you get a better grasp of how each box occupies space.
furiana
2016-07-07 22:56
Lesson 1 submission Not much to say; just thanks for opening up free critiques again. :)
Lochabws
2016-07-07 23:24
http://imgur.com/a/Cq5B1
Definitely harder than I thought it would be. But hey, a challenge is what I did this for. I'm glad I did it.
I appreciate any critique either here or on imgur. I plan on making drawing my career, so throw it all at me.
I consider myself intermediate as far as experience level. I am using Draw A Box to help myself improve on my skill.
And thank you, Draw A Box, for providing this opportunity for myself and many others out there. I found this exercise helpful and I plan to continue the lessons.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-08 19:33
Be brutal? As you wish!
There's a whole lot of this going on with your super imposed lines: Fraying/Separation on Both Ends. Take the time to line your pen up at the correct starting position before drawing - don't just draw and hope for the best. Your second page does improve on this front, but it's definitely something to keep in mind.
Your ghosted lines are hit and miss - mostly okay, some of them are arcing unnecessarily, but one common issue is that you often overshoot your lines. Try and keep them between the two points. Again, you improve on this front on your second page.
You switch between doing this and not, but you're not drawing through the vast majority of your ellipses: Not Drawing Through Ellipses. This isn't a suggestion, it's a rule - draw through all of the ellipses you draw for my lessons.
Your ellipses also have a slight tendency to be a little bit on the stiffer side. Make sure you're drawing them with a more confident stroke, after taking the time to apply the ghosting method's preparation techniques. Stiff or Wobbly Ellipses, http://drawabox.com/comic/1
Your funnels are completely missing the central line that's supposed to go down the middle. This line represents the minor axis of each ellipse. If you don't remember what a minor axis is, look back at the lesson part of the ellipse section.
Your rough perspective boxes reveal a trend of not reading instructions as carefully as you could. I do understand, my lessons are VERY text heavy, but ultimately it's on you to read them thoroughly, reread them when necessary, and to follow the instructions to a tee. The rough perspective exercise is to be done in one point perspective. Adding an additional vanishing point makes it more difficult, which in turn distracts you from the core principle I want you to learn.
Also, one helpful tip after you've completed your rough perspective work is to go over it as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. The nature of the exercise is to estimate your perspective, so this helps you identify where your estimation is weakest, and how far off it is.
Your rotated boxes are actually quite well done, felt like that should be pointed out.
Your organic perspective boxes are okay, but there are some issues here and there. This is by no means a problem - this exercise is intended to be your first exposure to the idea of rotating boxes freely in 3D space with no explicit vanishing points in frame, to introduce you to the challenge of it, and to show those who are familiar with more technical perspective drawing that this stuff can be very difficult. One of the issues I see is that your foreshortening is at times overly dramatic: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene. Some of your boxes also come out skewed at times (where the internal angles within the box are off).
Now, on the front of these organic perspective boxes, I'm going to recommend that when I mark this lesson as complete, you move onto the 250 box challenge. At that point, you should read through all of the notes on that challenge page, ESPECIALLY the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you get a fuller sense of how each box sits in 3D space, which will allow you to identify when your angles are off, and when your near planes are coming out smaller than your far planes.
BEFORE that, however, I want you to do one more page of the table of ellipses (draw through your ellipses, and draw them with a confident pace - don't wobble). I also then want you to do two pages of rough perspective boxes - do them in one point perspective, and when you're done go over them in that method I mentioned to check how far off your estimation is.
Lochabws
2016-07-08 23:33
Haha, awesome. That's exactly the kind of critique I was looking for, so thank you. You're very constructive with your critiquing, and I appreciate that. You say "brutal" and I say "fair". After all, this is why I am doing these lessons, right? I'm not perfect, but I want to be better.
I'm glad I didn't start the next lesson yet. I will work on the things you mentioned and will post here when done.
Thank you!
SidewalkSquirrel
2016-07-08 21:54
http://imgur.com/a/r5vmw First lesson homework. Thanks a lot for all the work you do on this site. I killed my pen on the first page and realised I was pressing way too hard. The Rotated Boxes exercise gave me an incredibly hard time so I just pushed through it. After I did the Organic Perspective Boxes and felt more comfortable with the boxes I went back and did one more page of the Rotated Boxes.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-09 19:03
You've generally done some pretty solid work here. You start off a little sloppy with your first page or super imposed lines, but you correct that by the next page. Ultimately, your lines and ellipses are well done. Your boxes are as well, for the most part. I do want to mention that in your rotated boxes, you've got some where you've drawn each box in its entirety, and others where you've clipped off boxes where they end up hidden behind a neighbour. I want to stress the importance of drawing each box completely, even if they are hidden by another. This exercise is very much about understanding how those boxes sit in 3D space, and how that changes as they rotate. You can't really get a sense for that if you only draw a box partially. Keep this in mind when you do this exercise in the future.
Your organic perspective boxes do have some issues, but you're doing better than my standard for this lesson. This exercise is just a first taste of the challenge of freely manipulating boxes in 3D space with no explicit vanishing points in frame to rely upon - I expect people to struggle considerably, and I don't expect them to conquer the challenge by the end of this lesson.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete. I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next, so you can get some more practice with the idea of manipulating boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on that page before starting the work, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This takes what I mentioned about the rotated boxes to its furthest extent, drawing even the lines on the hidden side of a box, so that the entire box is clearly defined. This helps you understand how it sits in space, and also emphasizes common mistakes, like near/far plane size relationships being reversed.
SidewalkSquirrel
2016-07-16 10:33
Thanks a lot for your critique. I already started working on the boxes challenge, however I'm facing some issues dealing with the proportions of the box. A lot of the times I intend on drawing a perfect cube from a specific angle and while I think that the perspective is fine and the lines are converging, the box still looks squashed. Like the size of the sides is not right. Do you have any tips on figuring out the proportions of the box? Or something that I should generally keep in mind? Is it simply due to lack of experience and I just need some time to get the hang of it?
Uncomfortable
2016-07-16 15:34
At this point, worrying about proportion is just going to complicate things - so your goal of making perfect cubes is going to distract you from the more important challenge of constructing solid forms with the correct angles.
There are ways to achieve specific proportions, but that is all outside of the realm of what I teach my students, because it involves a shift towards the more technical aspects to perspective. Our approach is more organic and approximate, to reduce the overhead that comes with plotting out all of your vanishing points and measuring points and whatnot.
What you should keep in mind in regards to proportion is that the first box in a scene - regardless of how it appears visually - can be used to determine how proportion works within that scene. Basically how things scale on different axes can vary considerably, based on the focal length of your scene, how you decide to use your vanishing points, etc. but it is all essentially summarized by the first box you draw. If that first box is a perfect cube, then every other box you draw has to adhere to it as a rule. Of course, using a very long, stretched box as your rule is going to result in a very weirdly distorted scene, but technically it'd still be correct. Still not something we'd want to use, though.
Long story short, don't worry about it. Just draw your boxes, and focus on making them appear solid and weighty.
SidewalkSquirrel
2016-07-19 06:25
Thanks a lot for your feedback. It is a lot easier to understand when I tackle one issue at a time. I appreciate all the work and time you put into this.
slavingia
2016-07-09 22:02
This is such a phenomenal resource. Here's the first lesson's homework. Can we all just live in 2D?
http://imgur.com/a/OjEXU
Uncomfortable
2016-07-10 17:44
There's one thing that stands out to me in the quality of your linework - this isn't entirely abnormal or uncommon, especially for a beginner, but it is something to be aware of. Right now your lines are very static and uniform. The same line weight all the way through.
As you practice, one thing you should try is to taper your strokes a little bit at the beginning and end. You can do this by applying just a little bit less pressure to your pen as you make contact with the page, and a little less pressure as you lift your pen up. This will add just a touch of dynamism and life to your lines.
This can also happen if you're simply drawing too small. I can't really tell what scale you're working at or what size your paper is, so I can't say if this is the case. That said, if your drawings are too small, your pen tip will be significantly larger relative to the drawing size, resulting in very thick-looking, clunky lines.
Another thing I see is that your lines - especially your ghosted lines - tend to wobble a bit. This lines up with the previous issue, as they both likely come from drawing too slow-and-steady, instead of drawing confidently after taking the time to plan and apply the whole ghosting preparation method.
Looking at your super imposed lines in particular, I noticed that when it comes to your straight lines, you only really played with one (relatively short) length of line, not even trying to venture into anything more challenging. Those longer lines are harder, and you will screw them up - but that's part of practicing. You're going to fail, and given that you stick with it and don't give up, you're going to fail a LOT. Failure is your friend here, as it is a necessary part of the process required to improve. You also seem to avoid longer lines in your ghosted lines exercise.
I noticed that you didn't draw through your ellipses-in-planes exercises, but I'm glad to see that you did for the other ellipse exercises. These look reasonably good.
Jumping ahead to your rough perspective boxes, there's two things I'd like to note. First of all, the angles of your horizontals and verticals seem to be a bit all over the place. This may be due to a lack of understanding of how those lines should behave (in which case, read this: Guessing, Instead of Knowing), or it may be because you're not putting enough time and effort into applying the various steps of the ghosting method - that is, identifying where you want your line to go (and putting down points to mark the start/end), ghosting through the drawing motion to build up muscle memory, and finally executing with a smooth, confident stroke just fast enough to keep your brain from micromanaging and attempting to course-correct as you draw. My guess is that it's a combination of the two.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that it's important that you go over your completed rough perspective work as described here, to double check the accuracy of the estimation of your perspective: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
Your rotated boxes are alright, but keep in mind that you should not be trying to correct your mistakes by drawing new lines on top of them. This only results in a bigger mess, and draws the viewer's attention to your blunder. If you make a mistake, try and see if you can incorporate it into your drawing (not really an option in most of these early exercises), or just leave it be and keep going.
Lastly, your organic perspective boxes are definitely rather rough. Your first page is alright, the second shows a considerable amount of struggling with understanding how the boxes sit in 3D space. This is completely normal, and you are by no means expected to really have a solid grasp on the challenges of this exercise by the end of this lesson. It's really just intended to be a first introduction to the concept of rotating a box arbitrarily in 3D space with no explicit vanishing points in frame to rely upon.
Now, it's clear that you do have a lot to improve upon, but I am going to mark this lesson as complete. I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will give you the opportunity to both work on your arbitrarily rotated box constructions (like the organic perspective exercise), while also allowing you to practice your application of the ghosting method and work on reducing the uniformity of your lines. Be absolutely sure to read through all of the notes on the challenge page before starting the work - especially the tip about drawing through your forms, as this will greatly impact your ability to understand how each box sits in 3D space, and will make certain common mistakes much more obvious to you (so you know to correct them as you move forwards).
slavingia
2016-07-11 00:28
Thank you for the amount of feedback you provide. It is absolutely appreciated. I will move onto the 250 box challenge after I go through and apply all of your notes to new rounds of this exercise first.
Thanks again.
[deleted]
2016-07-10 04:41
[deleted]
Uncomfortable
2016-07-10 18:46
Pretty well done! There's a couple issues but they're all fairly common and will be ironed out in time.
Firstly, with your funnels, there's two things I want to stress about this exercise. First off, make sure all of your ellipses are aligned to the minor axis - that is, the line running down the center. The minor axis should cut each ellipse into two equal symmetrical halves. Secondly, you missed the part of the exercise where the ellipses should decrease in degree as they reach the center of the funnel. Basically, they should be getting skinnier as they reach the center.
Next, a strong recommendation - after completing the rough perspective work, go over your completed homework as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This helps you identify where your estimation of perspective is off.
Next, your rotated boxes are alright (although the corner boxes tend to get skewed), and your organic perspective boxes are a little bit all over the place. None of this is surprising, or below my expectations - both of these exercises are only intended to introduce you to the challenge of constructing boxes arbitrarily rotated in 3D space with no explicit vanishing points in frame. You're more or less expected to have a lot of difficulty.
So, I am going to mark this lesson as complete. I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more practice with the boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms - it's this in particular which will help you get a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space. Also, when you go through the challenge, be mindful of applying the ghosting method to your lines. If you compare the lines you drew in your ghosting exercise, and those drawn for your organic perspective boxes, you'll notice that the latter are considerably wavier than the former.
feedmewithcolors
2016-07-10 08:59
Hi! I realized that drawing something as basic as a line needs concentration. As soon as my brain goes in automatic mode my lines and ellipses went off track. The hardest part was the freehand rotated boxes, i over analysed it and couldnt find the "formula" for it. I let it be for a couple of days and then gave the organic boxes a try, it felt easier to just "imagine" them on the paper and then just draw, instead of thinking of where the HL should go, which side should get longer, shorter and so on. Oh, and Im happy to say I am not afraid of using felt tip pens anymore! \o/
Homework-lesson1
siahman
2016-07-10 14:32
So I'm very new to reddit and want to make sure my homework posted lol I don't see it when I look on this page but if I go to my inbox thing when I click my profile it shows my post lol if someone could just help me out a tad lol I would be very grateful
:)
Mechanizoid
2016-07-11 03:06
Don't worry, your homework is probably just somewhere down below in the hundreds of submissions this post Uncomfortable gets. When I post my homework, I almost never see it after it has posted, but Uncomfortable still finds it anyway. I'm sure you could find your post, but you'd have to scroll down a very long way.
Just don't worry about it. If Uncomfortable hasn't gotten back to you in a few days, then your post may have been lost. Then just post again, mentioning that you tried earlier and it didn't seem to work. :-) No biggie!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-10 19:05
Very nice work! Your lines and ellipses are solid. For your rough perspective boxes, I recommend that upon finishing the exercise, you go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will help you identify areas where your estimation of perspective is weaker, so you know where to focus the next time you attempt the exercise.
Also, your experience with the rotated/organic perspective boxes is right on point - the whole point of those two exercises is to rip you away from the "formula" manner of thinking. It requires a good deal of failure and struggle, but you have to force yourself to push the rules into the back of your mind (they're still relevant, but not at the forefront) and just try to jump into the deep end of wrapping your head around 3D space.
