Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-03 05:28

Couldn't hurt.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-02 23:01

It's more that you're skipping a step. Before you can simplify something, you must first fully acknowledge it in all of its complexity. Only then can you start sorting through all of the visual information, deciding what is important and what isn't. In that case it's still not simplification, it's organization. Grouping values and details together to reduce contrast. I do plan to write a proper challenge around that concept, but for now this may also help a little: Too Much Visual Noise.

Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders (#2)"

2016-01-02 20:37

They certainly reach their peak in the middle. Drawing in auto-pilot is utterly useless though, and if anything, it makes you slip back into bad habits. That's why I always stress that you should not tackle an entire lesson or challenge in one sitting, and as soon as you get tired, you should stop and take a break. Ultimately that is up to you, however. You have drawn the cylinders (and many are quite good), so I'll mark this challenge as complete.

I have to admit, you've got me thinking I should implement a limit on submissions per user per week. I've gotten six from you in two days.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants (version 3)"

2016-01-02 20:36

Early on you apply way, way, way too many contour lines - remember that you should first be looking for natural details that accomplish the same purpose of contour lines, in that they describe how the surface warps through 3D space. We only apply artificial contour lines when they are necessary, and when we do, it's important that you avoid applying them at regular intervals, as this implies a man-made object rather than a natural one.

You certainly reduce your usage of contour lines later on, though I do notice the ones you add tend to be really stiff, especially on stems. Remember that you're not drawing on a flat surface - you're carving these lines along rounded, curving ones. As such, you should think hard before you draw a contour line, as it can easily flatten out an image if done incorrectly.

Your later drawings are generally good, though I think your texturing is still less informed by close and careful study followed by consideration of what information is really necessary to capture the idea you are trying to visually communicate. You're not just copying a photography 1-to-1. You are making decisions on what should be shown, and what should not. If you capture every little bit of detail, not only will it take extremely long, but the result will be very noisy, distracting and full of contrast. I talk about these issues here: Too Much Visiual Noise

Also, when people tend to try to capture every little detail, they have a tendency to get scratchy and scribbly, which you certainly are doing. Every mark you draw should be driven by clear planning and intent.

I do like the way you approach drawing your leaves and petals, starting off with very simple shapes and then carving into them to establish more complex edges. I especially like the leaves on the hibiscus on the last page.

I'll mark this lesson as complete. There's a lot to keep in mind as you move forward, so be sure to apply these ideas to the next lesson.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-02 20:26

Your organic forms are better, your form intersections are quite good. Your dissections are.. improved, but I still want to see one more page of those.

I've very recently rewritten that section of the lesson, and hopefully it's clearer now than it was before. One thing that I'm noticing is that when you seem to think of textures, you're thinking more of 'patterns'. It's true that these are indeed a form of texture - or at least, part of it - but you're missing a whole other component. We're drawing physical objects - that union jack you used may have been printed on cloth, which has its own underlying, subtle texture. Focus on identifying the specific subtle rhythms and details of natural texture rather than just applying patterns to your objects.

The kiwi stuff was better, but I did notice that you have a tendency to look at a reference object or image, identify one or two common visual elements, then focus on drawing. You should be spending far more time studying your reference - when you look away from it, the vast majority of the information you gained will be lost or oversimplified by your brain. As such, after a moment of drawing, you need to look back at your reference.

The problem is that we don't naturally realize this is happening - we assume we retain everything we've seen and will just go on drawing this simplified version of the information. Because of this, you need to really force yourself to look back, look back, look back. Focus on identifying those visual elements, then look at how they're organized - see if they exist in groups or clusters or if they are spread out evenly over the whole form. Look at how those elements vary in size, shape, orientation, etc. and keep an eye out on how light itself hits the objects - often small things like bumps will cast shadows, and it's the shadows you should be drawing, rather than representations of the bumps themselves (which are often not entirely visible).

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-02 20:21

Your arrows and organic form with contour lines/curves are generally fairly decent. As far as the contour curves go, keep reminding yourself of how those curves need to wrap around the rounded 3D forms - you're doing okay with them, but I feel like if you let yourself slip they will start flattening out too much. As long as you keep reminding yourself to strive for that illusion of the curve wrapping around the form, it should solidify with time and practice.

