MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 7: Drawing Vehicles"
2018-09-20 10:38
OK here it is. I took my time and tried to do it right. It'll be pretty obvious that I was unable to obtain a set of ellipse guides. Despite my best efforts with using axes and ghosting etc, my poor ellipses did ruin more than one of these drawings. I did take a break to practice a few pages of ellipses and I think that helped with the later drawings. I did however come to the conclusion after watching your video a couple of times, that it's pretty much impossible to use a free-hand drawn ellipse to work out a perfect square in perspective. I do understand the theory of it, but in practice it's another thing. Seems like it's pretty tricky even when you're working digitally. Anyway it did make me study the whole thing quite closely, and I went off and learned some other methods for doing the same thing, like the measurement method (using the horizon line and 90 degree angles to work out a square in perspective) - not practical for this lesson, but interesting none-the-less.
Another thing I found interesting about this lesson was the comparison between simply using the info in the isometrics to extrapolate where my lines should go vs. relying more on the reference photo and just drawing what I see. Of course in a perfect world those 2 things would be the same but, yeah.. I did focus more on the former, as I think that's more in the spirit of the lesson, and just used the latter to check that my decisions made sense. I'll admit that I do still struggle with estimating vanishing points. Usually I'm cruising along thinking everything looks good, or at least in the correct ball park, then when it comes time for the final lines to converge I learn just how far out I am. Quite a pain when you're working in ink.
Speaking of ink, is it me or does every ballpoint pen eventually go blotchy when using a steel ruler a lot? Went through about 4 of them, sorry about the smears.
Anyway, looking forward to your feedback. https://imgur.com/a/2R6d7q9
MegaMikeNZ in the post "250 Box Challenge"
2018-07-18 09:49
Thanks for the notes. I'll work on my line quality.
MegaMikeNZ in the post "250 Box Challenge"
2018-07-16 08:31
Hi. The 250 Cylinder thread is locked again, so I'm posting here. Just let me know if you want me to delete it. Cheers.
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects"
2018-05-08 02:57
Thanks for your notes. I'll move on to the cylinders.
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects"
2018-05-06 12:01
Here's my Lesson 6 submission. It definitely took me a couple of drawings to get into the swing of this one, and to remember some of the lessons learnt during the 250 box challenge. It was certainly getting easier as I went though.
I found I was able to draw pretty decent straight lines freehand, but only if I really took my time and did a lot of ghosting. When I tried to pick up the pace that's usually when my lines went a bit wayward.
I've opted for little or no detail which did, to my eye, make some of the drawings look very simple - even when the construction was quite complex. But after your notes from the last lesson I think this was the right decision, to save myself from getting distracted from the core principles of the lesson.
Take your time to critique, I'm in no rush. Thanks. https://imgur.com/a/Vn8CokU
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2018-04-09 20:42
Thanks for your notes. As prescribed, here are a couple more pages; no detail, with an emphasis on head construction. https://imgur.com/a/mMax8
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2018-04-05 21:42
So this was quite a struggle from start to finish. I spent a lot of time on this (perhaps about 40 hours) but one thing I will say about these lessons is they're slowly helping me get over my fear of working directly in ink - which can be read as 'fear of making mistakes'. I still do sit and stare at the reference for a long time and do a lot of ghosting before making a mark on the page - but I suppose speed will come with time and practice.
A couple of observations about this lesson (that you've probably heard before).. I found it challenging to start by drawing in the 3 main unconnected body masses, because if their size, proportion or distance from each other were off - then the whole animal would look off no matter what you do from that point (fox #5, polar bear #2). But I do think I improved at getting those masses right as the lesson went on.
Also, animal faces are hard! If you get that face/snout shape even slightly wrong it completely changes the personality and makes it look like a different animal.
OK anyway, here you go. Look forward to your feedback https://imgur.com/a/esqcb
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2018-03-15 08:38
Thanks for the critique, that's very encouraging. I'll keep your notes in mind as I move on to animals.
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2018-03-12 23:28
Apologies for posting on the wrong thread, but I can't seem to post on the lesson 4 thread at all. There's no comment field available. Has it been locked? I noticed the last submission was 9 days ago which seems strange. Anyway, here's my lesson 4. Many thanks. https://imgur.com/a/RdDKl
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2018-02-22 01:37
It's true, I didn't put much thought into the pots - they could have been done much better. Thanks for your notes and for illustrating your points, that always helps.
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2018-02-21 19:27
Hello, here's lesson 3. Thanks. https://imgur.com/a/FuN8j
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections"
2018-02-15 02:29
Thanks for the compliment, but I struggled with this just as much as any beginner artist. Some parts came out fairly decent, others not so much. For me it's just a matter of taking my time and trying to think carefully through each exercise. Hang in there!
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections"
2018-02-15 02:26
Thank you. All points read and understood, I'll make sure I address those moving forward. I just have one query in regards to the organic forms w/ contour curves, and your note about sticking to simple sausages only.. I recall the instructions for this lesson loosely recommended sausages to start with, but then said it's ok to experiment and get a bit random. Or have I missed your point?
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections"
2018-02-12 23:33
Here is my submission for lesson 2 https://imgur.com/a/4BV8g
Thanks.
MegaMikeNZ in the post "250 Box Challenge"
2018-02-11 02:41
250 Box Challenge https://imgur.com/a/5P5fX
Took my time and got there in the end.
I haven't drawn in the correction lines for every box, but I have drawn them in for a lot of boxes - enough to see patterns emerging and try to address them. Getting the 'back' (furthest) edge on the correct angle without a ruler was a constant challenge.
Thanks!
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes"
2017-12-18 03:11
Thanks. I've taken all of your points on board. I did do a couple of pages of boxes previously, but I'll go back now and complete the challenge.
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes"
2017-12-11 21:55
Lesson 1 - As discussed, here's my homework re-uploaded to this thread. Thanks. https://imgur.com/a/hk4aP
MegaMikeNZ in the post "Lesson 7: Drawing Vehicles"
2018-09-24 03:41
Thanks for all your notes and good advice.