Uncomfortable in the post "Show Us Your Progress!"
2015-08-10 01:01
You are, of course, free to use the lessons however you choose, in whatever order and with whatever tools you'd prefer to use - assuming you don't intend to submit your homework for review and critique. That said, the lessons are organized in this way, and certain tools are recommended, because they are generally far more effective.
The thing you mentioned about the pens being really expensive shocked me, so I went looking for myself - these are the brand I use, and at R$ 74,90, they're still a little pricey, but nowhere near what you were finding. Chances are you were looking at the wrong kind of pen. Standard ballpoint pens, which are acceptable for the first two lessons, are R$ 6,99. They're much better than using pencil.
About the troubles you were experiencing with lesson 1 - drawing from your shoulder is not an easy thing to get used to for anyone, since we're all familiar with using the pen from the wrist when we write. Avoiding it altogether however, is not a good idea. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you are a special case, that your arm or your brain works differently from others'. If you let yourself believe that, you'll simply use it as an excuse to give in that much more easily, and if you let yourself give up, you won't achieve much.
Anyway, it's up to you. Just remember that if you do want to submit your work for critique (which people have found to be quite helpful), be sure to complete the lessons in order and in full, using the required tools.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2015-08-09 23:01
Some are definitely better than others. Your hybrids were interesting, and they do bespeak a growing understanding. But we've got to take it further.
In a lot of these, I see a core problem that I've seen in a lot of others. Your lay-ins are lacking.
Basically, you've got to perceive the whole body - every part of it - as a form that connects with other forms. The limbs connect to the torso at some discrete point, the lower leg connects to the thigh at another, and so on. These have to intersect clearly, not just float around in relations to one another.
Check out these extra demos I've drawn over the past few months.
Focus on how all the bits connect together, and remember that they are 3D forms with volume. Like this.
I'd like you to try another six pages, but don't go into detail. Stick to only drawing the lay-ins, focusing on drawing complete and discrete forms (don't be loose - think before every mark you draw, and don't think on the page, you should have a clear idea of what the mark you're going to draw looks like).
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-08-09 21:16
Thanks for the gumroad link, that definitely makes things a lot easier.
I find it really strange, to be honest - the patreon page talks about covering the basics of perspective, then dynamic sketching, and so on. But the actual lessons cover entirely different topics which, I agree, really aren't appropriate for beginners.
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-08-09 20:54
I'm thrilled to hear that! And a bit surprised, to be honest. I'm starting to think that maybe I should pledge to Foundation, just so I can get a better idea of what is covered there, so I can better fit drawabox into the resulting gaps.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-09 19:43
Generally your work is pretty solid. Your super imposed lines are done really well, they show a lot of patience and care. Your ellipses are fairly well done as well, though in your funnels you start to get a little loose. Always remind yourself of what kind of ellipse you're trying to draw - its degree, its position, its size, etc. Strive to make it fit snugly in the space it's given.
In your rough perspective exercises, you do fairly well, but at times the angles of your lines will become less accurate. This is often with the lines of your boxes that are further away from the vanishing point - their angle has them intersecting with the horizon line a little further away from the VP than they should. I recommend going back over your rough perspective homework with a different coloured pen, and plot all the lines back to the horizon like this. You'll see which ones are correct and which ones are starting to stray. Being aware of your own tendencies will help you compensate for them the next time you tackle an exercise like this.
Lastly, your organic perspective boxes do show that you need some work in that area. This is to be expected - the exercise itself is a tough one, and was included so that I would know where to send you next.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to tackle the 250 box challenge next. It includes a video and some helpful notes, and the challenge itself will help increase your comfort level with the idea of rotating simple forms arbitrarily in 3D space.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-08-09 19:35
Looking pretty solid! Your arrows flow nicely through 3D space. Your organic forms with contour lines are pretty well done, though you should continue to remind yourself about wrapping your contour lines around the forms. You have pretty much achieved this, but at times you are just short of really nailing that illusion of the line continuing around the form instead of stopping at the edge. This will improve with practice, as long as you keep yourself aware of it.