Your dissections are also generally well done, though in some areas you fall back to more scribbling, while in others you're more conscientious and analytical with your texture studies. At the bottom left of page 3, you're getting very, very scribbly and sketchy. You should not be zigzagging your lines or relying on any sort of randomness. What you draw should be the result of conscious decisions.

Finally, your form intersections are showing a few key problems.

• You're not drawing through your ellipses, so they end up coming out uneven and stiff. Your spheres especially suffer from this, as the unevenness causes them to not read as spheres. I've mentioned this before - I expect you to draw through every single ellipse you draw for my lessons.

• Using an Underdrawing - now technically you're not using an underdrawing, but the problems that arise are the same. I'm noticing that you drew, and then went over very carefully to clear up your intersections. The problem is that you're not drawing those thicker lines with any kind of confidence - they're stiff and wobbly. If you remember from the ghosting method, I push the idea of executing every line you draw quickly and with confidence. In order to reduce the inevitable inaccuracy that comes from that, you should be spending lots of time in the preparation phase, ghosting your lines considerably.

• Also, you should be Drawing Through your Forms. Doing so will help you catch mistakes such as Far Planes Being Larger than Near Planes.

I'd like you to do one more page of form intersections, taking what I've said here into consideration. Also, before you do that, I encourage you to go back and reread the form intersection exercise description in lesson 2. I've rewritten it very recently, and hopefully the revised approach will instruct you better on where to focus your time and effort.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-02 19:58

Once you've completed all the sections of a given lesson and met the requirements (used the required medium, finished the minimum amount of homework, etc.) you can click on the yellow button at the top of the lesson, "View Homework Submissions on Reddit" or follow the link in the homework tab of the lesson.

You host the photos/scans of your work separately (most people use Imgur) and include a link to the album in a comment to the lesson's reddit post.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-02 19:51

You seem to have missed some important points from my initial critique.

Here's a few points you should keep in mind:

• Draw through your ellipses

• Ghost all of your lines - you should probably go back to lesson 1 and reread the lesson part of the lines section. At the end I added an explicit breakdown of the three steps of the ghosting method, which you should definitely be keeping in mind.

• Try to draw forms with much, much shallower foreshortening/perspective distortion. That is, your far planes and your near planes should be fairly similar in size, reducing any instances of dramatic perspective. This will make the overall scene far more cohesive, which is probably what is lacking most at the moment.

You're still not Drawing Through your Ellipses. You've improved on the other two points, though. In principle, your contour curves have improved, but they're coming out really stiff and wobbly - you're drawing them slowly, spending a lot of your time in the drawing phase rather than in the planning/preparation phase. I've mentioned this many times, that when you execute a line, it should be fast and confident - all of the time needs to be spent before that, ghosting your lines and getting a feel for the rhythm, angle and curvature.

Honestly, looking at the contour ellipses you drew, it's got me thinking that you need to go back to lesson 1 and reread the ellipse section. You should already be keeping up with those exercises, practicing them regularly - I'm pretty certain that you're not.

Give this a read: Contour Curves Do Not Wrap Around Organic Forms. As I mention there, if you're having trouble wrapping the contour lines around while drawing confidently and quickly, you may want to experiment with overshooting your curves a little as they hook around at the edge of the organic shape.

I recently rewrote the dissection section of lesson 2 - you should go back there and read it, it may clarify some issues. In general you've improved a little on that front, but I'm getting the impression that you're not spending enough time studying your reference photos. It's fairly common for beginners to look at a reference image, identify one or two repeated visual elements, then just focus on drawing those elements all over their form. There's much, much more to it than that, and you need to get used to constantly looking back at your reference image. The second you look away, the majority of the information you absorbed from it gets simplified by your brain, and rendered useless. You might retain only a second or two's worth of drawing before you need to look back. The problem is that by default, people aren't aware of the fact that their brains are simplifying the visual information they've witnessed. So to start with, you need to force yourself to throw away most of what you think you've seen.

When you study a piece of reference, first identify those repeated visual elements, as you have been. Then observe how they're spread out over the surface of the object. Are they spread out evenly? Do they form groups and clusters, or do they amass together into larger clumps? Also notice how those visual elements differ between one another - if your visual elements are bumps, you might notice small bumps, bigger bumps, compound bumps made up of several smaller bumps, etc.