Now, your organic perspective boxes do need work, but you've made good progress. These two exercises are really just the first exposure to the challenge of rotating these boxes in space, and you're not expected to nail them just yet.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read through the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This will help you get a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, and will highlight common mistakes, like where your far plane ends up larger than your near plane.
feedmewithcolors
2016-07-11 11:04
Thank you very very much for your feedback! and so fast :D I did the "Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point", it was quite rare that the lines would actually hit the VP :O
hahto1
2016-07-11 09:01
Here is my homework
I had some problems with the rotated box, i can imagine in my mind, but when i started drawing, i messed up.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-11 14:03
I have some bad news for you - you did all of the homework in pencil, and it's pointed out in the homework sections of Lesson 1 that you must complete the exercises in the required media if you want to receive a critique. You can read about why I insist people work in ink (ideally felt tip pens although I allow ballpoint for lessons 1 and 2) in this article.
Whitehills
2016-07-11 19:25
I tried, but I really don't like the rotated boxes exercise. Anyways, here it is.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-11 23:05
Overall you did okay, but there's one fundamental issue I can see through all of your work - your lines wobble. This is a fairly common problem that comes from drawing slow-and-steady, rather than taking the time to prepare by applying the ghosting method, and then ultimately executing each independent mark with a confident pace that keeps your brain from being able to course-correct as you draw. I talk about this in this comic as well as numerous places on the self critique resources page. This issue impacts lines, ellipses and ultimately boxes as well.
Jumping ahead to your boxes, I noticed that your application of hatching lines for shading is really very sloppy. While I get that it's easy to consider those lines as being less important than the rest, the quality of your presentation will be judged by the mark into which was invested the least thought and consideration. To put it simply, don't half-ass things.
The rotated and organic perspective exercises are generally very challenging, and they are for just about everyone. It makes a lot of sense that you'd not like it (although your fondness for a given exercise is entirely irrelevant) - these two exercises in particular were added here specifically to expose you to a very difficult concept: the construction of boxes that have been rotated arbitrarily in 3D space without any explicit vanishing points in frame to rely upon. Long story short, it's hard, and you're not expected to nail it just yet. It's just the first taste.
Now, I am going to mark this lesson as complete. I want you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Here you will be able to deal with the things you struggled with in this lesson - specifically applying the ghosting method to each and every line to achieve straight and smooth strokes, and learning how to get your head around arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. It's this in particular that will help you get a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
_zionus_
2016-07-11 20:37
Hello, I'm new to Drawabox and have been on and off drawing for years now. I initially tried just learning by practicing gestures every day, but after a brief encounter with /ic/, some folks told me I'm trying for something too difficult at my level. So looking around, I found some links and resources and among them was this site. I like drawabox becuase it clearly sets out the goals and even gives me exercises and a way to get it critiqued by the author, which I love. The biggest thing I always felt I needed was proper feedback, which is actually hard to come by.
Anyways, on to the lesson: http://imgur.com/a/F4HPf Here is my attempt at lesson 1. I know its nowhere near good (actually its probably pretty awful) and I have alot of work to do, but I felt that posting it here and getting a direction on where to go, rather than retrying the assignment over and over again aimlessly is better.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-11 23:27
One problem that I'm noticing a lot of is that your lines tend to wobble a little. I talk about this issue in this comic as well as here (in regards to superimposed lines), here (in regards to ellipses) and here (in regards to ellipses in planes). Read them all.
Jumping ahead to your rough perspective boxes, here and there you have a lot of weirdness going on, though it's interspersed amongst fairly solid boxes. I think more than anything, it comes from you getting bored and trying to make the exercise more interesting (at least, that is definitely the case with the first page where you've deviated from just drawing boxes, tried slanting boxes, etc.) I talk about this in red at the beginning of the lesson - follow my instructions to a tee, don't try and change things up. The exercises are meant to be boring, and when you try and complicate things, you end up distracting yourself from what I want you to be practicing.
Seeing some of the wackier boxes on the second page of rough perspective boxes makes me want to get you to read this blurb about the three specific behaviours any given line in one point perspective MUST follow: Guessing, Instead of Knowing. When you don't know how a line should behave, most people will just guess and hope for the best. Instead, you should stop and think, as there are simple rules that govern all of this.
Also, you should go over your completed rough perspective boxes work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. The nature of the exercise leads to the inevitable result of a lot of our lines not quite being aligned to the vanishing point. Going over your homework like this will help you identify where your estimation is at its weakest.
Your rotated boxes are alright (as far as what I expect to see for this lesson), but there are two significant issues. First off, you shouldn't be extending your boxes so far. All of the boxes should be roughly similar in size, so there's no rationalizing having them get significantly longer as they turn in space. Secondly, one thing I'm noticing is that you only really turned your boxes about 45 degrees either way. It's normal for one's mind to fight against the rotation, and cause you to rotate in smaller amounts with each box. One way to get around this is to draw your central box, and then draw each of the extremities (top, far left, far right, bottom) as 90 degree rotations of the center (they're all easy to draw, since they're seen straight on from the side). Then it's just a matter of filling in the rest. Since the rotations are already set, you're kind of forced to fill in the ranges of 90 degrees.
Now, the rotated and organic perspective box exercises aren't intended to come out perfect - or even close. They're just the first taste of the challenges involved in constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes in 3D space. This stuff is hard, and you're expected to struggle a lot, and are by no means intended to nail it by the end of this lesson. We'll get to ironing these issues out.
First, however, I want you to redo the rough perspective boxes, and submit another 2 pages of it to me. Once that's completed, and assuming you've improved after reading through my critique and the resources I've linked you to, I'll mark this lesson as complete. Once I've done that, I want you to move onto the 250 box challenge where you can work further on getting that wobble out of your lines, while also working on your construction of arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you gain a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space, and will help you identify common issues such as your far planes being larger than your near planes.
_zionus_
2016-07-12 03:13
Thank you. I will get on that when I begin my next practice session. I have a question though: I have asked other people and friends who do artistic stuff, either drawing or painting or whatever. I asked them if I should devote my time to doing the practice and avoid doing my own drawings and sketching for fun, just incase it will taint my experience. They said no, I should continue drawing for fun as well as do the lessons and practice. I know it may seem like a silly thing to ask, but I was wondering how you weigh in on this. If im learning, should I focus on my lessons and practice, or can I draw for fun after I practice?
Uncomfortable
2016-07-12 12:35
Just doing exercises would be totally absurd, to be honest. You'd burn out long before you got anywhere. The important thing, however, is that when you do the exercises, you put your full focus towards following the instructions to a tee. People have a tendency of getting sloppy, glazing over things, or just skimming and expecting that they understand everything that I ask of them. As long as you follow the instructions, and continue to do the early exercises as warmups, you should be able to avoid letting any particularly foul habits set in.
_zionus_
2016-07-13 02:12
Ok, so I redid the Rough Perspective boxes. I took more time to ghost through the motions and figure out my lines. I notice that sometimes, I kinda forget to do that and let the motions go forward, but that is not common. Another problem I notice myself having is that when trying to plot the line from a long distance away from the vanishing point, I have trouble actually imagining the line and it becomes harder to draw. I also have trouble drawing at very low angles, like when trying to draw the tops or bottoms of the boxes, depending on its position to the vanishing point.
Lastly, this may just be my unsteady hand, trying to work itself out and build the muscle memory and steadiness of drawing, but sometimes Ill be drawing a straight line and then it will just dart off at an angle, like I slipped. I don't think this is my brain trying to autocorrect cause its so far off. Maybe I'm just pushing too hard on the pen.
Anyways, here: http://imgur.com/a/2nxSl this is my second attempt.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-13 18:42
The issues you mentioned are problems everyone faces with this exercise. When going over their completed homework (which you don't seem to have done for this latest set), students are meant to identify the mistakes where their lines don't line up with the vanishing point. It's inevitable, because of the nature of the exercise (relying entirely on estimation and visualization). You're meant to fail a lot, and continue to do so, gradually failing less and less over time.
Your new set looks good, so I'll mark this lesson as complete. Make sure you go over your completed work as I mentioned, and then go onto the 250 box challenge.
jmnava
2016-07-12 11:27
Hello! This was my first time drawing in a very long time, and boy I'd like to say this lesson was surprisingly VERY HARD. There were a few times where I got very frustrated when drawing the rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes. It took me a while to complete all these assignments because I would end up giving up and I would just start practicing my lines and ellipses. But I am very happy that I didn't completely give up and managed to finished everything.
Anyway here are my results (sorry about the quality):
http://imgur.com/a/DUPQQ
Thank you so much for providing these free lessons!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-12 19:48
Pretty solid work! You've done a great job across the board - your lines are smooth and straight, your ellipses are even and confident, and your boxes demonstrate a reasonably good sense of space. I'm glad to see that you applied the double-checking method to your rough perspective boxes, and in general, your rotated boxes are actually quite well done (despite your struggles).
At the end of the day, the rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes are intended to be perhaps overly difficult - they represent the first exposure to the challenges of constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes in 3D space, something that you are not expected to fully grasp by the end of this lesson.
As I mentioned, you did a good job with your rotated boxes. Your organic perspective boxes are somewhat weaker, but still at or slightly above where I'd hope them to be for this lesson. One issue that I am seeing across the board with this particular exercise is that you tend to apply more dramatic foreshortening (the rate at which the far end of the box gets smaller than the near end) than you should, resulting in the scene looking somewhat awkward and not as cohesive as we'd like. I talk about this more here: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene.
I'll be marking this lesson as complete. One thing you may want to do (though I'm not making this mandatory for you) is the 250 box challenge. At the very least though, I insist that you read through the notes on that page, focusing especially on the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach will seriously improve your understanding of how each box sits in 3D space, which is often the key to improving one's construction of these freely manipulated forms.
Feel free to move onto lesson 2 when you're ready.
jmnava
2016-07-13 00:17
Yeah I was having a hard time imagining the rotations of the boxes for my organic perspective assignment. I felt like I was repeated the same rotated boxes over and over again. So I wanted to have more variety in my boxes so I would draw an initial line for an edge of a box before even thinking about it in my head. I think this caused my boxes to look very weird and inconsistent.
ferminev
2016-07-13 04:48
Hi Uncomfortable! I gave the first lesson a try thinking it would be easier than it actually was. Got a little messed up with the rotated boxes. Anyway, I
went trough the self critique notes and I tried (and failed) to avoid those mistakes, but I still feel like I need some feedback and direction from you, so here it is, my attempt at lesson 1: https://imgur.com/a/MhoZc
I used a ballpoint pen because I wanted to start right away and not procrastinate it, and that was what I had in my house (same thing with the sheets).
Also, I really liked your portfolio. I hope I can draw and paint like that someday. Very inspiring.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-13 18:51
Pretty well done. I'm not looking for perfect work - what I'm looking for are signs that you understand what you should be aiming for with each exercise, so that you can continue to practice them on your own while moving through the lessons.
There are just a couple things I want to point out. Firstly, this doesn't exactly relate to your lessons, but I noticed that when going over your completed rough perpsective boxes, you used broken lines to plot the lines back to the horizon. In this particular case, since you used a ruler, it's not really an issue. For any other purposes however, especially when freehand-drawing a line, you should absolutely avoid using any sort of broken lines. As soon as a line is broken, you will not be able to recover its initial flow, so its direction will inevitably shift a little bit. So when people draw through forms (which will be important in a little bit), those who do so with broken lines end up experiencing more problems than those who do so with solid lines. Just something to keep in mind.
Next, your rotated boxes are pretty good. It's clear that you struggled, and everyone does - part of the point of this exercise as well as the organic perspective one to give you the first taste of a very challenging subject. That is, the manipulation and construction of freely rotated boxes in 3D space. It's very hard, and you are not expected to nail it by the end of this lesson (or even come close).
Generally you're approaching the exercise well, but there is one thing I want to point out on that front - your horizontal boxes (from left to right) don't rotate enough. You reach roughly a 45 degree rotation relative to the center box to either side, when you should be aiming for a full 90 degree rotation. You get somewhat closer when doing your vertical rotations.
This is fairly normal - when allowed, your brain will fight against rotating these forms, because it wants to work on a solid, easily-understood grid. The way to avoid this is to draw your center box, then draw all of the extremities (far top, far bottom, far left, far right). Each of these will be a full 90 degree rotation, so it's going to be fairly easy to draw - you'll be looking at its side face dead on. Next, you can fill in the gaps between the extremities and the center. Since your 'rotation goal' is made fairly clear and is unavoidable, you're forced into tackling larger intervals of rotation to fill those gaps in.
Lastly, your organic perspective boxes aren't bad. As far as my expectations are concerned, you're doing better than many have upon reaching this point. There is plenty of room to improve, of course. So I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, and ask you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, ultimately allowing you to get more comfortable with rotating them, and identifying your own mistakes.
ferminev
2016-07-13 20:52
Great! Thank you very much for taking time to help us beginners. I will get on with the challenge as soon as I can.
[deleted]
2016-07-13 05:02
[deleted]
Uncomfortable
2016-07-13 19:00
Generally well done. I do get a slight overall sense that you don't think or plan quite as much as you should before putting down a mark, but in general you did a fairly decent job. Here's a few things to keep in mind:
Superimposed Lines: Fraying/Separation on Both Ends
As I mentioned, not preparing enough before drawing each mark. Lines don't wobble, so your pace is fairly confident, but without taking the time to apply the ghosting method and build up a quick bit of muscle memory, your lines aren't entirely straight much of the time. Work on that ghosting method. It's time consuming, but it builds good habits and is absolutely worth it.
In your rotated and organic perspective boxes, I do get the sense that again, you're drawing without thinking things through. Drawing these freely rotated boxes requires you to really consider how they sit in 3D space. You've managed a decent job of it, but none of the boxes are really spot on, just roughly there, like a loose approximate sketch.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge, both to practice thinking more and preparing more before you draw, and also to get more general practice with constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on that page before starting the work, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you get a more solid sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
mrlao
2016-07-13 17:49
Hi!
I started your lessons about a year ago but I kinda lost speed around lesson 4. I've decided to give it another go so this is my new take on lesson 1.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ytqkercrryb4tc1/AADVSZm8lfGCVo3NgIPIJCqta?dl=0
I actually skipped the plotted perspective exercise this time, I hope that's ok. If not, just tell me and I'll do that exercise as well.