Your dissections were quite strong - lots of great texture experimentation. Your form intersections were also really quite good. I love the complexity of your arrangements. The only thing I want to stress - remember that the under drawing (where you drew through everything) is what's important, not the cleaned up final drawing. You did a good job, so I'm not admonishing you for anything, it's just that people have a tendency of getting distracted by the clean-up phase. Usually I just discourage people from cleaning things like this up at all, asking them instead to focus on laying in the forms and drawing through them.
Anyway, again, great work. Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-09 18:59
Any amount ($1+), but the purpose of this restriction is not to encourage people to donate, but rather to decrease the number of critiques need to do each day. If you can stand to wait, that would be preferable. If you have limited time, however, then feel free to donate however much you can.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-09 16:18
You are absolutely being too hard on yourself. The vast majority of this is very well done. The organic perspective boxes are mostly decent, though here and there I still see a bit of discomfort with the idea of rotating those forms arbitrarily in 3D space. Still, that'll go away pretty quickly with practice. You may want to try practicing drawing through the boxes completely though (drawing all the lines, as though the box were transparent) to get a better sense of how all the planes of the box are defined.
Anyway, you're doing quite well. Try not to get into the habit of underestimating yourself - it's good to be humble, but a lack of self confidence will impact your work in the long run. For now it doesn't seem to be, but it's best to shake it off early.
Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-09 16:14
Unfortunately, I recently made an announcement about critiques in August being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-08-09 16:13
It all depends on your comfort level with cylinders. If you don't feel like you have a solid understanding of how they work, do the challenge. Otherwise feel free to tackle the form intersections. I'd still recommend that you watch the video in the cylinder challenge post, and read through the notes.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-08-08 22:33
We're glad to have you! Just a few things I want to outline about how this subreddit works, and one restriction that's active during the month of August.
You are of course welcome to tackle these lessons in any order and any quantity with whatever medium you choose, but if you would like your homework reviewed and critiqued, you are expected to start from the beginning, and only move on when the lesson's been marked as complete. Also, all of the lesson's homework should be completed when you submit, not just part of it. Lastly, it must be completed in the medium the lesson prescribes (which you did, I'm just pointing that out for posterity).
Now, unfortunately this month I'm totally swamped at work (hurray for crunch time), so I've temporarily limited my critiques to those who support drawabox through patreon. You can read more about this in the announcement. Regular open critiques will resume on September 1st.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-08-08 15:14
I can definitely see the awkwardness you're experiencing in your linework, but rest assured that you are getting there. It'll take more practice, but it'll start to feel more natural soon, just keep at it. Since you seem to be moving in the right direction, I'll mark this lesson as complete. Go ahead and move onto the next one.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-08 15:12
Your ellipses are much better. Your rough perspective boxes have also improved significantly. There's still plenty of room for improvement there however, but you've gone from lines going off in random directions to lines that intend to go towards the vanishing point, but don't always. So continue to work on that, but you're going in the right direction.
I'll mark this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the 250 box challenge as I mentioned in my previous critique.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-08 15:10
Very nice work. I was going to chastize you for your plane/funnel ellipses, because you didn't draw through them, though generally your ellipses are quite strong. I think you'd still benefit from drawing through them a couple times each in all situations, because there is some minor unevenness to your shapes here and there, though.
The only other thing I wanted to pick at is your boxes in your organic perspective exercise. They're generally not bad, but there's a little bit of inconsistency to your angles and rate of perpsective distortion. I think taking a look at the 250 box challenge would be beneficial to iron out those minor kinks. Also, take a look at these notes on consistent perspective distortion.
Your lines were excellent - they're very confident and remarkably accurate.