Also, I noticed that next to one of your drawings you wrote "scribbling, but it's not!" - it is scribbling, because you are not actually keeping an eye on the reference image while drawing it. You look at the reference image, you see "oh a bunch of fuzz" or something to that effect, you assume it's just placed randomly, so you then apply your idea of what random fuzz looks like. Instead you should be looking at each individual section, identifying what differs between them, and what is the same. You should be analyzing it to a much greater degree and drawing it with specific intent. Just zigzagging doesn't follow the contour of the form, doesn't take into consideration how that texture in your reference image might actually group and cluster, it's just your mind's idea of what fuzz looks like.

You can't trust what your mind thinks it knows.

Lastly, while your form intersections are improving somewhat, they have a long way to go. You're very, very eager to draw, and not terribly eager to plan. You're not drawing through your ellipses, and you're focusing way more on the intersections than actually drawing the forms as solid masses with weight to them.

I've also rewritten the form intersection exercise description in the lesson, so you should go back and reread that. I also strongly encourage you to restrict yourself to "equilateral" forms - that is forms that are not stretched more in one dimension than any other. So, avoid long tubes, long boxes, anything like that. Think more cube-like. It's considerably easier to deal with these equilateral forms than it is to throw long stretched forms into the mix, because they add much more perspective distortion and foreshortening into the mix.

Try the homework again - one page per exercise, and take the time to reread the lesson in its entirety.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids (version 3)"

2016-01-02 19:29

There's a few problems - firstly, when you scan your work, using any 'drawing' based presets will generally boost the contrast on the image and obliterate any nuance to your lines. The resulting scans tend to come out looking really harsh.

Secondly, I'm noticing that you're drawing pretty small. Working in such restricted spaces often limits our ability to move as well as our ability to think through spatial problems. We end up scribbling more and drawing forms that have a weaker sense of volume and solidity. It also means that your lines are by default going to be considerably thicker relative to the size of the drawing - so if you draw larger, you're given more freedom with how you apply line weight, instead of having everything becoming thick immediately.

Most of all though, you're focusing very, very heavily on texture and detail. Those parts are coming out rather nicely, but they're being applied to forms that have a tendency to feel flatter. The form construction is the core of your drawing, so no matter how well you apply the details, if the construction isn't done well it won't be able to stand up on its own.

I've recently added a new exercise to lesson 2, called "organic intersections." It focuses on thinking about your form intersections in three dimensions, and considering their weight and flexibility. I think you should go back and try this exercise out.

Then, do two more pages of insect lay-ins. Do not go into detail at all, just draw the constructions. Make sure you draw larger, and when you scan use the "photo" presets.

Uncomfortable in the post "During December, critiques will be limited to Patreon supporters (again). Free critiques will resume in January"

2016-01-02 19:16

That's pretty weird. I'd say #2 is workable, but #1 is definitely a total dud. Also, I didn't know the pens came on 0.6.

I'd recommend going back to the store - if you're able to buy them individually, usually they're sold in an area with a strip of paper where you can test them out before you buy them. I'd definitely recommend doing that.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-02 18:05

So what I'm seeing is that when you look at your photo reference, you're identifying certain repeated visual elements, and then it seems to me like that's where your observation stops.

The result is an overly simplified representation of the texture. Instead, you need to continuously look at your reference - first identify those visual elements, then consider how they vary - some might be larger, some might be smaller. Also look at how they're arranged on the surface - do they form clusters, do they clump together to form larger masses, are they spread out evenly?

For beginners it's very difficult to get used to really studying an image or an object, because they're often eager to draw. This is the first major chance for you to work through that.

Also, I want to point out that I've very recently updated the dissection section of lesson 2, so I strongly recommend that you read it over.

Lastly, stick to one colour - working in multiple tones is not helping you learn, nor does it create a particularly pleasing result. I'm also noticing that your contour curves are flattening somewhat, so keep an eye on those.

I'd like to see yet two more pages of dissections. I'm sure you'll be able to nail this eventually.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants (version 3)"

2016-01-02 17:55

When you start out, your forms are loose and your textures quite quite scribbly. I'm happy to say that through the set you improve considerably and get a much better handle on constructing more solid, believable drawings. I especially love the way you approach the leaves on the last two pages.