The rotating boxes was REALLY hard!
Old lesson for comparison: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bjhug7lhvmjydo6/AAAX2R7XlbtAEjTGUGIY3AAJa?dl=0
Thanks again for your excellent work!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-13 19:14
Very nice work! I'm always a big supporter of going back to lesson 1 if you've let things go for too long. A lot of people, when they do that, find that they've forgotten big chunks, but it seems that your work's still going strong. Your lines are straight and smooth, your ellipses are tight and confident, and your boxes generally demonstrate a solid grasp of 3D space.
There's only one part that I'm not 100% happy with, and that's your rough perspective boxes. Where your other exercises are very exact and well thought out, the angles of these lines are a little bit off here and there. The main thing to keep in mind is that in one point perspective, every line follows one of three possible behaviours. It's fairly common for people to get a little frazzled and feel the need to guess as to how a line should be angled, but the solution is instead to just step back and think about it for a second.
Assuming that all of the boxes run parallel to the ground plane, All your horizontals run parallel to the horizon and your verticals run perfectly perpendicular to it. All the lines that go off into the distance converge towards the vanishing point (this one's obvious). In your rough perspective boxes, I see your horizontals slanting slightly, and the same goes for your rough perspective boxes. From the looks of it, it's somewhere in between your not fully grasping those behaviour-rules, and you just not ghosting enough or being particularly warmed-up (resulting in you knowing where you want the lines to go, but the lines not cooperating). Anyway, definitely something to keep in mind.
Anyway, your work's generally solid, so feel free to move onto the next lesson. Also, since it's probably been a good while since you were last at this point, I definitely encourage you to read over the notes on the 250 box challenge page. You don't need to do the work, since your sense of space is fairly solid already, but the tip about "drawing through your forms" is one that generally helps a lot of people really solidify that grasp of form and how the boxes sit in space. Also, the notes on the 250 cylinder challenge page are also worth reading, since I don't really cover elsewhere how to tackle constructing them.
Oh, and I hope you don't mind - since you're starting from scratch, I've cleared off your flair badge progress, so you can start with a fresh slate.
Mnemneme
2016-07-13 19:20
Hi Uncomfortable! This is actually my second time going through these exercises. I went through lesson 1 as well as the 250 box challenge in pencil earlier this week (didn't have immediate access to a felt tip pen and wasn't intending to submit for critique). After starting in on lesson 2 and looking at some of the other material I decided that having access to your critiques going forward could be very valuable, so I decided to go back and complete this lesson in the proper medium, and from the look of things the additional practice was probably necessary. Despite doing the 250 box challenge I found that I still struggled with the rotated boxes exercise, although I think it started to click somewhat after a few failed attempts (still far from perfect of course).
Please don't hold back in your critique. I'm here to learn so the more issues I am aware of the better (=. One thing that often trips me up is figuring out a good relationship between the angles of the different planes of the boxes. In some cases, particularly in the rotated boxes exercise, I find that some boxes which are intended to be cubes viewed from a close to head-on perspective come out looking rather flat. Hopefully I will gain a sense for this with more practice (or maybe some Scott Robertson).
http://imgur.com/a/rczqH
Thank you so much for creating such an awesome website and taking the time to do these critiques. I really appreciate it.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-14 23:10
Generally good work. Your lines are smooth and straight, ellipses are confident and even, and while you did struggle with those last two exercises (which is totally expected) you did a pretty good job with your boxes.
Moving forwards, you'll want to keep working in your accuracy with your ellipses (although the smoothness you're achieving is still the top priority, so if you find that faltering in the name of being more accurate, go back to focusing on keeping things confident and smooth). Also, take a look at this: Draw Through your Forms. This particular approach should help you get a better sense of how your boxes sit in 3D space, which is key to being able to manipulate and rotate them freely.
Anyway, feel free to move onto the next lesson when you feel ready. Keep up the good work.
Myrinia
2016-07-14 01:58
Hi uncomfortable.
I've never really drawn much before - and I was wondering if this is an acceptable place to start? I already began lines homework.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-14 02:00
Yes, these lessons are targeted both at those who are complete beginners, and those who have experience but are self-taught, and therefore have holes in their fundamentals. For both groups, the remedy is the same - to go back to the beginning and build their foundation from the ground up.
Myrinia
2016-07-14 02:02
Ok, please give me any feedback you can (once I upload). Your art is beautiful. I would love to attend Design School, where you attended. But unfortunately I live in New Zealand. :<
thank you for all your help in the art community.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-14 02:04
As long as you complete the homework with the necessary requirements (outlined in the homework sections, in regards to quantity and tools used) you're welcome to submit your work for critique.
Myrinia
2016-07-14 02:31
is it ok to divide an a3 pad into 2 for not..massive homework samples?
Uncomfortable
2016-07-14 02:32
Yes, that's fine.
Myrinia
2016-07-14 03:16
Ok, I have a potato camera, I am sorry.
I did the Line parts of the homework and am waiting for my flatmates better camera to attach the planes as my potato camera blurs like crazy on them
http://imgur.com/a/aZgEY
Uncomfortable
2016-07-14 03:30
I don't give critiques until you complete all sections of a given lesson. Like I said, the requirements are written there in the homework sections.
Myrinia
2016-07-14 03:44
i'll let you know when the rest of the lesson is in the album then. uploading it now. sorry for poor quality
Milkshapes
2016-07-14 06:27
Lesson 1 done! This is my first time using Reddit and imgur so hopefully I'm posting and uploading things the right way. Thanks for the great lesson content, this first lesson alone has been really helpful.
http://imgur.com/a/o3Pc9
Uncomfortable
2016-07-14 23:39
Pretty good work. Your lines and boxes are fairly well done - the main thing that you need to work on are your ellipses. Specifically, yours are a little stiff and wobbly, as you are making the common mistake of focusing too much on your accuracy, to the detriment of the general flow and evenness of their shapes. This generally comes from drawing the ellipses more slow-and-steady, rather than with a confident pace.
I talk about this issue in a few places:
http://drawabox.com/comic/1
Stiff or Wobbly Ellipses
Stiff, Uneven Ellipses
One recommendation I have, in regards to your rough perspective boxes (which were generally done quite well) is to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. Due to the nature of the exercise, we estimate and approximate our perspective, so it's inevitable that it'll be off a fair bit. This helps you identify where you tend to be weaker, so you can tweak your approach to reduce those mistakes.
Lastly, I'd like you to give this a read: Draw Through your Forms. This isn't something that was included in the lesson, so you weren't expected to apply it - it's just an approach that I believe will help you as you move forwards. It will help you gain a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space, which is key to understanding how to rotate and manipulate these forms.
Anyway, I'll be marking this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the next one when you feel ready.
TM_WE
2016-07-14 20:24
Hello Uncomfortable,
For the superimposed lines I ran between 4-8 lines.
Lesson 1
Thank you for putting this all on the web, it's all very helpful stuff!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-14 23:49
Nice work. Generally you draw with a lot of confidence, which keeps your lines straight and your ellipses smooth and even. Your sense of space is also fairly well developed, which shows with your boxes.
One thing I have noticed though is that you tend to 'shoot from the hip' in a sense - that is, I don't see a whole lot of thought and planning behind each line, and after you draw a mark, I see signs of you reinforcing them reflexively (in a way that comes more from a need to mask mistakes, rather than attempting to add more lineweight). It's a common issue, especially with those who've been drawing for a while and are largely self taught.
As you move ahead, try to hold yourself back. It's all the more important that you apply the ghosting method - that is, the three step process that requires you to think and prepare before every stroke. It's long, it's tedious, and it's going to make you feel like you want to jump out of your skin, but if you stick with it you'll develop strong habits that will in the future merge with your confidence to produce clean precision.
Here's a couple points I think you should read through:
Fraying/Separation on Both Ends
Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point
Also, while I'm not going to absolutely require you to do this, I strongly encourage you to take a look at the 250 box challenge. It's the perfect, painfully tedious exercise for you to work on holding yourself back and sorting out your habits.
Anyway, consider this lesson complete!
broegger544
2016-07-16 10:17
Been meaning to post this for a while now. Hopefully the image quality is good enough to see what's going on. :-)
http://imgur.com/a/opSmR
Regarding pencils and pens - would you recommend always using a pen for the outlines/sketches and whatnot, or would a pencil be acceptable? Sometimes it seems to get a bit crowded when using only a pen.
Oh, and thanks for the great lesson, really helpful stuff!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-16 22:08
Generally your work is pretty well done, though I am catching a little bit of a wobble in your linework, so you should continue to work on achieving a confident pace after taking the time to apply the preparation techniques of the ghosting method. You're doing reasonably well at it, but there's a little tweaking to your pace that needs to be done in order to achieve truly smooth lines. This goes both for straight lines and ellipses.
Next, the hatching lines you used in your rough perspective boxes is sloppy. Draw consistent, parallel lines that stretch all the way across the planes from edge to edge. Nothing falling short.
Lastly, your organic perspective boxes are coming along well, though there is plenty of room for growth here. This exercise was primarily included as a first taste of this sort of challenge, so this is entirely expected.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read through the notes on the challenge page before starting the work, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach will help you gain a more solid sense of how each box sits in 3D space, which should help inform your constructions.
As for your question - if the lesson's homework section says to use a tool, then that is the tool you must use if you wish to submit for a critique, no exceptions. Lessons 1-7 specifically require ink (ballpoint is allowed for lessons 1 and 2, though felt tip is preferred, and required for 3-7), and later lessons aren't quite so firm in their requirements. Now, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by outlines/sketches, but in principle the construction methodology doesn't work with loose, rough or approximate sketches at all, in case that's what you're referring to.
broegger544
2016-07-17 06:17
That does answer my question, even if the question itself was a bit confusing. Thanks a lot. =)
No_But_A_Tin_Can
2016-07-16 17:53
Hey there Uncomfortable, here is my first submission for Lesson 1. I did a few extra on the ones I've been struggling on, still struggling but hopefully less so with each iteration. I'll keep at them for now though I figure it's about time to submit!
Here is the link
Thanks for putting this up and doing this for all of us. I'm going the self-taught route and your tutorials really make it easier to see the tangible results of practice, and your explanations for each exercise kinda helps with the confidence in knowing I'm not just flailing around in the Internet's infinite resource bucket for Beginner's Drawing.
Anyways, thanks again!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-16 22:38
Not bad, but I've got a couple of suggestions.
Firstly, your lines are well done, but your ellipses feel a little stiff and wobbly. I talk about this issue in a few places, and I'll list them below, but essentially it's a matter of balancing putting all of your time into applying the ghosting method's preparation techniques to build up muscle memory on the spot, and then executing with a swift, confident stroke. It can be difficult to find the right balance, and it does look like you're moving in the right direction, but right now it appears that in certain areas your ellipses are showing signs of course-correction while drawing.
The extra notes and resources on the issue can be read here:
http://drawabox.com/comic/1
Stiff or Wobbly Ellipses
Stiff, Uneven Ellipses
Also, it helps to always remember that in exercises such as the funnels, the minor axis line should be cutting your ellipses into two equal, symmetrical halves down its narrower axis.
Next, I strongly recommend that you go over your completed rough perspective boxes exercises as described here to help identify areas where your estimation is at its weakest: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
Additionally, your application of hatching lines is rather sloppy. Try to maintain consistent, parallel lines that go all the way from edge to edge.
Lastly, you clearly struggled with your rotated and organic perspective boxes, but this is completely normal, expected and intentional. These exercises mark only your first dance with this particular challenge, and you are by no means expected to nail it by the end of this lesson.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more familiar with constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. It's this approach that will help you gain a stronger sense of how each box sits in space, which will ultimately help inform your decisions as you draw them, and will also highlight any mistakes such as those where your far planes end up larger than your near planes.
_Raskolnikov
2016-07-19 22:19
This was trickier than expected, let me know what you think.
http://imgur.com/a/wzaSX
Uncomfortable
2016-07-20 19:24
You certainly do have some things to work on. Your lines are generally okay (plenty of room to improve on keeping your lines straight and smooth, but you're moving in the right direction). Your ellipses vary depending on the exercise. Your table of ellipses are generally fine, though your ellipses in planes are very awkward and stiff. Remember to maintain a confident pace when drawing, and compensate for the inevitable decrease in accuracy that causes by investing more time into applying the ghosting method and preparing beforehand.
If anything, your boxes show me that you didn't read the instructions as carefully as you could have.
You're Not Framing Compositions
You could stand to put more effort/time into applying the ghosting method to each and every line you draw
In your rough perspective boxes, your horizontals and verticals need to be parallel and perpendicular to the horizon respectively. Read this for more information: Guessing, Instead of Knowing
Also about the rough perspective boxes, it helps a lot to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point
You've got a decent start with your rotated boxes. The thing about this exercise and the organic perspective one is that I've included them with the full expectation that people will struggle with them. It's just the first exposure you get to the challenge of constructing and manipulating rotated boxes in 3D space without any explicit vanishing points in frame. You're not at all expected to nail it by the end of this lesson. So, your general sense of how the boxes should be formed and how they should sit in space is one thing. Another thing entirely is the quality of your linework.
Apply the ghosting method to every line
If you make a mistake, don't draw another mark on top to correct it. Leave it be, otherwise you'll draw more attention to your mistake.
Now, before I mark this lesson as complete, I want you to do another two pages of rough perspective boxes, taking what I've mentioned here into consideration. Submit that to me, and I'll mark the lesson as complete.
Then I want you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to work on your construction of arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space, and will also highlight certain key mistakes, such as your near/far plane size relationships being reversed (which you're doing a lot).
Frajic
2016-07-20 23:14
Whew, it's late in the evening and I finally made it through the last exercise. Here's all my homework for lesson 1!
I started out with the ballpoint pen I had at home, but decided to buy a cheap felt-tip pen about halfway through, which I don't regret. Since I don't have much prior experience, I felt much more confident and accurate after a few days, which is why I went back and re-did the ellipses exercise I was unhappy with. A couple of things I realized in hindsight I did somewhat sloppy, like the hatching lines, and lots of things about the last box exercise - specifically the frames and especially the composition. I don't quite understand what I'm aiming for with the composition, and how to approach it.