Anyway, I'll mark this as complete, so feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Announcement: Important news for those seeking critiques for their homework submissions during the month of August"
2015-08-08 15:03
I tried that to a small extent, with a couple of exceptional students. While these few people were helpful for a time, it's difficult to expect anyone to devote the time and regularity required to really having an impact on my workload.
I did once intend to build the homework submission and critiques into the drawabox website (I was planning to redevelop it completely, though now it doesn't seem entirely worth the trouble), so I could build my own infrastructure for keeping track of which submissions need to be critiqued (there's a good chance of submissions falling through the cracks when you have people sharing the responsibility), or even creating a tier of "exemplary" students who, on a per-lesson basis, would gain the ability to critique and grade other students, while I focused on patreon contributors or something like that.
That concept kinda fell by the wayside though, because I have yet to determine what I could offer those 'exemplary' students in return for consistently critiquing others' work. After all, if you expect people to do things for nothing, you'll naturally be disappointed with the results. People do have a tendency to want to help others, but that motivation tends to come in bursts, and it's only fair to acknowledge that they have their own lives and personal endeavors.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects"
2015-08-08 14:54
Not bad at all. There's definitely plenty of room to grow, but that will come with more practice.
The main thing I want to pick at though is your shading/hatching. It's generally quite sloppy, and that decreases the overall quality of your drawing. Taking the time to draw each line out deliberately, making sure that they are parallel and that they stretch out across the entire surface would very much improve the overall impact of your drawings. Another thing to point out on that subject is that, along with serving as a means to describe the lighting on an object, hatching lines also function the same way contour lines do. They follow the surface of an object, describing how it bends, twists and moves through 3D space.
If you use straight hatching on a cylinder, you're communicating to the viewer that this object is flat, since the contour lines travel straight across it. Instead, the hatching needs to curve with the surface. Often this is rather challenging and doesn't even look that great, so I'll generally apply the hatching length-wise along the cylinder, rather than wrapping it around the shaft. Here's some notes on hatching I'd written out a while back.
The other thing I want to encourage you to do is to take a look at the 250 box challenge and the 250 cylinder challenge. The videos and the notes will help refresh your understanding of how those forms work. The vast majority of your constructions rest on the solidity of these forms, so it's important to regularly practice drawing them.
Anyway, though you have room to grow in this area, I'm going to mark this lesson as complete. I expect you'll continue to practice these skills. The next lesson also tackles a similar set of challenges, though at a much larger scale, so they will also help to sharpen your understanding of construction from rudimentary forms.
Uncomfortable in the post "Show Us Your Progress!"
2015-08-08 14:47
I'm really glad to see your improvement, and even moreso, the apparent boost to your confidence. You are by quite a stretch our biggest supporter on Patreon, so I'm thrilled that the lessons have helped.
Thank you so much for your contributions, both from me and from everyone who uses these lessons and benefits from my critiques. It's people like you who keep these sorts of things open to everyone.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-07 14:41
The worst! Also, in all likelihood, they aren't coming out better when you chicken scratch them. It's more likely that you're not evaluating them on the correct criteria.
An ellipse needs to flow smoothly, and have an even shape. Chicken scratch breaks the flow by using several different independent strokes. You best achieve an even shape by drawing with a single continuous line.
Instead of chicken scratching, try ghosting over the ellipse a few times, getting your muscles used to that elliptical motion. Then draw the ellipse, and continue drawing through it two or three times before lifting your hand. This will allow you to draw it with greater confidence. The second and third times will generally compensate issues from the first. Don't draw through more than that though, or you'll lose track of the ellipse you're intending to draw.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-08-07 02:37
You did a pretty solid job. Your arrows are very nice - extremely fluid and they give a good sense of flat shapes moving through 3D space.
Your organic forms with contour lines were very well done as well - the contour lines wrap very confidently around the forms.