Your texturing could still stand to be somewhat less scribbly, though. As you move forward, try to draw less and think more. Often when people are overwhelmed by a texture they're trying to capture, they'll resort to just putting down ink in the hopes that it'll solve their problem. The wiser thing to do is to step back, and spend more time studying and analyzing your reference image, trying to identify the visual elements that are present and focusing on how they are arranged and grouped. The result will be a texture that appears considerably more deliberate and less rough/sketchy.

Anyway, you're coming along quite well so feel free to move onto the next lesson.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-02 17:51

Definitely better, much more confident. Continue working towards tightening up your ellipse, but this is definitely going in the right direction. Also, the box at the top that you labelled "dramatic!" - be careful with how you apply your line weights. You've thickened some of the internal lines, which makes it read strangely. Generally you're going to want to keep your internal lines a little lighter, so the whole form feels more cohesive.

Anyway, I'll mark this lesson as complete. Feel free to move onto the next one.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-02 17:27

Well, it's all open now, so submit your homework whenever you feel ready.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#3)"

2016-01-02 03:00

It's up to you, and I can understand why you would want to do that. Ultimately if your form intersections in lesson 2 don't end up being up to scratch, the worst that'll happen is that I'll ask you to finish the challenge first. No big deal, really.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#3)"

2016-01-02 02:23

I... hate to tell you this, but you didn't do the challenge correctly. Not to say what you did didn't have any value, but the challenge was about constructing 250 arbitrarily rotated boxes, set at all different kinds of angles, without explicit vanishing points. Just random, individual boxes. The focus of the exercise was to help you break away from being constricted by vanishing points, and to help you work out a more general, flexible sense of perspective.

I just looked back at your lesson 1 homework - I figured if you'd demonstrated an understanding of arbitrary box construction in the organic perspective exercise, I'd mark this challenge as complete. Unfortunately, your work there shows me that you do need to work in that area. As such, I won't be marking this one as complete.

If you are having trouble approaching those arbitrarily rotated boxes, you may want to take a look at a new exercise I added to lesson 1 today, called 'Rotated Boxes'. It helps bridge the gap between rough perspective and organic perspective, and you can even put them towards the 250 box challenge's total.

As for your concerns about the grip... honestly I've never given it much thought. When working in pen, the grip issue is not the same as when you work with pencil. Pencil affords you many surfaces with which to work, whereas pen is quite limited. Because of that, I generally tell people to hold the pen however they find it to be most comfortable.

That said, the grip on the pen doesn't have a whole lot to do with the shoulder/elbow/wrist thing. That's a matter of how you actually move your arm, and in these situations, you should be striving to lock your wrist and pivot your arm from your shoulder.

I will say that your lines are considerably less wobbly than the last time, so at least you have shown a marked improvement there.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (version 3)"

2016-01-02 01:34

Across the set, you do improve, but the first and last pages really, really fail to show an understanding of the concepts. Strangely enough though, page 4 is FANTASTIC. So I'm left kind of confused. I think you definitely have it in you, but the whole idea of constructing organic forms that intersect with one another isn't clicking. So, I'll try again, focusing on the weaker drawings.

Here's my demo. Ultimately, at least in those drawings, you're not realizing that what you should be focusing on is building up organic forms - which have clear volume and solidity to them. You're getting caught up in drawing what you see, not actually understanding how it exists in 3D space. Those initial forms you construct, you're treating them like initial estimations that are later thrown away or ignored - they're not. Those are the masses of the ribcage, the pelvis, and the cranium, so you should strive to make their position, scale and angle match up. Then, you connect the pelvis to the ribcage creating a sausage-like torso. It's really important that at all steps you're pushing the illusion that it's a 3D form with volume. Sometimes this may require you to add contour lines, though don't draw more than you need.

If the original sausage doesn't match up with the body in your reference, you can then build on top of it by adding more organic forms. For example, if you look at the second last step in my example, I pile a bunch of extra forms along the back to create the humps and generally bulk out the back muscles.

Another important aspect I've stressed before is being aware and being explicit about how the body parts fuse together. A good example for this is the connection point between the neck and torso that I drop in early on, in the second step. I've added an ellipse to the front of the torso to mark where the torso transitions into the neck. Touches like that will help reinforce your volumes.

I want you to do two pages of rhinos and two pages of elephants. We will get this down.

Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders (#2)"

2016-01-01 23:15

In general they are considerably better, especially the last page. I still want you to shake off a lot of the detail-oriented work (no more of those tiny lines everywhere for now) and focus entirely on construction-based work.

Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders (#2)"

2016-01-01 23:04

... Damnit I just wrote a critique telling you to do the 250 cylinder challenge. I should have looked ahead.

Well, you're doing pretty well, so that's good. One thing that stands out to me though is that some of your longer lines aren't entirely straight - they wobble at times, or arc, or bulge. You'll need to work on that, as a straight line is often the difference between something that feels flimsy, and something that feels solid.

All the same, what I'm seeing here is good. I'm going to mark this challenge as complete. I'm curious though - did you do this before or after Lesson 6?

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects (version 3)"

2016-01-01 23:02

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-01 22:49

Your arrows are well done, and your dissections are really cool. Your organic forms with contour curves are on the fence though - you really need to keep focusing on making sure the curves wrap around the forms convincingly. You're doing an okay job but I feel like if you stop thinking about it, you might lose grasp of it, so for the time being, keep it in mind so the idea solidifies. Here's some more info on that topic: Contour Curves Do Not Wrap Around Organic Forms

As far as your form intersections go, they're alright, though one big issue that I'm seeing is that You're Using an Underdrawing. This has a tendency to undermine the confidence of your lines, and ultimately make your forms lose their sense of weight and solidity. your intersections are pretty decent though.

Another thing I'm noticing is that your cylinder constructions could certainly be better - might want to check out the 250 cylinder challenge which specifically details how to construct a cylinder from its minor axis.

I'd like you to do one more page of form intersections, without the use of an underdrawing. I've actually rewritten that section of the lesson, so you would likely want to go back and read it over. Don't think about the intersections until the end, just focus on drawing forms that are consistent with each other and feel like they belong in the same scene and space.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#3)"

2016-01-01 22:43

Congrats on completing the challenge. Here are a few points you should keep in mind as you move forwards:

• Most of your boxes have some really, really dramatic perspective/foreshortening applied to them. While that's fine for individual boxes, you will find that it will be troublesome when you start building scenes, as things will start to get inconsistent. Be sure to read this: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene

• A lot of your hatching lines there are sloppy - if you're going to do something sloppy, don't do it at all. Remember to keep the hatching lines consistent, parallel, and stretched all the way across a plane from edge to edge. No scribbling, no floating lines.

• Also, as you move forward you may want to practice Drawing Through your Forms

Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders (#2)"

2016-01-01 22:25

Congrats on completing the challenge. There are a few issues I'm seeing though - there's almost no consideration for the minor axis, and no attempts to construct a cylinder within a box. These are things that I discussed within the video, and they're really important.

With the New Years Update, I've formalized the challenges onto the website proper, along with a "how to draw a cylinder" break down you should definitely check out here: 250 Cylinder Challenge.

Now, your ellipses are actually not bad, but the minor axis allows you to align the cylinder to a specific location and angle. Right now you've got a lot of arbitrary cylinders, but when you need to work them into an existing construction, you will face difficulty without minding it.

Also, draw through all of your ellipses :P

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-01 21:50

Excellent work. Everything seems to be in order - your arrows are well done, your contour curves wrap nicely around their rounded organic forms, your dissections demonstrate a lot of experimentation with different kinds of textures, and your form intersections feel solid, consistent and weighty. I'm not sure if you used an underdrawing for your form intersections, or if those lighter lines are your cross-sections. I'm leaning towards the latter, because your linework appears to be very confident and bold, whereas when most people use underdrawings their darker lines tend to suffer from looking too stiff and careful, which is why I don't recommend it.

So, all I can say is, keep up the good work and feel free to move onto the next lesson.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (version 3)"

2016-01-01 21:34

Don't think that the goal here is to work without reference. That is an ability that will emerge, certainly, but even those who can work without reference will use it, knowing full well that their work will be better for it. They're not going to be replicating what their reference shows them exactly, but they will use that reference to inform their decisions while creating new, original works.

Anyway, all that said, don't treat reference as though it's training-wheels, meant to be cast off. In the long run, you just end up learning how to use reference better, being able to take small parts from many images instead of relying entirely on just reproducing a single photograph.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-01 21:26

I think you're being too critical of yourself. For the most part, your homework is really well done. There's a few minor issues that I will mention, but there's really no big concern that's got me thinking you should redo any of it.