Thanks for making these lessons! I like to do structured learning, and practicing one bit at a time is less daunting and exhausting than doing full drawings while I'm a beginner.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-21 18:40
Overall you've done well, but there is one underlying issue that comes up across all of your work - you're impatient, and this causes you to be a bit sloppy. That said, your linework is confident, so it flows very well, and you have no wobbling to speak of, which is definitely good. The problem rises more when it comes to the question of accuracy - you don't quite take enough time before drawing a mark to think through where you want it to start and end, and generally how it should behave. Ultimately you're not using the ghosting method to its fullest, and are missing out on a lot of the benefits of taking your time with those first few steps.
Aside from that, you're doing well. As I mentioned, your lines are smooth and confident, and your sense of space is fairly strong. There are some issues with your rough perspective boxes, but this is primarily coming from sloppiness - where your lines should be perfectly parallel to the horizon (or perfectly perpendicular to it), they slant slightly.
Also, it's a good idea to go over your completed rough perspective work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
Lastly, if you want to work on your patience and application of the ghosting method, I strongly recommend that you tackle the 250 box challenge next. Whether you choose to or not, I do insist that you at least read through the notes on that page before moving on, it's got some helpful tips that will be valuable in later lessons.
I'll mark this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the next one when you're ready.
BowlPotato
2016-07-20 23:58
Lesson 1 Submission: https://imgur.com/a/sXj8x
Thanks for this great resource, and for your critique. I want to stick with this, so being held accountable helps.
I have some extra pages of exercises in there. I also had a slight ink shortage during the rotated boxes, although that doesn't hide the fact that it was the hardest exercise for me.
Thanks again.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-21 18:44
Nice work. Your line quality is smooth and confident, while maintaining a good sense of precision. Your ellipses are also fairly even, though I notice just a touch of stiffness that comes from drawing a liiiiittle bit too slow (and letting your brain drive the motion of your hand). This is almost negligible, so just keep it in mind and don't go too far to try and correct it. Simple awareness is often enough to change your subconscious behaviour in a positive way.
Skipping down to your rough perspective boxes, your use of hatching is a little sloppy - in the future, make sure your lines stretch all the way across the planes from edge to edge, rather than having them float in the middle. Also, it's a good idea to go over your completed work for this exercise as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
Lastly, your organic and rotated boxes are coming along well, though there's plenty of room for improvement. This is entirely expected and intended, as these exercises are merely your first exposure to the challenge of constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes in 3D space.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will give you the additional practice you need to really solidify your grasp of construction and space. Furthermore, be sure to read through the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular really gives you a strong sense of how each form sits in space, allowing you to get your head around it more easily while also emphasizing and highlighting your mistakes.
don_sardonis
2016-07-21 00:49
Phew, getting back into the swing of art and this lesson is a great resource! It's been helping me out a ton and I can already see myself getting better as I go along. Before starting this I would have had a very hard time drawing a straight line, and now I can feel myself getting better and better at it! I had a tough time with some of it (especially the wall of boxes in perspective) but I think overall this is pretty good!
Thanks for your time and thanks for all your hard work!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-21 14:55
Thanks for the kind words - but did you forget to include a link to a homework submission?
don_sardonis
2016-07-21 17:33
It was working the last time I saw it, but I guess something must have messed up. Here's the link again:
http://imgur.com/a/xYyHV
Uncomfortable
2016-07-21 18:47
Very nice work! Your lines are smooth, your ellipses are confident and your sense of space seems to be fairly well developed. One thing I do want to recommend in regards to the rough perspective boxes is that you go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. It helps to identify areas where your estimation of perspective is at its weakest, so you know where to focus your efforts when you attempt this exercise in the future.
Your organic perspective boxes are quite well done. This is intended to be a fairly challenging exercise that most struggle with immensely, but you've done a good job of it. As such, I'm not going to require you to do the 250 box challenge but I do encourage you to at least read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. It goes a long way to help you understand how each box sits in space.
Keep up the great work and consider this lesson complete!
a_toaster
2016-07-22 07:13
Hey there Uncomfortable. Here is my attempt at lesson 1:
http://imgur.com/a/erEmY
I am very new still so I am still a bit self-conscious about my line consistency, but I feel like I just need to start getting over it and just get it out there. Also I feel like I very much struggled with the rotating boxes and organic boxes exercises. Let me know what you think and thank you for taking the time for critiques!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-22 19:38
There's no need to be self-conscious. I fully understand that it's not entirely within your control, but consider that the expectation is for you to make mistakes, and then to reflect upon them and learn from them. Without mistakes, without embarrassment, there is no progress.
You've generally done quite well, but there's a couple things you'll want to work on as we move forwards.
Your ellipses are a touch on the stiff side. Work towards achieving a more confident pace when drawing, and always be sure to apply the ghosting method beforehand to build up that necessary muscle memory on the spot. Once you actually execute the mark, you want to do so quickly enough to keep your brain from trying to course-correct as you draw. Trust in your muscle memory and loosen the reins just a touch. Once you've managed to capture a degree of confidence, enough to achieve smooth, even ellipses, then you work on the second priority, which is regaining your accuracy and tightening the ellipses up. That always comes second.
Make sure you always apply the ghosting method when drawing your lines - in your rough perspective boxes (as well as your organic perspective boxes) I see some areas where you've fallen back to being a bit chicken scratchy with your lines. Every line should be executed with a single stroke, no more. Even if you make the one mark and it's gotten away from you a bit, don't correct it. Leave it be, otherwise you'll just draw more attention to it.
Also on the rough perspective boxes exercise, I encourage you to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will help you identify where your estimation of perspective is at its weakest, so you can consciously work on them the next time you attempt the exercise. Also, it would be a good idea to read over this as well, just in case you're not 100% sure about how your lines should behave in one point perspective: Guessing, Instead of Knowing.
Lastly, the rotated and organic perspective boxes were included as a first exposure to the idea of constructing and manipulating arbitrarily rotated boxes in 3D space, with no expectation of any significant successes. It's a very difficult challenge, and it takes everyone some time to become comfortable with it.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will give you the opportunity to dive deeper into the whole rotating boxes thing, while also allowing you to iron out the issues with your use of the ghosting method. Remember, no chicken scratching, one mark per line, etc. Also be sure to read through all of the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This method in particular should help you gain a better grasp of how each box sits in 3D space.
[deleted]
2016-07-23 21:18
[deleted]
Uncomfortable
2016-07-23 21:23
Looking pretty good! Keeping your elbow on the desk will function a bit like an anchor, and it's at a fairly key point so I'd advise against it. Having your wrist resting gently against the page can have a similar effect, but to a lesser degree - so as long as you're aware of it, you can consciously force yourself to lock your wrist and move your whole arm despite the drag.
Overall your form seems to be on point. Rotating your page a lot, locking your wrist, and ghosting consistently. Keep up the good work.
[deleted]
2016-07-24 05:56
For the "speed" part, I've learned watching Peter Han's video, that it is all relative to you.
Some people need to go slow to make a line that is straight, some people don't.
I am just pointing what Peter Han said, which is where this lesson one mostly comes from, at least the pages and pages of lines, ellipses and such.
ChildishGuy
2016-07-24 06:42
awesome sub thanks for all the help you provide, heres my lesson 1 https://imgur.com/a/Uk57b
Uncomfortable
2016-07-24 18:39
There's plenty of things that you'll need to work on, but identifying the weakspots is the first step to being able to fix them.
In your ghosted lines exercise, it does appear that you could do with spending a little more time on each individual one, specifically investing more time on the ghosting phase. Right now, your lines are arcing a little bit, and your accuracy could use some improvement. You may want to read these parts from the self critique resources: Overshooting, Arcing Lines.
For all of your ellipses, you completely missed the instruction about drawing through your ellipses. This is something I insist you do for every ellipse you draw for my lessons.
You're also demonstrating some fairly stiff and awkward ellipses - largely in part because you're not drawing through them, though this may also be worth reading: Stiff or Wobbly Ellipses, Stiff, Uneven Ellipses, and http://drawabox.com/comic/1
In your plotted perspective boxes, I noticed that your verticals slant at various angles fairly often - as this exercise is in two point perspective, it's imperative that your verticals be completely perpendicular to the horizon. Basically, they should go straight up and down, and not lean to either side.
Your rough perspective boxes need a lot of work. First off, you're Not Framing Compositions. Secondly, you don't appear to be entirely certain of how each line should behave. Because this is drawn in one point perspective, there are only three possible ways a line can behave, and you can figure out how a line should be drawn by simply stepping back and thinking. Instead, it appears that you're guessing a lot of the time. This is worth reading: Guessing, Instead of Knowing.
Another thing that would be very valuable is for you to go over your completed rough perspective boxes as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This would help you to identify areas where your estimation of perspective is at its weakest. At a glance, you're going to find that most, if not all of your lines are off by quite a bit.
Your rotated and organic perspective boxes certainly need work as well, though we'll deal with that separately - when I mark this lesson as complete, I'll as you to move onto the 250 box challenge where you'll be able to further practice those boxes, and where the notes - especially the tip about drawing through your forms - should give you additional help.
Before I mark this lesson as complete however, there are some things I'd like you to redo. Firstly, I'd like you to do the entire ellipses section over, as you did not read the instructions carefully enough, and missed a key point (drawing through your ellipses). Then I'd like you to do two more pages of rough perspective boxes.
The overall trend that I'm seeing is that you're eager to rush into the drawing, so you're not reading the instructions as carefully as you should, and you don't spend enough time thinking through each line you put down. The ghosting method in particular embodies this notion of thinking before you act, and it's imperative that you apply it to everything you draw.
ChildishGuy
2016-07-25 16:37
thanks for the advice, here is my redone ellipse section and rough perspective boxes https://imgur.com/a/Io4iM
Uncomfortable
2016-07-25 20:15
Much better. A few things to keep in mind:
You drew your funnels rather small - drawing smaller leaves you with very little room to think through how what you're drawing fits in space, so try to avoid making smaller, cramped drawings.
You seem to have forgotten to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. Please ensure that you do this, for your own sake.
I'll mark this lesson as complete, so go ahead and move onto the 250 box challenge.
WokioWolfy
2016-07-24 19:07
hey there Uncomfortable, im here wanting to show you here my exercises, here:
http://imgur.com/a/WNOLq
Though, i immediatelly gave up on making the cube because i was unable to make a straight line when doing them, they felt really bad, and i felt like an idiot for not being able to make it, it's the same with drawing the square, i couldn't do it, my hands, with the shoulder locked on, they couldn't stop being trembly, it sucks.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-24 20:08
I don't do critiques for incomplete homework, so you'll have to very least make an attempt at completing the remaining exercises to the best of your ability. That said, if you're struggling with wobbly lines, then it means you're not applying the ghosting method correctly, and should be spending more time on the preparation phase, and less time actually executing the line. This comic talks about the issue.
Remember that the first step of the ghosting method involves placing points where you want the line to start and end. If you lay down the corners of your boxes, you'll be able to focus only on the challenge of putting a line between two points, rather than worrying about the complexity of constructing a box. Breaking difficult challenges into smaller parts like this often makes them easier to overcome.
WokioWolfy
2016-07-24 20:26
ok, i'll try doing that, thx for the advice
aaichAsper
2016-07-25 02:09
Hi Uncomfortable, first I want to say thanks so much for the lessons. All the material you've put up is immensely appreciated!
I looked through the self-critique and caught a lot of mistakes I didn't realise I made. I've listed them in bullet points, but still would like to hear if you have any more to catch, or if you have any other comments on what I could work on.
http://imgur.com/a/BmUOL
lines exercises
Fraying on both ends (Thought I was being careful, but must slow down)
Automatic correcting of mistakes
Arching lines (will try to compensate the other way, like you said)
ellipses
Drawing through ellipses too much
Not aligning ellipses to the minor axis
boxes
Rough perspective boxes:Lines not lining up with vanishing point
in the last boxes exercise: Not using the ghosting method/correcting wrong lines
Uncomfortable
2016-07-25 19:47
The only thing I noticed that you haven't caught yourself is that in your rough perspective boxes, you have several horizontals that aren't running parallel to the horizon. That is, what I mention here: Guessing, Instead of Knowing. Aside from that and the things you pointed out yourself, you're doing a pretty solid job.
I do believe you'd benefit from trying the 250 box challenge next - your organic perspective boxes are about where I'd expect them to be, but your understanding of how to manipulate those boxes in 3D space could use some extra work. Be sure to read through the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This is also a good opportunity for you to practice applying the ghosting method to your lines, and to work on not automatically reinforcing or correcting your marks by reflex.
aaichAsper
2016-07-26 16:17
Okay, I see what you mean.
Sounds good! I'll do that. Thank you Uncomfortable! :)
SliceOfBlueCake
2016-07-25 08:54
My lesson 1:
http://imgur.com/a/boj7k
Finally finished this after doing this on and off due to the sheer hardness in my opinion of some of these exercises and me doing some of these over and over again until I can at least get some decent results and actually understand the lessons. Hope you can be as brutally honest as possible. Tell me if I need to redo some things. Cheers mate!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-25 20:06
For the most part you've done reasonably well, but there are a few things you can focus on:
Your ellipses are a bit stiff, especially when it comes to the ellipses in planes. I talk about this in general here: Stiff or Wobbly Ellipses, and in more specific terms about that ellipses in planes exercise here: Stiff, Uneven Ellipses.
Your rough perspective boxes are well done (though I strongly recommend not adding greater complexity to the exercises), but you should go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This helps identify areas of greater weakness so you know what to focus on when revisiting the exercise.
Drawing your rotated boxes exercise as small and as cramped as you did wasn't really a great idea. It leaves you with very little room to think through the spatial problems, and as you've done it, doesn't really teach you a whole lot about the rotation of boxes (as your boxes ended up all being very thin). I'm not sure if you drew this before or after I updated the instructions in the lesson (which I did this weekend), but you should probably take another look and try to do it as shown there, not putting your own approach on the task.
Your organic perspective boxes certainly need work, but this is expected as this exercise merely represents a first exposure to the challenge of manipulating boxes freely in 3D space.
