soundslikeponies
2016-07-24 03:16
To be honest, the example drawing on the site was a bit inaccurate, and as such I struggled with this exercise for a while. The example drawing in this post is much better, as are the details.
TAOLIK
2016-07-24 03:35
remindme! 2 years
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2016-07-24 03:36
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TM_WE
2016-07-24 05:50
I feel validated in my mental battle with that exercise. I definitely need to work on it, next time I'll be sure to add the 1PP boxes around the first box. I think that would help a lot.
Kitten_Wizard
2016-07-24 12:53
Should we be using a ruler/anything to help us or is this purely from visualization and strokes?
I never really got that when it comes to learning.
Does it hinder my learning if I use things like rulers to attain straight lines or to measure a distance between two points?
I'm an analytical person so I would be REALLY bothered if I could notice the side boxes being spaced slightly differently from the center box. It's a really annoying trait and I wish I could jsut be like "who cares, they don't need to be exactly the same distance from the center like twins."
Uncomfortable
2016-07-24 15:49
In this case, you should be drawing freehand. If a ruler is okay for certain things, it'll be mentioned in the instructions. When I allow for the use of rulers, it's usually in order to draw things like frames and generally keep a clean layout, which ultimately helps you maintain the mindset of drawing thoughtfully and planning your marks out. Getting caught up in measuring however undermines the purpose of learning to draw more organically. Don't let your little ticks get in the way of your learning - if you get too caught up in the distance between the boxes, you'll likely loose track of the goal of learning how to rotate a box in space. By the nature of our approach, things will not be exact, nor perfect. We're estimating everything, so it's inevitable that there would be some mistakes.
That said, in regards to some of the gaps, you may want to look at /u/soundslikeponies' additional tips about spacing: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/4u9pkg/tackling_the_rotated_boxes_exercise/d5octx5
doejinn
2016-07-24 18:40
This is awesome. Ive taken up sketching. This block way of looking at things is very interesting but seems very difficult. I should maybe teach myself this, but your guide is very good. It just seems that i have tried to look at your website but find it too intimidating. Maybe you have an app, i will check. But wow, would this be good in an app.
I digressed there, but what i actually wanted to say is that i always had a affinity with drawing, but i let it go. And for a couple of years ive had a phone with a stylus so i have re-entered the fold.
I use sketchbook pro, but i have very littke guidance there. And i have noticed your tutorials. I dont know if theres a bunch of you or you're a solo practintioner/teacher, but, well, i guess its a niche- but as a i think of it, how many people draw on tabkets here? Or is it mostly paper. Anyway, ive digressed again.
What i really wanted to say was i wish i could have an art fundamentals app, and that that would be the ultimate fusion of learning for me. But i guess i can fiddle with the website.
Anyway. I dont mean to sound grouchy about it, but it might be usefuk to you to know that someonr out there might want somethibg like that, though i woukd do my research by taking a poll or something.
But, obviously that wasnt waht i wanted to talk about, but what i wanted to do was to say thank you for all your effort. Even this box thing, i feel ove kearned something by just looking at them, and i will probably try and replicate it and see what new skill, or fraction of skill emerges from my future drawings.
Sorry about the meandering reply, but i have adopted a kind of very loose style of writing which requires no editing.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-24 18:46
To answer some of your questions, I'm the only one running this subreddit. No one who submits here does the lessons with a tablet, as I have very strict regulations on what kind of media is allowed for the homework of each lesson, and the majority of it is done in ink, specifically with felt tip pens. You can read why here.
That's not to say the lessons aren't effective for people who intend to work digitally - I do all my professional work digitally, and many of the students here eventually intend to move onto digital work.
doejinn
2016-07-24 19:15
I just read it. I think you are right, and i like the pen on paper. I tried it last year. Theres something about it that ... forces you to either think, or just go crazy because ... well... i don't know, you worded it better in your article. And absolutely i will draw in ink to improve.
But, honesty, the website is too big for phones. Why not package it in to an app, you know, and obviously you probably have thought if this, i wouodnt know, but i use my phone for everything, and sliding pages around the screen, well its not ideal. So an app that presents the information in a mobile freindly way would be a great thing for me personally, but maybe perhaps not enough people for it to be worth it.
But also. I like to ramble a bit, so forgive me if i sound abrupt or stupid. :)
Uncomfortable
2016-07-24 20:05
Yeah, I can imagine that the lesson pages don't read too well on a phone - but it'd take way more effort and time than I'm willing to put in right now to find a way to present my overly wordy explanations on mobile that would be easy to digest. That time would be better spent improving the material, I think.
doejinn
2016-07-24 20:34
No doubt. But your lessons are universal and timeless, so one day maybe. I appreciate your help.
BowlPotato
2016-07-26 04:13
This version of the explanation is very helpful. Not that the previous one was insufficient, but the new sample completed exercise you provide gives me a much clearer vision of how the boxes relate to each other.
Thanks for the update.
wraith313
2016-07-31 01:39
This makes way more sense to me than the other explanation did. Thanks OP!
Miggery
2016-08-02 16:07
I understood the vanishing points of the horizontal and vertical rotations but the diagonal rotations are messing me up. I cant exactly mentally pinpoint where their vanishing point is. Any advice?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-02 17:03
The point of this exercise is not to try and pinpoint exact locations for vanishing points. Instead of trying to rely on them, use the other angles present in the scene already, as shown here: http://i.imgur.com/sAJM4L3.jpg
We know that the vanishing points exist, and that our lines should be converging towards certain general locations, but trying to figure out where all of those points are can lead to some degree of creative paralysis. Trying to infer this information instead from elements already existing in your scene is much more intuitive, and while not as exact, is often enough to convince your viewers.
gatereject
2016-08-04 14:06
Am re-doing some exercises and was excited when I saw this update since I fk'd up so hard the last time.
I think I might doing it wrong with step 4-5. I did the extremities and began to rotate the box, but after I finished, the rotated box's size doesn't match the extremities. Is it normal or am I doing something horribly wrong?
Uncomfortable
2016-08-04 16:26
Keeping scale consistent is a normal thing people struggle with, if that's what you mean. The important thing here is not to get tunnel vision - there's many things to consider when constructing your boxes, primarily your center and the extremity, and then where between them your box fits (and therefore how similar it should be to either end). You're going to make mistakes, there's nothing "horribly" wrong about that, it's just part of the learning process. You just have to keep practicing, and try to stay aware of all the variables in your scene - if you focus too much on just the center box, then you'll fall out of step with the extremity. You need to keep both in mind when determining how much smaller each box gets as you rotate them.
[deleted]
2016-08-08 07:18
[deleted]
Uncomfortable
2016-08-08 12:33
I'll be able to help you a little better when you submit the homework - just focus on completing the work to the best of your ability for now.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-24 03:20
These are good points to keep in mind! Though in your last overdrawing, I think you mixed up the green/red, as it appears that the green angles are placed on the near, and the red are placed on the far, but in the center you've marked that red is smaller than green.
soundslikeponies
2016-07-24 03:22
... Woops.
edit: fixed via amazing mspaint editing tools.
Uncomfortable
2016-07-24 03:23
:D It happens to the best of us.