First off, your organic forms with contour lines are generally good, just remember that this exercise primarily focuses on rounded forms - you've got some intentional hard edges and sharp corners in there that, while certainly an interesting experiment, aren't things you should be venturing into just yet. Focus on establishing rounded forms with contour curves that wrap around them convincingly. You're generally doing a good job at this (mostly in the first two pages of organic forms with contour curves, and the contour ellipses before them are very well done), but when you start playing with those sharp corners and flat surfaces things start to fall apart a bit.

As for your dissections, they're well done - you've focused on observing and breaking detail down into their rhythms and patterns. The next step would be to reduce the visual noise from adding all that detail - ultimately it's a matter of deciding what is important to keep in order to visually communicate the surface texture you're after, and what can be thrown out in order to reduce contrast. This may help explain some of that: Too Much Visiual Noise. You're still doing fairly well. As long as you keep that in mind as you move forward, you'll do fine.

I do have two concerns about your form intersections.

• First, don't use a rough underdrawing. This will explain it in greater detail: Using an Underdrawing

• Secondly, your shading/crosshatching is kind of sloppy at times. Not immensely so, but enough to catch my eye. I'd usually recommend not using crosshatching at all (very often the crossing lines end up coming out sloppy), single-direction hatching lines tend to work better.

Anyway, overall you've done quite well so feel free to move onto the next lesson.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#3)"

2016-01-01 20:46

You've definitely improved considerably over the set. At the beginning you seemed to be lost in terms of how to think about 3D space. A couple pages later you were definitely doing better, but I was getting ready to tell you to start drawing through your boxes to fix the near/far plane issues - but you did so on your own in the pages subsequent to that! So all I can say is, keep up the good work. Your last organic perspective exercise that you did there at the end is much better than what you submitted in lesson 1.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#3)"

2016-01-01 19:53

Good work completing the challenge. There's a few areas that you can focus on in the future though. Just like lesson 1 (and eventually lesson 2), all of these exercises are things you should continue to practice on your own. I'm just sending you in the right direction, but it's quite the journey you have ahead of you.

• Draw through your boxes - as though you have x-ray vision and can see the lines on the far side of the box that are traditionally hidden by the form itself. This will allow you to clearly define all the planes of the box with a full 4 lines. In turn this will make you more aware of mistakes you're making, like your far plane being larger than your near plane. You do that every now and then - for example, 242 is one that stands out to me.

• When you do corrections, focus on lines that you thought were correct when you drew them, but ended up being wrong when seen with fresh eyes. In this case, circling the mistakes isn't terribly useful - instead, draw in the correct line. On the other hand, mistakes where your hand slipped or where you aimed to draw one line but ended up drawing another, can just be ignored. The whole correction thing is more about making yourself conscious of the mistakes of understanding that you make.

Anyway, I'll mark this as complete.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-01 19:09

Your arrows, organic forms and form intersections are pretty solid. Your form intersections are coming along, but there are a few things I'd like to point out.

First off, when you don't draw through your cones (ie: drawing the whole ellipse for the base) they tend to come out poorly, as the curvature that you use ends up being far too shallow. It's very similar to a common mistake people make when dealing with organic forms with contour curves (although you actually generally did pretty well in that area). Still, watch this video on the topic for more information, and for now you should continue to completely draw through your forms.

I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I do believe you would benefit from doing the 250 cylinder challenge. There's some particular tricks to constructing a cylinder that you should learn, and they're all described on that page.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-01 18:42

Ultimately sticking with it is still your own doing - so congrats on that.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-01 18:01

Thanks!

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-01 18:01

Choo choo

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-01 18:01

Welcome to the fold!

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-01 17:58

Thanks for the kind words - I hope the lessons will prove useful to you.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-01 17:58

Thanks!

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-01 17:58

:D

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2016-01-01 17:58

There's just one additional exercise for lesson 2, so you probably should go ahead and try that. It's under the form intersection section, "Organic intersections".

I've also added a 'self-critique resources', linked at the top of lessons 1 and 2, which you should go through before submitting your homework to me.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants (version 3)"

2015-12-31 18:37

Excellent work - I especially love the cacti on page 8. You've done an excellent job of laying in your forms, then pushing your focal point to its limit. Page 10 is also quite well done.

The biggest thing that stands out to me in your work is that the lines you add to your leaves - the contour-ish ones coming off the center line - they tend to be spaced out very regularly. Remember that when dealing with organic and natural objects, you'll generally find details like that spaced out irregularly instead. Regular spacing usually implies man-made construction.