Anyway, I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will help you improve your sense of space, and help you further practice the construction of boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you understand how each box sits in 3D space.
SliceOfBlueCake
2016-07-25 22:41
All right. I'll do the 250 box challenge. Could I also do lesson 2 along with the challenge though or do I focus on the challenge first?
Uncomfortable
2016-07-25 23:19
Challenge first.
SliceOfBlueCake
2016-07-25 23:42
All right boss man. Thanks for the reply.
chux52
2016-07-25 16:02
Lesson 1 Submission: http://imgur.com/a/nFXIM
I'm new to drawing in pen, so I'm struggling with being neater and more confidant in my lines. It really does make you think before you put down a mark rather than after.
Ellipses in planes was helpful to see how irregular I was drawing those. Some were almost curved diamond shapes.
Rotated boxes was really my third or so attempt at this and it had improved except I drew one of the boxes in two places on accident.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-25 20:13
Your lines section is well done. Your ellipses are generally okay, aside from the stiffness of your ellipses-in-planes which you caught yourself, and the fact that you didn't draw through your funnel ellipses. Also, you failed to draw the central minor axis that should be cutting down the middle of each funnel, and to which each ellipse should be aligned (if you don't remember what a minor axis is, look back at the lesson section for the ellipses). Back to drawing through your ellipses though - you should be doing this for every ellipse you draw for my lessons. For more information on what I mean by that, you can look here: Not Drawing Through Ellipses
Your plotted perspective boxes are fine. Your rough perspective boxes are alright, though the hatching you applied to them is very sloppy and poor. You should be taking the time to ensure that the lines are consistent, parallel and stretch all the way across the planes from edge to edge. Nothing falling short or floating aimlessly in the plane.
Also, it's a good idea to go over your completed rough perspective work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
Your rotated boxes are coming along. From the looks of it, you likely haven't yet seen the updated instructions to the exercise that I added this weekend - it would be well worth your while to take another look, as they're much more detailed now.
Lastly, your organic perspective boxes aren't great, but this exercise as well as the rotated boxes exercises are really just intended to be a first taste of the challenge of freely manipulating boxes in 3D space without using explicit vanishing points. You're not expected to nail it so soon.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will help you improve your sense of space, and help you further practice the construction of boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you understand how each box sits in 3D space.
Socom1880
2016-07-25 18:55
Lesson #1: https://imgur.com/a/dRpoM
First off I'd like to thank you for a free critique like this! Direction like this means a lot to an beginning artist like me. This was definitely very difficult for me, but that's probably a good thing at the end of the day. Anyways looking forward to your critique and hope I didn't do anything too horribly!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-25 20:27
You've got to reel yourself back - you're overeager, and are rushing through everything. When you do an exercise, your mind seems to be on the next one, trying to tear through it all hoping to reach the next checkpoint. That's not going to help you very much.
The use of the ghosting method is key - it forces you to place the starting and ending point of every line, to ghost through the motion in order to build up the necessary muscle memory on the spot, and then you execute with a single, confident stroke. You certainly have the confidence going, so your lines are smooth, but they're not planned at all. Same goes for your ellipses - you don't take the time to ghost through the motion beforehand first to compensate for the inevitable inaccuracy that comes from drawing quickly.
This isn't abnormal for beginners, but it isn't something I let slide - I'm going to ask you to do the entire lesson again. Don't try to do it all in one sitting, spread it out over several days, and give each exercise the respect and focus it deserves.
[deleted]
2016-07-27 01:51
[deleted]
Uncomfortable
2016-07-27 19:24
You've done fairly well. Ellipses and curves do take plenty of time and practice to really nail, so there's no expectation of perfection this early on. It will develop gradually, as long as you continue practicing these exercises.
For your rotated boxes exercise, I'd say one thing that is causing you to struggle with your scaling is that you're not drawing through your boxes, so you don't really have a full sense of where each box ends on its far side.
Both this exercise and the rotated boxes are really just the first exposure to the idea of rotating boxes freely in 3D space, so again there's no expectation of even beginning to grasp the concept. Your rotated boxes, aside from the inconsistent scaling, were quite well done. Your organic perspective boxes certainly need more work, but they're coming along fairly well too.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read through all of the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your boxes - I've mentioned this in regards to your rotated boxes, and in general, it's a very helpful approach that allows you to fully grasp how each box sits in 3D space.
lurkest
2016-07-27 06:07
Here's my Lesson 1: http://imgur.com/a/ypnAF
First of all, you are so awesome for doing this, thank you so much!
I love how you explain things and I just love the lessons. I learned so many things from just this first lesson, not just with art fundamentals, but with time management and discipline as well. I cannot thank you enough for making these lessons.
I found the ellipses quite hard to do, and the rotated boxes and organic perspectives were really challenging for my mind to grasp, but after a few times of reading and execution, I understood them a little more. Using a pen was also challenging for me since I've always just drew with pencils. I hope to get more precise with my lines and less wobbly.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-27 19:34
Generally quite well done! Just a few things I'd like to draw your attention to.
First off, with your superimposed lines, your lines are fairly accurate, though they wobble quite a bit. What I can infer from this is that you're drawing slowly and carefully, rather than confidently. This gives your brain the chance to course-correct as you draw, resulting in a wobbly line. Instead, you should be drawing your marks with a confident stroke, relying on muscle memory and not allowing your brain to maintain such close control. This will allow you to maintain a smoother flow. Your accuracy will suffer, but you can compensate for that by applying the ghosting method's preparation techniques.
Jumping ahead, the only other thing I wanted to point out was that your organic perspective boxes do need some work. They're generally not bad, and this exercise and the rotated boxes exercise are intended to merely be a first point of exposure to the challenges of freely manipulating boxes in 3D space. They are difficult things to master, and you are by no means expected to nail them by the end of this lesson.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you gain a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
lurkest
2016-07-28 14:12
Omg I got a badge. It's so cute and motivating! haha. Alrighttt, will do that next, thanks for the critique!
Kvothe278
2016-07-28 01:46
Hi, Uncomfortable!!
I started practising lesson 1 a few days ago and i don't feel ready to submitt my homework yet, since i'm really struggling with lines for now, i just wanted to ask you a few questions first, i'd really appreciate if you could answer.
I've been looking for tutorials and "how to draws" for a while and ai'm really glad i found draw a box, but it's really different from others tutorials that i've seen, for example, i found a bunch of tutorials where they actually draw really sketchy lines with pencil in the construction first and then they'd make the real line or circle they wanted. But, in your lessons, it seems that every drawing is supposed to be done with the ghosting technique and with a pen. So, we're never supposed to do the "sketchy lines, circles or whatever" with pencils?
*Sorry for possible english mistakes, this isn't my main language
Thaanks!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-28 01:52
That is correct. While sketching isn't inherently bad, people rely on it far too much, and end up being extremely wasteful with their lines. One important thing to learn is the concept of 'line economy'. To put it simply, it's a matter of not using more lines than you need. By being forced to draw with pen, and to carefully plan out every single line you draw in my exercises and lessons, you slowly develop the habit of thinking and planning before you make any mark on the page. Ultimately, even a person who reverts to sketching afterwards is going to have a split second before their pen hits the page that they will consider what kind of mark they want to draw, instead of simply drawing and hoping the line they want will appear somewhere.
Long story short, no loose sketching, no pencils. You are forced to draw only what is important, necessary, and ultimately helps you understand the forms you are drawing and how they sit in 3D space. Anything that does not accomplish a specific task is not to be drawn at all.
Kvothe278
2016-07-28 01:59
Got it! thank you for answering, i really appreciate it!
I'll practice lesson 1 for a few more days and then submitt my homework, thanks!!
Iwill721
2016-07-28 04:40
Lesson One: http://imgur.com/a/AyOJU
Hi, Uncomfortable. I'm new to Drawbox and this forum and hope that this is the right place to submit my homework. First of all I would like to thank you and after completing lesson one I have a few questions:
[1]What should be the recommended amount of time to practice? (For me, I practice at least 1hr, 3hr at max, but find that not sufficient enough)
[2] After our lesson is marked as complete, should we still practice previous lesson or will they improve in latter lessons? (I planed on doing different lesson after a warm up each day, but just wanted to know if I should set a time to practice.)
[3] This questions has nothing to do with the lesson, but it has been bothering me. Should I go to art collage? I've heard and read about how much art collages cost and you can get a job without a degree as long as your art skill is exponential. I'm not sure about this, but wanted some advice form someone who already went to collage.
Well thats all I have, maybe more will come in the future, once again thank you for making draw box. Who knows how long it would take me to find other site like this.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-28 19:27
One major thing I'm seeing in your work is that you appear to have a tendency to rush through things. Fairly early on I stress the dire importance of applying the ghosting method to every mark you put down, be they straight lines, curves or ellipses. Your ellipses however are drawn very quickly with next to no planning - it appears that you're merely repeating the action over and over without pause. Because of this, your precision suffers immensely. Your lines are smooth, and a certain degree of inaccuracy is expected in favour of drawing confident, even ellipses, but your ellipses take it too far and end up being very flimsy and overly loose.
The same applies to the lines you've used to draw all of your organic perspective boxes - you're not going through the three stage ghosting method, you're merely reverting to a loose, sketchy approach. The construction of the boxes themselves also needs work, but I don't hold this point against you - the exercise is a very difficult one that was included largely as a first point of exposure to the challenge of freely rotating boxes in 3D space. You're not by any means expected to nail it by the end of this lesson.
Your plotted perspective boxes are well done, and your rough perspective boxes are pretty good too (though I highly recommend that you go over your completed work for this exercise as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. Your lines section is also generally well executed, though I see that you skipped the ghosted lines exercise and jumped straight into the planes exercise.
First, I'd like you to redo the tables of ellipses exercise. Take the time to apply the ghosting method to each ellipse, and work on maintaining both a smooth and confident stroke while also keeping the ellipse as tight and solid as you can. The first point takes priority over the second, but you should definitely be capable of drawing them with greater precision and solidity than you have demonstrated here.
Once you've completed that, you may submit them to me and I will mark the lesson as complete. Once that is done, you will move onto the 250 box challenge. This is both to further practice your use of the ghosting method, as well as to get you some additional practice on constructing those freely rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you to better understand how each box sits in 3D space.
As for your questions-
This is a question I actively avoid answering - how much time you put in is up to you. I probably wouldn't go any lower than half an hour in one sitting (and even that's quite little, an hour would be better as a minimum). Overall it really depends on what works for you - rather than giving you time estimates, I will tell you this: if you start to get tired, take a break. Don't ever expect to complete an entire lesson in one sitting (or anything close to that, these are very time consuming), and plan to spread them out over several days or more. Focus not on completing them within a given time frame, but on completing each exercise to the best of your ability. Never rush, never turn in sloppy work. There's a difference between sloppy work, and work that simply reflects a a lower level of skill.
A lesson being marked as complete merely signifies that you understand what to aim for with each of these exercise. You are absolutely expected to continue practicing them, especially in terms of the material from the first two lessons. You should pick two or three exercises from the material you've covered each day to do as a warmup, changing them up every day so as to ensure that you don't end up getting rusty at any one of them. I talk about this here: http://drawabox.com/comic/2
I didn't go to art college. I did attend a private art school where I took individual courses for two terms (six months), but I never went to a proper art school for a 4 year program. I can speak to two things though - the benefit of a classroom environment, and the benefits a proper art school can potentially give you. To put it simply, a classroom environment gives you two things - first, face-to-face time with an instructor. Assuming they know what they're talking about (not all art schools are equal, and not all instructors within the same school are equal either), this can be extremely valuable. What I found to be even more valuable than this was the second point - the other students. Being around other students at roughly the same level as you can be immensely motivating, especially if you're the competitive type. You can get something similar from a group of friends, but the added pressure and discipline that comes from having the instructor around and the whole structure of the class is hard to find elsewhere. Then there's the benefits that the school itself can give you - not all schools will have this, and generally it's only the ones with strong reputations and strong connections to whatever industry you wish to pursue a career in, but some schools will give you access to job listings and resources that come into play after you graduate. Of course you can get a job without going to school, and going to school certainly does not guarantee you a job (nor does it guarantee that you'll improve all that much), but it's not an option I would discount entirely. These points should be weighed against the cost. Of course, there are other alternatives to 4 year programs. Online schools, private schools that serve courses à la carte, etc. Just be sure to do your research into all of these, as art education is a lot like navigating a minefield of scams and over-inflated prices.
Iwill721
2016-07-28 20:40
Got it, thanks for the reply.
ElLichee
2016-07-28 15:36
( English is not my first language )
Uncomfortable First of all thanks for doing all this, the lessons are impressive and you explain very well.
It took me longer than I imagined , but the task was quite entertaining.
Looking forward to your critique and thank you again!!
Here the lesson!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-28 19:37
There certainly are some things you can work on. Your lines section is generally well done. Your ellipses, however, are very stiff and uneven. This happens when you draw too slowly, and allow your brain to course-correct while you draw, rather than applying the ghosting method to prepare and build up muscle memory, then trusting your arm by drawing the mark with a confident stroke. I discuss this in a few places:
http://drawabox.com/comic/1
Stiff or Wobbly Ellipses
Stiff, Uneven Ellipses
I noticed that in your plotted perspective boxes, your vertical lines are slanted every now and then. This, in turn, flows right into a lot of your rough perspective boxes' lines being the result of guesses and uncertainty as to how each one should behave.
In any perspective system (one, two, three point perspective) there are only a few possible behaviours that can be applied to any line. You should never be guessing - instead, you should take a step back and think through which behaviour should be applied to the line you wish to draw.
In two point perspective, you have two sets of horizontal lines and one set of vertical lines. Each set of horizontal lines go off to their own vanishing point. The vertical lines, however, have no vanishing point. They all run perpendicular to the horizon - basically, straight up and down.
The same principle applies to the rough perspective boxes, which were in 1 point perspective. You have three sets of lines - those that go off into the distance (and all converge towards the vanishing point), a set of horizontal lines, and a set of vertical lines. The horizontal lines have no vanishing point, they run perfectly parallel to the horizon. The vertical lines also have no vanishing point, and run perpendicular to the horizon (straight up and down).