Anyway, aside from that, excellent work. Feel free to move onto the next lesson.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#3)"

2015-12-30 18:15

Coming along very nicely! As you continue to move forwards, I'd say the next step is to experiment with line weight to add dynamism and solidity to your boxes. Other than that though, the forms are looking good and the lines themselves are generally drawn quite confidently and well.

I'll mark this challenge as complete.

Uncomfortable in the post "During December, critiques will be limited to Patreon supporters (again). Free critiques will resume in January"

2015-12-30 17:39

There definitely are some pens, even from the same brand, that are duds. Both being duds seems like terrible luck, or that something else is wrong.

For comparison's sake, here's a few lines from one of mine. This pen definitely isn't new, though I'm not sure how old or used up it is - it's pretty much working as though it's fresh out of the package though.

Could you take a photo of some of the lines that are coming out of your pens?

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (version 3)"

2015-12-30 02:48

Your forms have improved somewhat (still a ways to go), but I feel like you got sloppier as far as observing things goes - a lot of these feel much more simplistic (almost cartoony) in form and construction than the previous set. Also, it would help to draw things larger on the page - smaller drawings will restrict your ability to think through 3D space.

Here's some extra notes. At this point, it's pretty much up to you to continue practicing and applying the things I've mentioned in my critiques. So, i'm going to mark this lesson as complete and let you move onto the next one.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (version 3)"

2015-12-29 18:11

Thanks for the tip! And long-time-no-post :D

Uncomfortable in the post "During December, critiques will be limited to Patreon supporters (again). Free critiques will resume in January"

2015-12-28 18:22

If you've got a question, go ahead and ask it. I'll still answer those!

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals (version 3)"

2015-12-28 00:20

You definitely have improved. I especially love your lizards, and generally onwards from there your work gets considerably stronger. That said, there are still fundamental problems that are holding you back. You're not spending enough time on your lay-in, and ultimately you are a little afraid to add the lines necessary for you to understand how the whole thing sits in 3D space. Remember that we're breaking everything down into simple shapes so we can learn how to piece it all together.

Take a look at this camel demo. There's a few key things to take from this:

• The initial masses you draw in represent specific body parts - the cranium, the ribcage, the pelvis. They're not arbitrary bits, they should reflect those masses. Generally this means keeping your cranium spherical, making sure the ribcage is larger and is oriented correctly, and making sure that the angle of the pelvis matches what you see in your reference.

• Be mindful of how forms intersect, and add extra forms on top of your base forms. Think of it like playing with clay or putty. You start off with one form, but if you feel your camel needs a hump, you pull out some more putty and construct a hump as a new solid organic form that sits atop the previous one. Furthermore, be aware of how those forms intersect - there are clear shoulder masses that intersect with the torso, so marking out that intersection point (usually fairly elliptical) is important to get a sense of it.

• Lay in the entire form - I noticed you tend to just wing it with the legs. Your results are pretty good, but I'm inclined to believe that you probably find things getting weaker without reference for that exact pose. Understanding how everything fits together as simple forms and shapes grants you a greater degree of flexibility. You'll notice that in my demo, I only used the reference as a guide to tell me where all the parts go. My viewing angle has deviated somewhat.

I'd like you to do four more pages of animal drawings, but only the lay-ins. Add details for the last page, but I want the first three to be strictly like my demo, complete forms and shapes with contour lines where necessary.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#3)"

2015-12-27 23:37

I see quite a bit of improvement over the set! I'm glad to see that you started off by drawing through your boxes. By the end, your lines are considerably more confident and thought-out. You did miss a few mistakes to be sure, but your sense of what looks right and wrong will sharpen as you continue to practice drawing.

I'll mark this challenge as complete. Keep up the good work!

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2015-12-27 21:53

Your arrows, organic forms and form intersections are generally quite well done, all showing improvement over the set. I would however like you to do redo your dissections.

Before I get to that, I wanted to point out that you have a tendency to draw over your contour curves (for the organic forms with contour curves exercise) several times. Draw them only once. Focus on wrapping them around the form as you have, but don't draw more than one mark for these curves. Instead, think through the problem, and overshoot the curve and have it hook around slightly if necessary. Generally you've done a pretty decent job of getting the curves to wrap around the forms, so keep it up. Just force yourself to get out of that habit of immediately reinforcing your a line with another.