I talk about this more here: Guessing, Instead of Knowing
Your rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes certainly need work, but neither of these exercises were included with the expectation that you'd nail them so soon. They were set here to help expose you to the challenge of freely rotating boxes without any explicit vanishing points in the frame. Don't worry too much if you're struggling with them right now.
That said, for your rotated boxes, looking at your work it seems to me that you may not yet have seen the new notes in posted this past weekend on this exercise. You should definitely go back and take another look, as the new, more detailed notes should help you understand how to better tackle this exercise.
I'm not going to mark the lesson as complete just yet - I'd like you to redo the table of ellipses exercise (to sort out the stiffness), and then I'd like you to do one page of plotted perspective boxes and one page of rough perspective boxes. Once those are done, you can submit them to me and I'll mark the lesson as complete.
Then I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge for more practice with rotating boxes freely in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on that page before starting the work, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular helps to give you a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
fluffynubkin
2016-07-28 16:57
Thank you so much for this. I have been looking for a new outlet since I have gotten a physically demanding job and can't do my old hobby due to joint pain. I started drawing about a month ago with no prior experience and I have been looking for a lesson plan just like this. I could go on for longer but instead here is my homework for lesson 1. I have been going back and working on all three sections of the lesson since it's clear I'm having trouble drawing clean but my understanding of drawing in a 3D space has grown. I have been having a hard time drawing from the shoulder but it's gotten easier the further I progress through the sections.
http://imgur.com/a/eoLAM
Edit: I don't know if it makes a difference but I was using a fine point sharpie since it's all I have at the moment. If it does let me know and I'll make a trip to the store for some felt tip pens.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-28 19:55
Fine point sharpies are okay - a little bit thick, but aside from that, they are felt tip pens so they'll do just fine.
Looking at your work, I see one trend across all of it - you have a tendency to draw slowly and carefully, and as a result your lines are coming out quite stiff and wobbly. This is something I talk about in a few areas, summing it up somewhat in this comic: http://drawabox.com/comic/1
I also talk about it here:
Wobbling, Drawing Too Slowly and Carefully
Stiff or Wobbly Ellipses
Stiff, Uneven Ellipses
This is definitely something you'll want to work on, as it's quite important.
Next, in your rough perspective boxes, to stress the importance of keeping your horizontals parallel to the horizon and your verticals perpendicular to it, I'd like you to read over this: Guessing, Instead of Knowing. It's also a very good idea for you to go over your completed work for that exercise as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
The rotated and organic perspective boxes are particularly challenging exercises - you are by no means expected to develop a full sense of how to work in 3D space by the end of this lesson, so the exercises really only represent a first taste of the challenges of freely rotating boxes without any explicit vanishing points to rely upon. That said, looking at your rotated boxes, it looks to me like you haven't yet had a chance to read the new instructions that I posted on Saturday - definitely give them a read, as they're considerably more detailed and should help you wrap your head around the exercise a little better.
Now, I am going to mark this lesson as complete. Keep in mind that you're expected to continue practicing these exercises as you move forwards - I further explain this here: http://drawabox.com/comic/2. I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more practice constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes, as well as the chance to continue working out your wobbly lines. You are fully expected to apply the ghosting method to all of your linework, so take your time to apply its preparation techniques before executing each line with a smooth, confident stroke - not a slow, belaboured one.
fluffynubkin
2016-07-29 01:49
Thank you for your quick response! I know everyone says it but what you're doing with this subreddit and your website is just amazing.
hahto1
2016-07-28 19:02
Hi, Uncomfortable. There is my second attempt http://imgur.com/a/cGGek
Now, made in ballpoint
Uncomfortable
2016-07-28 20:00
Not bad, though I did notice a few things I'd like to point out.
Below you'll find a few links that lead to explanations of certain issues or recommendations I have for you:
Fraying/Separation on Both Ends
Guessing, Instead of Knowing
Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point
Additionally, I noticed in some places (more early on, so you are improving on this point) you seemed to be losing control of your ghosted lines a little bit. The lines were smooth, which is good, but after a certain point they'd just kinda turn into a wobbly wave. Keep an eye on that.
I also noticed that here and there you have a habit of immediately reinforcing a line you've just drawn with another one. This is a common habit, but not a good one - it's really just drawing by reflex, instead of planning and preparing before every stroke you put down. We're all about the ghosting method - every mark you put on the page should be the result of forethought. The automatic reinforcing of lines, on the other hand, generally comes from a lack of confidence - one we're working to snuff out.
Lastly, keep in mind that the rotated and organic perspective boxes do need work, but these exercises are really just intended as a first taste of the overwhelming challenge that is rotating boxes freely in 3D space. You are by no means expected to nail it this early on, so don't fret too much over that.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more practice with freely manipulating those boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This technique in particular will help you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
hahto1
2016-07-30 11:19
Can I use a ballpoint for 250 box challenge or it should be done in ink?
Uncomfortable
2016-07-30 15:47
But.. but... ballpoint pens are ink!
I'm guessing you're asking if you're allowed to use ballpoint or if you have to use felt tip/fineliner. Felt tip is always encouraged, but if you can't find one for the life of you, same rules as lessons 1 and 2 apply, and you are allowed to use ballpoint. Lessons 3-7 are felt tip only.
[deleted]
2016-07-28 19:46
Hi Uncomfortable. After much procrastinating here´s my homework for lesson 1, thanks in advance for taking a look at it: http://imgur.com/a/EKHrx
Uncomfortable
2016-07-28 20:05
Very nice work! Your lines are confident and smooth, your ellipses are even and well planned, and your boxes generally demonstrate a budding sense of 3D space.
One suggestion I have in regards to your rough perspective boxes is that you go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. Also, I updated the notes for the rotated boxes exercise last weekend, so if you haven't had a chance to look at them you definitely should - they're considerably more detailed, and while you did a decent job of them, they'd be worth reading.
Your organic perspective boxes are also pretty good. I do want to recommend that you give the 250 box challenge page a read - you don't have to do the challenge (though it may be a good idea), but the notes, especially those about drawing through your boxes, should help you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
I'll be marking this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the next one when you feel ready.
[deleted]
2016-08-02 20:45
Cool! I´ll be sure to give those notes and the links a read. Thanks again for the evaluation and guidance!
newdrawingattempt
2016-07-28 23:03
Dude, is that the level you achieved after doing the first lesson for the very first time or have you drawn before?
Those cubes on the strings look really cool, can't wait to get to that part.
ScottyNovak
2016-07-29 15:15
Hi Uncomfortable, thanks for putting this all together. I find drawing a struggle and this is really helping me. Here is my Lines homework http://imgur.com/a/hA7k9
Uncomfortable
2016-07-29 18:41
You generally look to be doing well, but you should read the instructions more carefully.
Don't submit your homework until all of the work for the entire lesson is complete.
ScottyNovak
2016-07-30 09:58
Ah, okay, I'll get working on the rest.
CaptainKong
2016-07-30 03:49
Hi Uncomfortable,
Ive been drawing for about a year and decided to come to this course because while I improved a lot in certain areas, I felt that I was lacking fundamentals in others. I drew almost exclusively in digital because I found it easier to draw there. I liked the instant gratification, but more importantly its because of a medicine that I take that my hands tremble. It varies in severity but it is always present. It affects me most in traditional because I cannot user stabilizers that are built into software and cant erase lines gone wrong in ink. Regardless Ive done my best to complete these exercises.
The one thing that stood out to me the most was the organic box drawing exercises. I understand the concepts of perspective, but seem to sometimes only realize my mistake when Ive drawn the box, and by then I cant erase. When I set up the points on the box, I usually see that they converge appropriately, but sometimes I mess up and dont see that they are positioned wrong until Ive drawn. I wanted to know what your opinion on that particular issue is.
http://imgur.com/a/gKrHv
Thanks for your time and consideration!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-30 23:12
Generally well done, though there are a few things I'd like to draw your attention to.
For your super imposed lines: Fraying/Separation on Both Ends
Keep working on improving the accuracy of your ellipses. Drawing with a confident pace to avoid wobbling is still the first priority, but if and when possible, you want to balance it with enough ghosting and preparation to be have your ellipses fit accurately in the space you've set out for them. Looking at your funnels, you definitely struggled with getting your ellipses to sit snugly between the two curving lines.
You didn't follow the instructions for the rough perpsective boxes entirely accurately. This exercise was supposed to be done in one point perspective, not two. It's really of no consequence here, but in other areas failing to follow the instructions can result in a lot of wasted time.
Also, it's a good idea to go over your completed rough perspective exercises as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point
Looking at your rotated boxes exercise, it looks like you read over the material before I updated the information on this exercise last weekend. It would be well worth your while to go back and read over the new material, as it's considerably more detailed.
I see that you struggled considerably with your organic perspective boxes, just as you mentioned yourself. The thing is, it's entirely expected. This exercise was included as a first taste of the struggles involved in rotating and manipulating boxes freely in 3D space with no explicit vanishing points in frame to rely upon. You are not at all expected to have a fully developed sense of 3D space by this point, and so it was merely an opportunity for you to stumble and fall. Failure is inevitable, and it's necessary.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This will give you plenty of opportunity to further practice the challenges first met in the organic perspective exercise. Be sure to read through the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach should help you improve your box constructions, as it goes a long way towards improving your understanding of how each box sits in 3D space.
CaptainKong
2016-07-31 02:39
Thanks. Where can I submit the 250 Box challenge? I'm assuming this is a prerequisite for lesson 2.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-31 02:41
Just as with every lesson, there's an orange button on the top of the webpage labelled "View Lesson Submissions on Reddit". It will take you to the corresponding submission thread.
Maxigati
2016-07-30 11:39
Hi Uncomfortable,
I hope it's the right way to get a good critique from you. I now my superimposed lines and my ellipses are messy i will work on that in the future...so my gallery: http://imgur.com/a/fN7XJ
Thanks!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-30 23:21
Your images are absurdly small, so it's a little hard to see things clearly. From what I can see:
You're not drawing through many of your ellipses, though your ellipses in planes are well done
The hatching on your boxes is really sloppy - you should be taking the time to draw consistent, parallel lines that go from edge to edge across the plane, rather than lines that fall short or float in the middle. Absolutely no zig-zagging or scribbling.
The rough perspective boxes exercise should all be 1 point perspective, as per the instructions (I noticed a couple that were done in 2 point perspective). Always follow my instructions to the letter.
You would benefit significantly from going over your completed rough perspective boxes exercises as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point
I see that you drew through some of your rotated boxes (drawing the hidden lines), but primarily for the horizontal ones and not the others. You should be doing this for all of them, as the exercise is about understanding how each box sits in 3D space.
Your organic perspective boxes are hit and miss, but this is completely expected. This exercise is just a first taste of the challenges and struggles involved in freely rotating boxes in 3D space. You aren't expected to nail it this early, it's just an opportunity for you to fight with it for a bit.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge to get more practice with constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you more fully understand how each box sits in 3D space.
Also, don't submit such tiny images in the future.
curiouswabbit
2016-07-31 10:00
Hi Uncomfortable,
here's the link to my lesson 1 homework : here we go
I've always wanted to learn how to draw but never actually took the time for it, so it's my first attempt at drawing.
Thanks again for taking the time to review it, have a great day!
Uncomfortable
2016-07-31 17:42
Generally okay, though some of your exercises give way to a hefty serving of sloppiness. Your lines section is fine. Your ellipses are a little loose, and you should be more mindful of applying the ghosting method's preparation techniques to them, just as you would to every other line you draw. Or rather, just as you should. I also see that in your funnels, you stopped drawing through your ellipses. I expect you to draw through all of the ellipses you draw for my lessons. Always push yourself to draw them with a confident, smooth pace, and strive to tighten them up, but always draw through them twice before lifting your pen.
Now, as I mentioned, you should be applying the ghosting method to every line you draw. It's fairly clear that you're not, however - your rough perspective boxes, your rotated boxes and your organic perspective boxes are all examples of this. With additional preparation and planning before each mark, your overall line quality would definitely improve. Also, I notice that as you move further through these exercises (and perhaps get more tired), you start getting considerably sloppier - immediately reinforcing or correcting after drawing a line (a very bad habit you should work towards avoiding, and that the ghosting method helps to mitigate). When you make a mistake, don't correct it. For now, leave it alone, though in the future you'll gradually see ways to incorporate the mistake into the drawing. If you correct it immediately, it'll merely draw more attention to that area by making it darker and more noticeable.
In all but your last page of rough perspective boxes, your hatching is basically just sloppy scribbling - every mark you put down is important and contributes to the overall quality of the presentation. Hatching should always be made up of consistent, parallel and individual lines that stretch all the way from edge to edge. Your last page of this exercise was much better.
Your organic perspective boxes certainly need work, but that's by design - that exercise was included as an opportunity to taste the struggles and challenges involved in rotating and manipulating boxes freely in 3D space. It's not a simple task, and you are by no means expected to develop a solid sense of 3D space by the end of this lesson.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next, both as an opportunity to get more practice rotating and manipulating boxes, but also to work on your use of the ghosting method, and ultimately the patience required to use it. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms - this is something that was mentioned in the rotated boxes exercises that you did not put into practice, and ultimately it helps you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space, making it easier to construct them on the page.
Chrisnonymous
2016-07-31 10:18
Here's the homework that I've been doing for the past week: http://imgur.com/a/FSmXu
Sorry in advance for some of the pictures have been rotated to the side or upside down. Imgur is annoying. Don't wanna take a lot of your time but I just wanna say thank you for sharing these lessons with us. Hope I've done it justice. The line exercise was a bit hard for me to do because when I made the first line, it made a little physical indentation into the page and any other line following that is kind of 'influenced' by that indentation. The ballpoint pen/ felt tip pen kept getting caught in that crevice, tried my best to put less pressure onto the page but still made the indentation.
Chrisnonymous
2016-08-01 04:40
Should I repost the images? I was expecting a reply of some sort.
Iwill721
2016-07-31 17:57
Hw Redo: http://imgur.com/a/iZqu4
Finally finished my ellipses redo after some procrastination.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-31 19:07
Getting better. I'll mark this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the 250 box challenge. Also, keep in mind that you should still continue practicing these exercises as warmups.
programmerChilli
2016-08-01 10:06
Thanks for all the critiques you're doing. I'm just a non-art guy who's been interested in doing art for a while. Decided to start off with drawabox.
http://imgur.com/a/Pl9MO
Just a couple of notes I've noticed.
I didn't realize I should be ghosting my ellipses when I did them. I also feel that I was drawing through them too quickly.
Drawing is hard.
Uncomfortable
2016-08-01 16:52
Your ellipses are generally alright, though I did notice that in the funnel there is one bit you're missing. That line going down the center of the funnel is the 'minor axis', to which all of your ellipses should be aligned. In case you've forgotten, in the lesson section I describe the minor axis as being the line that passes through an ellipse's narrower dimension, cutting it into two equal, symmetrical halves. All of the ellipses in your funnels should be aligned to this line.
Jumping ahead, your rough perspective boxes are reasonably well done, but I do have one recommendation - go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will help you identify areas where your estimation of perspective is weakest, ultimately allowing you to conscious compensate for it the next time you attempt the exercise.
Your rotated boxes are a good start, though there's certainly plenty of room to improve in terms of keeping the boxes evenly spaced out. Your organic perspective boxes are also moving in the right direction. Both of these exercises were included here with the intention of merely giving you a first taste of the challenges and struggles involved in freely rotating boxes in 3D space. You are by no means expected to develop a solid sense of 3D space by the end of this lesson.
I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get some more practice with those freely rotated boxes. Be sure to read through all of the notes on the page before starting the work - especially the tip about drawing through your forms, which should help you get a stronger sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
programmerChilli
2016-08-01 21:29
I have a quick question about drawing lines.
I noticed that it was really hard to draw small lines from the shoulder. Should I be pivoting off my elbow/wrist for small lines?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-01 21:31
For now, no. You're not going to be drawing any lines that should be drawn from the wrist for some time. Elbow is a bit of a grey area - but if you're having trouble with drawing from the shoulder, it merely means that you need to keep pushing through and practicing with it.
programmerChilli
2016-08-02 09:45
This is probably a fairly obvious question, but how do you add line weight? Do you just redraw over the boxes after you draw the first line?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-02 13:59
Yes, though I make sure to draw the whole thing first, then go back to start applying line weight, much in the way that the super imposed lines exercise works. It's important to separate those stages of drawing so that you don't end up with the habit of immediately reinforcing your lines after drawing them, as a reflex.
[deleted]
2016-08-01 22:09
[deleted]
Uncomfortable
2016-08-02 20:22
Generally looks like you nailed a lot of what's going on by looking over the self critique resources. There's a couple things I'd like to add though:
Your ellipses are looking a little bit stiff, but I get the sense that you're moving in the right direction. Keep that confident, fluid pace in mind, and try not to let your brain guide your hand while you draw. Brain plays its primary role when preparing and applying the ghosting techniques, not while actually drawing - that's the muscles' time to shine.
I see that when doing your plotted perspective, and when extending your rough perspective boxes' lines back to the horizon (which you should do with all of your rough perspective work, not just the one) you used dotted/broken lines. Avoid these at all costs. In these cases, it's less of an issue because you've drawn them with a ruler, but in the future you'll have to draw through forms, and doing so with broken lines is a bad idea. When you break a line, you break its flow - attempting to resume the stroke will do so with a slight deviation in its orientation. Basically, once you break a line, you can never trust that it's going to continue flowing in the same direction, making it useless. Don't worry about drawing extra lines - as long as those lines serve a purpose, they should be drawn completely and confidently. We are not here to draw pretty pictures, we are here to learn the lessons that will allow us to draw pretty pictures in the future.
Keep working on applying the ghosting, especially when applying those lines to drawing larger things like boxes and so on. You're heading in the right direction, but you need to keep on top of it.
Your organic perspective boxes do need work, but this is entirely expected right now - it's just a first taste of the struggles involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space, so it'll take more work to really pin it down.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next for more practice with manipulating boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms which should help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, which is key to drawing them successfully.
systrq
2016-08-01 23:25
Hi I have some (probably dumb) questions about the exercises:
should we do the "ghosting" when drawing the ellipses?
I draw a much better ellipse if I draw it slowly, is that right? or I should draw with one single fast movement?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-02 00:04
Yup, use the ghosting method for every single mark you put down on the page.
Technically it's not about drawing the line fast, it's about drawing it fast enough to keep your brain from course-correcting while you draw. For beginners, this does mean drawing faster and more confidently, though over time the required speed will decrease. Now, you say that your ellipses come out much better if you draw them slowly - can you show me a picture of one of your better ellipses?
GucioDevs
2016-08-02 11:51
Hey Uncomfortable, thanks a ton for creating this resource and for responding to everyone's work. You're fantastic.
Here's my homework for lesson 1:
http://imgur.com/a/9Fgry
I had some problems with the rotated boxes exercise, however, I think I eventually got the hang of it.
Thanks again.
Uncomfortable
2016-08-02 20:46
Not bad, but there's a few things you could work on.
Fraying/Separation on Both Ends
You're being a bit too loose with your ellipses. Confidence and drawing fast is good, but now you've got to try and reel them back and maintain enough control of them to keep them tight and fit them inside of the targets you set out. This means putting more time into applying the ghosting method before drawing, to build up the required muscle memory before executing the mark. Also, it looks like you'd be better off drawing through your ellipses only twice - no more, no less.
Your rough perspective boxes are alright (though your application of the ghosting method here also could use some work). I recommend that you also go over your completed work for this exercise as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.
Your rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes do need work, but this is to be expected. On one hand, it looks like you haven't had a chance to look over the updated rotated boxes exercise description (I rewrote it a couple weeks ago, it's considerably more detailed than it was before and is worth a look). Either way, both of these exercises are intended to merely give you the first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next for more practice with manipulating boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms which should help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, which is key to drawing them successfully.
GucioDevs
2016-08-02 23:07
Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it.
I'll continue to the 250 box challenge.
[deleted]
2016-08-02 17:16
Hey Uncomfortable, really appreciate the work you put into the lesson plans! Thank you so much, I look forward to completing all the lessons in time and hope to get the basics down and would appreciate if you would look over my homework for lesson 1: http://imgur.com/a/aIyze
I definitely think that my ellipses and the spherical box activity need some work and I've been working on them still and am looking into the 250 Box Challenge.
Uncomfortable
2016-08-02 20:52
Not bad. One thing I caught early on is that in your planes exercise, you failed to apply the ghosting method to your lines as instructed, and overall were more chicken-scratchy than you should have been. Keep in mind that you should draw only one mark per line, and execute each mark with forethought and planning. I'm pleased to see that you do seem to have applied it to the box exercises as you were instructed.
Jumping ahead to your funnels, you forgot to draw in the central line (the minor axis), to which each of your ellipses should be aligned. If you don't remember, the minor axis is the line that goes through an ellipse's narrower dimension, cutting it into two equal, symmetrical halves.
Your plotted perspective boxes are fine. Your rough perspective boxes are alright as well, and are moving in the right direction, but you'd benefit significantly from going over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point
Your rotated and organic perspective boxes do need some work, but this exercises is only expected to give you an initial taste of the challenges of rotating boxes freely in 3D space. Ultimately, I will be marking this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge - as you already mentioned you're planning to do.
Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms which should help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, which is key to drawing them successfully.
pedrogons
2016-08-02 18:25
Hi Uncomfortable,thanks for all the exercices and critiques you're doing.(Sorry for the bad photos)
Here's the homework:http://imgur.com/a/ZLeJC
I'm already doing the 250 box challenge,thankss =D
Uncomfortable
2016-08-02 20:57
Not bad! There are some considerable issues with your rough perspective boxes, but aside from that you've done fairly well. That issue in particular appears to be that you don't entirely understand what it means to draw in one point perspective, and as a result are guessing at how many of the lines should behave rather than truly understanding the rules behind it.
Give these notes a read, as they should clarify things: Guessing, Instead of Knowing.
And of course, I always recommend going over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. It does appear that you were doing it already for some of them, but be sure to do it for all.
I'd like you to do two more pages of rough perspective boxes before you move onto the 250 box challenge. Once you've submitted those and submitted them to me, I do believe that it would be best for you to move onto the 250 box challenge, as it will help iron out some of the mistakes made in the organic perspective boxes exercise. Be sure to read through all of the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you better understand how each box should sit in 3D space.
nielubiefarbowanych
2016-08-02 18:43
Hi Uncomfortable,
I just want to say how much i appreciate what you're doing. Your lessons are not only amazingly informative and clear, but also fun to do. Thank you for the time you're spending to help us get better in drawing.
Here's my take on the first lesson: http://imgur.com/a/KWqJ4
Uncomfortable
2016-08-02 21:02
Generally well done, though I do see one consistent issue across your box exercises - you're not applying the ghosting method. This approach of identifying, then preparing and building up muscle memory, then finally executing a mark with a smooth, confident and fluid motion should be applied to every single mark you put down. This includes straight lines, curves, waves and ellipses.
Also, I noticed that for some of your later ellipses, you stopped drawing through them - I insist that you draw through all of the ellipses you draw for my lessons.
Aside from that, you did a pretty solid job. Your organic perspective boxes are do have issues, but that exercise in particular was included to give you a first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space. Also, as I recommend to everyone, you should go over your completed rough perspective boxes as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will help you identify areas of weakness in your estimation of perspective.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge. This will allow you to practice actually applying the ghosting method to actual construction, while also giving you much needed practice with constructing freely rotated boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms which should help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space, which is key to drawing them successfully.
[deleted]
2016-08-02 20:39
Hey, Uncomfortable. Thank you for taking the time to check out my attempt at your lesson. http://imgur.com/a/msc39.
One question: I found it difficult to draw from my shoulder for smaller lines and had to force myself to lock my wrist. The times I did use my wrist the lines came out okay though - is it alright to draw from the wrist for smaller lines?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-02 21:06
Quite well done! There's a little bit of stiffness in your ellipses (remember to draw them with a confident pace, and compensate for any inaccuracy this brings by applying the ghosting method), but aside from that you've done a good job and I have no major issues to raise. There's room to grow, of course, but you're moving in the right direction with all of your exercises.
As for your question, it's inevitable that drawing from your shoulder will be difficult in many circumstances, but I insist that you do it for all of your lines, big and small. There's reasons why it may have decent results for smaller lines, but ultimately it's not just the length of the line that is a factor in which pivot you want to use, but also the type of line itself. The wrist gives you a lot of control, but virtually no fluidity, and so those lines tend to come out much stiffer, and more lifeless. Right now, and for some time to come, you will have no need of drawing lines that are better off drawn from your wrist, so just keep doing it from your shoulder.
I'll be marking this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the next lesson. You may also want to take a look at the 250 box challenge. Even if you don't, be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms, which will help you gain a more solid grasp on how each box sits in 3D space.
Eric2416
2016-08-03 00:44
Hey Uncomfortable,
I finally finished lesson 1 after 2 months of putting it off. Thanks for doing all these critiques! I did them to the best of my current abilities.
http://imgur.com/a/blkf5
Uncomfortable
2016-08-03 19:01
Generally pretty nice work! There's a few issues, but nothing overly significant. Your lines section is very well done. Your ellipses are alright, though your funnels get a little too loose and a bit sloppy. Your ellipses in planes are also a little stiff, which isn't entirely abnormal - people tend to draw slower when they're trying to fit the ellipses into the somewhat awkwardly shaped planes, but it's important to try and maintain a confident pace to achieve a smooth, even ellipse.
Your rough perspective boxes are alright, but your hatching is sloppy as all hell. Make sure you draw consistent, parallel lines that stretch all the way from edge to edge. No zigzagging, no lines that float in the middle of the plane, etc. Every line you put down on the page is important, so don't half-ass anything.
Your organic perspective boxes are coming along decently - of course they do need work, but this is entirely expected. This exercise was included here as a first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space, and you're not expected to nail it by the end of this first lesson.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more practice with those boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page before starting the work, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This technique will help you gain a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space.
Dudebe
2016-08-03 03:17
Do i have to sign up for this, or do I just post it?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-03 03:27
Just post your homework. No need to sign up or anything like that.
Multipl
2016-08-04 06:26
Heres my submission:
http://imgur.com/a/RWwNH
Uncomfortable
2016-08-04 20:47
Generally you've done well, but my biggest concern lies with your ellipses. For your ellipses in planes, you don't draw through them at all, and for the rest you do, but you maintain a very stiff, slow stroke that results in an uneven shape and a wobbly line. I explain why this is not ideal here: http://drawabox.com/comic/1. You want to be drawing with a more persistent, confident stroke instead, that doesn't allow your brain to course-correct as you draw. To compensate for the inevitable drop in accuracy, you would instead invest your time in applying the ghosting method's preparation techniques before execution.
Jumping forward, you're generally doing a solid job with your boxes exercises. Your organic perspective boxes do need work, but this is entirely expected as this exercise was added here only to give you a first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space.
Before I mark this lesson as complete, I'd like you to do one more page of the table of ellipses exercise, drawing through each ellipse twice, and doing so with a smooth, confident pace rather than a slow, belaboured one.
Once you submit that to me, I'll mark this lesson as complete. Then I want you to move onto the 250 box challenge for more practice with those freely manipulated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on the page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms, which should help you get a more solid grasp of how each box sits in 3D space.
Multipl
2016-08-05 02:35
Thanks for the critique!
Here is the table of ellipses
http://imgur.com/a/7oOwW
Uncomfortable
2016-08-05 03:22
Much better. You may move onto the 250 box challenge.
Zofferro
2016-08-04 10:23
Here's my submission for Lesson 1: http://imgur.com/a/l2rUs
Thank you!
Uncomfortable
2016-08-04 20:53
Excellent work. I have just two recommendations:
For your rough perspective boxes, it's a great idea to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This is something I suggest to everyone, and was not a part of the actual exercise itself.