As for your dissections - you didn't really do the exercise as described. It's not about drawing heads on your forms (in fact you shouldn't be, and I'm glad that you didn't). It's about looking at reference images and observing the textures present - then unwrapping them and applying them to your simple, nondescript forms. Since you didn't really do this, I'd like you to give it another shot before I mark this lesson as complete.

To help, here's a couple examples of dissections done well: https://i.imgur.com/zyJH8bX.jpg, https://i.imgur.com/ZlTNm6i.jpg. Also, here's a demo I did on breaking down a texture from a reference image.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#3)"

2015-12-27 21:12

There's definitely improvements throughout the set. Remember not to be scribbly or loose with your hatching - generally you do it okay but here and there you get sloppy (186, 192, etc.). By the fifth page, your line quality starts to improve (up til then your lines are generally somewhat scratchier where you try to add line weight). In general, the earlier pages of this set are messier than I'd like. Hopefully this will continue to improve as you continue to practice.

Also, you will benefit from going over your homework with a different coloured pen and drawing in corrections where they are necessary. Focus on mistakes where you felt the lines were correct when you drew them, but upon reflection realized they were wrong.

Anyway, I'll mark this challenge as complete. Go ahead and move onto lesson 2 when you feel ready.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#3)"

2015-12-27 20:45

Hey, unfortunately I'm taking a break through the month of December. Free critiques will resume on January 1st (just a few days away), so you'll have to resubmit the work then - until then, the critiques are restricted to the patreon supporters (if you are one, make sure you've sent me your reddit username via patreon's messaging system). For now, you can definitely still gain quite a bit by looking at the critiques I've given others - it helps to see if you've made similar mistakes.

You can check out this announcement on the hiatus for more information.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids (version 3)"

2015-12-27 02:08

Hey, unfortunately I'm taking a break through the month of December. Free critiques will resume on January 1st, so you'll have to resubmit the work then - until then, the critiques are restricted to the patreon supporters (if you are one, make sure you've sent me your reddit username via patreon's messaging system). For now, you can definitely still gain quite a bit by looking at the critiques I've given others - it helps to see if you've made similar mistakes.

You can check out this announcement on the hiatus for more information.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 3)"

2015-12-24 19:01

I have a few concerns that I will mention, but overall you did pretty well so I'll mark the lesson as complete.

• When tackling the organic forms with contour ellipses and curves, you're making your organic forms too complex. You're not giving yourself the chance to nail the simpler concepts first (specifically just taking a simple flat shape and turning it into a 3d form that encloses volume). Don't worry about making these forms interesting, just stick to simple sausages for now.

• When it comes to drawing contour curves that wrap around the organic forms convincingly, such that they give the impression that they hook back around at the edge and continue along the other side of the rounded form, you're straddling the fence. In some cases you're getting it, while in others your curves don't hook around enough.

I want you to watch, or rewatch as the case may be, this video on the subject of organic forms with contour lines. It will help emphasize what you should be focusing on. Also, overshooting your contour curves a little bit when you hook them around at the edge may help you get a sense of how the curve should be accelerating. Consider overshooting the curves to be a bit like using training wheels - use them as much as you need until you feel confident, then start pulling back a little.

In your dissections, you did a pretty good job. At times you did focus too much on forms (like the fish head, fish tail, etc.) Remember that this exercise is all about texture - your forms should be simple and nondescript. Also, I know this was momentary and you did not continue the trend, but i do want to mention that for each drawing you do for these lessons, stick to one tool. When you started switching over to felt tip pen, I noticed that you started a drawing in ballpoint, then moved over to felt tip. It's not about switching tools really, but rather that I want you to tackle a single drawing without jumping between thicknesses of pens. Forcing yourself to use the one 0.5mm felt tip pen will teach you how to control the amount of pressure you use, so you can get the most versatility out of the single tool. Admittedly, you don't get that kind of flexibility from ballpoint, so just keep that in mind as you continue to use felt tip.

Your form intersections are moving in the right direction, and are pretty solid. Plenty of room to grow, but you're on the right track.

As always, you should continue practicing these exercises as warm-ups - especially the organic forms with contour curves, which are still shaky - but you're ready to move onto the next lesson.