For your rotated boxes, you did a good job as far as the final result is concerned, though by neglecting to draw each box in its entirety (instead stopping each one where it is hidden by its neighbour), you did not really get as much out of the exercise as you could have. The exercise is focused on understanding how the boxes sit in 3D space, and how this changes as they are rotated - this is achieved largely by drawing the entire thing. I talk about this in greater detail here: Draw Through your Forms. Keep this in mind for the future.
Aside from that, you did a solid job. I'll mark this lesson as complete - feel free to move onto the next one, though you may want to take a look at the 250 box challenge next as well. That is up to you, but reading through the notes on that page is definitely worth your while.
[deleted]
2016-08-04 19:11
[deleted]
Uncomfortable
2016-08-04 21:06
Very nice work. The only thing I'd like to mention is that in your rotated boxes exercise, you're demonstrating a purposeful aversion to letting your boxes overlap. I fully understand why you might wish to do that (to reduce clutter and such) but in general keeping those boxes close is much more helpful when it comes to looking at a box's neighbours to figure out what angles certain lines should follow. You can see how your corner boxes tend to be incorrect - part of this is because you're not able to easily refer to their neighbours.
Also, your organic perspective boxes are looking well done (and much improved), though it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the idea of drawing through your boxes, if you haven't had the chance to read that yet. I believe I mentioned it in the last critique I gave you for this lesson.
As for your questions,
It's still best to use your shoulder for everything for the first few lessons - drawing from your wrist will result in a sort of stiffness that will result in ill effects, and is only really useful in every specific cases that you will not come across for some time.
I generally encourage people to pick two or three exercises from the basics section to do for 10-20 minutes as a warmup. The important thing here is that you do it regularly, and that you ensure that you're not just sticking to a few exercises (and neglecting others).
This is kind of specific to you, and how your brain and body work. If you feel that you've stiffened up, a warmup won't hurt. There's no hard/fast rules to this sort of thing.
I have no idea what the pomodoro technique is, but if you find it helpful then that's ultimately all that matters.
[deleted]
2016-08-04 21:14
[deleted]
Uncomfortable
2016-08-04 21:52
That's up to you. You're clear to move onto lesson 2, but the 250 box challenge wouldn't be a waste of time.
RascalFelipe
2016-08-04 21:28
Hi there, first of all thanks a lot for what you are doing!
Here's my submission: http://imgur.com/a/rkZRJ
A couple of points: I did it all using a kinda crappy ballpoint pen and only used my micron on the rotated boxes cause I can't afford to buy a new one right now and i'm kinda saving it, I usually draw really light, so I used the lighten filter on some of my pages to make it better to see. On my ghosting exercise, I tried to mix ghosted lines and curves, since I saw Scott recommending it on one of his videos.
Uncomfortable
2016-08-05 19:55
Generally quite well done! Just a few things to point out. The only significant one is your rotated boxes, where you appear to have made a fairly conscious effort not to draw each box in its entirety, instead stopping your lines where they become hidden by neighbouring boxes. It's important to follow my examples and instructions closely. You'll see how I drew every box for this exercise completely, going so far as to draw through each form, including the lines that exist on the far side of each one. This exercise is all about learning how each box sits in 3D space, and how that changes as the box rotates. Not drawing each box in its entirety won't really give you much of a sense of this.
Keep in mind that while presentation is important, these exercises are not intended to result in a pretty picture. They certainly can, but any effort towards that end is wasted and can distract you from your goal.
Of course, your organic perspective boxes certainly do need work as well, but this one is entirely expected. This exercise was only included as a first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space. You are not expected to be able to nail it this early on.
So, I'll be marking this lesson as complete - I do however want you to move onto the 250 box challenge next, to get more practice with those freely rotated and manipulated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you better understand how each box sits in space, as I mentioned in my critique of your rotated boxes.
RascalFelipe
2016-08-05 20:31
Thank you so much for the crit! I'll get to the challenge asap.
Stranger_Grey
2016-08-05 17:07
Hey Uncomfortable.
Here is my submission for Lesson 1: http://imgur.com/a/om2dH
Thank you for your time!
Uncomfortable
2016-08-05 20:00
Very nice work! Your lines and ellipses are solid. For your rough perspective boxes, I highly recommend that you go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will help you better identify areas of weakness in your estimation of perspective.
Your organic perspective boxes are generally quite well done, though there is some room for improvement. This is entirely expected - this exercise was included primarily to introduce you to the challenges of rotating boxes freely in 3D space, which is not something I expect you to conquer fully this early on.
I am going to be marking this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to put the finishing touches on your understanding of working in 3D space. Be sure to read through all of the notes on that challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This in particular will help you better understand how each box sits in 3D space.
Alexmjack
2016-08-05 17:54
Hello Uncomfortable. Here is my homework for Lesson 1: http://imgur.com/gallery/POXoE. I finally got around to completing it. I appreciate any advice you have to offer. Thanks!
Uncomfortable
2016-08-05 20:03
Nice work! There's certainly plenty of room to grow, but you're moving in the right direction with each exercise, and are about where I'd hope you to be. I can see that you struggled with your rotated and organic perspective boxes - by the end the rotated boxes came together a bit better, though the organic perspective boxes certainly are still quite difficult. They're supposed to be - you're not expected to fully grasp the concepts involved with freely rotating boxes in 3D space just yet, it's merely there to introduce you to those challenges.
I'll be marking this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next for more practice with those freely rotated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page before starting the work - especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you better understand how each box sits in 3D space.
GmanIV
2016-08-05 19:10
Hello Uncomfortable here is my homework for Lesson 1: http://imgur.com/a/tJz6M Thank you so much for your time!
Uncomfortable
2016-08-05 20:07
Generally quite well done. The biggest issue that I'm noticing isn't so much with the quality of your work. It's with your ellipses, where you didn't really follow my directions in regards to Drawing Through Ellipses. Please ensure that you apply this technique to every ellipse you draw for my lessons. Based on what I can see, you should have no trouble keeping those ellipses tight, but it is important that you draw each one with a confident pace - not slow and steady - and that you go around the shape one more time before lifting your pen.
Jumping down to your organic perspective boxes, you are still struggling with this area, and that is entirely expected and intended. This exercise introduces you to the challenges of rotating boxes freely in 3D space, with no expectation that you're going to nail it this early on.
I'll be marking this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge for more targeted practice with constructing these arbitrarily rotated boxes in 3D space. Be sure to read through the notes on the challenge page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular should help you better understand how each box sits in 3D space.
GmanIV
2016-08-05 21:39
Thanks for the feedback, I'll do that box challenge next, but I would like to say that while some of the ellipses I didn't draw through the majority of them I did and I was able to overlap the same line so you couldn't tell I did.
Uncomfortable
2016-08-05 21:40
Then that's pretty impressive - but keep in mind that you want to draw with a confident pace - that's a much higher priority than your accuracy. But keep up the good work!
Dudebe
2016-08-06 02:50
Should I practice for a few days, or just show you where i currently am?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-06 02:53
This lesson has three sections, each with its own set of homework. Complete the homework for all three sections (there's a certain number of pages per exercise), and then submit that to me here. The instructions are all there on the lesson page.
Distie
2016-08-06 20:54
Here is my homework for Lesson 1 Thank you!
Uncomfortable
2016-08-07 17:06
Fantastic work - all of your exercises are on point. Your lines are smooth and straight, your ellipses are confident and even, and your boxes are generally quite solid and well constructed. I have only one recommendation, and this isn't something that was included in the notes:
When drawing boxes, or any forms where certain lines are hidden on the opposite side, it's a good idea to draw through your forms. This helps you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space.
Additionally, these notes on the use of line weight should help you take your boxes to the next level: Line Weight.
Keep up the great work and feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Vocalite
2016-08-06 23:31
I have a question. I am just starting my homework today. How unacceptable is it to draw with the elbow? I end up locking my wrist and using my elbow + shoulder (sometimes leaning on the elbow and using it as a fulcrum when i get tired) to do some line practice and they turn out quite straight and even. But, when I lock the wrist + elbow and just move the shoulder it feels very stiff and I end up making huge mistakes. Is it alright to try and use my elbow/elbow + shoulder, or should I force myself to lock the other two and only use my shoulder? I don't want to go about the whole series wrong.
Uncomfortable
2016-08-07 00:05
You're much better off using your shoulder, locking both wrist and elbow. There's two reasons for this:
The awkwardness you're feeling, drawing from your shoulder, is normal. You're not used to using it, so of course it's going to feel strange at first. Push through it. If you avoid it now, you won't be able to use it when it's especially necessary.
Combining two pivots is a bad idea this early on, because it's going to muddy the waters. You want to be in full control of your arm - locking all joints but one will give you a greater degree of familiarity with how your arm works, allowing you more control in the future.
Also, don't lean on your elbow for support, as it will end up behaving like an anchor, making you fall back to drawing from your wrist without realizing it. You get a similar effect if you lean on the side of your hand for support, but to a much lesser degree, so it's alright if you must. Either way, it's very important that you remain conscious of what you're doing, and whenever you catch yourself no longer drawing from the shoulder, stop and practice pivoting from your various joints to refresh your memory as to how each one feels, and then resume drawing from the shoulder.
Vocalite
2016-08-08 16:15
Alright, I've been doing it and it looks like shite compared to my elbow but I'll keep pushing on. Thanks :)
Kamioki
2016-08-07 01:00
Hey Uncomfortable here is my submission for Lesson 1: http://imgur.com/a/aMJAu
Thank you for your help!
Uncomfortable
2016-08-07 17:08
Very nice work! Your lines and ellipses are looking solid. Your boxes are also generally very well done. For your organic perspective boxes, I have only one suggestion, and this wasn't included in the lesson 1 notes. It's a good idea, when drawing boxes or any forms where there are lines on the opposite side that are hidden, to draw through your forms. This will help you get a better sense of how each box sits in 3D space, and will avoid any mistakes in regards to far planes being larger than near planes. Your boxes are generally quite well done though, so keep up the great work.
Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
[deleted]
2016-08-07 05:41
[deleted]
Uncomfortable
2016-08-07 17:34
Generally quite well done! Just a few issues I'd like to highlight:
Super Imposed Lines: Fraying/Separation on Both Ends
You likely noticed this, but in your first plotted perspective, you encountered a lot of distortion. Your drawing was still technically correct, but if your boxes fall outside of the space between the two vanishing points, things are going to start looking weird. Same goes for above/below - if you imagine either vanishing point sitting on opposite sides of a circle, anything that falls outside of this circle is going to start getting distorted. Same thing actually happens with your eyes - anything in your peripheral vision is quite stretched, we just don't notice it.
Roug perspective boxes: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point (I recommend this to everyone, it's a great way to identify areas where your estimation of perspective is weakest)
Organic perspective boxes: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene
I'll be marking this lesson as complete - I do want you to move onto the 250 box challenge next however. Specifically practice boxes with shallower foreshortening - so where the far planes are only slightly smaller than the near planes, rather than significantly smaller. Also be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms.
Miggery
2016-08-07 09:31
Hi Uncomfortable, here's my homework!
http://imgur.com/a/YjCzB
Uncomfortable
2016-08-07 17:39
Not bad. There's a few issues that we can work towards resolving, but generally you're doing well.
As you continue working on your ellipses, work towards tightening them up. Draw through each one twice before lifting up your pen (more than that seems to be causing you to lose control a bit). Don't stop drawing through them however, as you did for your funnels - I fully expect you to draw through all of the ellipses you do for my lessons.
For your rough perspective boxes, be sure to go over your completed work as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This helps identify areas where your estimation of perspective is at its weakest.
Your rotated and organic perspective boxes are definitely weak, but this is totally expected. This exercise was only included as a first taste of the challenges involved in rotating boxes freely in 3D space, and you were by no means expected to nail it by the end of this lesson.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get more practice with constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes. Be sure to read through the notes on that page, especially the tip about drawing through your forms. This approach in particular will help you better understand how each box sits in 3D space.
SequoiathronePTH
2016-08-07 22:10
http://imgur.com/a/9NQuI
So I'm exercising on lines, I tried both digital and on papes and I think it looks really bad. s it normal for begginners or am I doing something wrong? There is some way I should keep my arm, pen and shoulder? How much time should I spend on this exercises to move on?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-07 22:15
That's fairly normal, fraying/separation towards the end of the line is completely expected. You should be spending enough time on lining up your pen at the correct starting point however to completely avoid any signs of separation at the beginning. Besides that, make sure you're drawing from your shoulder, and you're locking your elbow and wrist. Keep your elbow off the table, but if absolutely necessary you can rest your hand on the page, just be aware of how this may cause you to fall back into the habit of drawing from your wrist, and correct this whenever you catch yourself doing it.
Your work falls within the range I'd expect. The homework section states exactly how many pages you should fill with whichever given exercise. Don't waste time doing the exercises digitally until you've completed the work on paper, as digital media introduces several layers of disconnect (driver issues, software issues, getting used to your tablet, etc.) that will add to your confusion in terms of whether or not you're doing it correctly.
SequoiathronePTH
2016-08-07 22:29
Thank you very much, I'll update the album with the remaining exercises of the first lesson when I can.
Anyway, should I keep doing you whole course on paper or can I swap to digital at a certain point?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-07 23:16
Ultimately if you're planning on submitting the work for critique, I don't accept work done digitally for lessons 1-7, so there's that to consider. Regardless, you're better off doing each lesson in its entirety traditionally, then considering redoing it digitally. There isn't a point where you'd put your pen and paper down entirely.
Gopnyk
2016-08-08 14:07
Hello
Here's my attempt.
http://imgur.com/a/GZM0y
Does it look OK? If not, on what should I focus?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-08 19:54
Generally pretty good! Your lines and ellipses are solid, both confident and smooth. Your boxes are well done as well, though I noticed that you neglected to complete the plotted perspective and rotated box exercises. The plotted perspective one isn't that important, largely there to help beginners bridge the initial understanding of the use of vanishing points, but I would like you to complete the rotated boxes exercise before I mark this lesson as complete.
Once that's done, I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Your organic perspective boxes are pretty good, though in some of the later ones I noticed a little bit of (totally understandable and expected) weakness in regards to how each box sits in 3D space. Read through the notes on that challenge page - the tip about drawing through your forms in particular should help you get a better grasp of how each box occupies space.