Your dissections are alright as well, though I think they got a bit weaker than they could have because you jumped too early into texturing. The exercise was outlined as starting with the organic form with contour lines, just as the previous one. Then, once that's complete, you apply textures. Your forms ended up somewhat flatter because you rushed forwards. The textures themselves came out pretty nicely though. I definitely do want to recommend however, when dealing with hairy textures, be careful of generating too much contrast and noise. Instead of drawing every individual strand of hair, aggregate them into clumps. Like this
Your form intersections are pretty good. There is one habit you're demonstrating here that I want you to break, however. In drawing these, you approached them in a two stage process. First you roughed them in, then you went back over with a darker line to 'clean up'.
I want you to avoid cleaning up in the future. Reason being, those cleaner lines are not drawn confidently, because you're too worried about getting the line right. The rough lines, however, are much more confident. You should keep to those, but just draw them in darker the first time around. It's totally fine if you end up with a lot of lines on there (what with drawing through your forms and whatnot). We're not after clean drawings, we want to be able to draw confidently, while making sure we fully understand the forms we're drawing.
Anyway, you generally did very well, and your forms all look quite solid (aside from the dissections, and I know you're fully capable of doing that correctly). So, feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-08-07 01:59
You seem to be getting the hang of it. I'm glad to see that you drew through a great deal of the boxes. The only thing I want to pick on you for is the sloppy cross-hatching near the end. Generally though, you did a solid job.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-08-07 01:56
Unfortunately, I recently made an announcement about critiques in August being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-06 16:50
Nope, the page size is up to you. If you're planning on submitting your homework for review/critique however, make sure you read the most recent announcement.
Uncomfortable in the post "Show Us Your Progress!"
2015-08-06 12:55
This post was intended to show how people improved after studying the lessons I post here, but it's always nice to see people progressing in their own way. That said, I definitely think you've got a lot to gain from following the lessons here. Establishing a solid understanding of how to capture the illusion of form is a great way to push your art to the next level.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-08-06 02:51
Unfortunately, I recently made an announcement about critiques in August being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-08-06 01:12
Unfortunately, I recently made an announcement about critiques in August being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-06 01:12
Sorry about missing it last time.
Anyway, your lines are looking great - they show good confidence and a lot of patience and care.
With your ellipses, I see two issues. First off, you're not drawing through your ellipses - which is something I stressed during the lesson (definitely reread the ellipse section, paying special attention to the area around figure 2.9.
I also notice this other weird thing that you're doing - you seem to be drawing your ellipses in two distinct strokes, one half at a time. This results in a broken shape, rather than one that is continuous and even. Never break a continuous line, be it an ellipse or a straight line. As soon as you break it, it's almost guaranteed that you will not be able to pick up the flow of it with another segment.
Your plotted perspective was done fairly well, but there is something I want to bring to your attention. As soon as parts of boxes start falling outside of the space between the two vanishing points, you start getting a lot of distortion. It's a good idea to keep both vanishing points on either end of your page, to limit that distortion.
Your rough perspective definitely needs a lot of work. What I'm seeing is that you seem to be forgetting the purpose of the vanishing point. Try going back over your rough perspective homework with a different coloured pen and a ruler - try plotting your lines back to the horizon and see where they intersect with it. You'll notice that many of them stray very far from the VP.
When doing this exercise, it's important to visualize the line going back all the way to the VP. This will allow you to figure out where the line you're going to draw should start and end, so that it aligns to that angle.
Lastly, the organic perspective exercise needs work as well - however, that's totally fine. I did not include this exercise expecting people to do it properly, but rather as a gauge to see where I should send you next.
So. First, I'd like you to redo all of the ellipse exercises, after rereading that section of the lesson. Then, redo the rough perspective exercise, after going over your last attempt with a different coloured pen and a ruler, plotting those lines back to really be aware of what you did wrong.
One you've done that, resubmit them as a response to this critique, and I'll mark the lesson complete. Once I've marked the lesson as complete, I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge. That will help iron out some of the major problems you experienced with the organic perspective exercise. It's all about learning to rotate simple forms (specifically boxes) arbitrarily in 3D space. The challenge post includes a video that explains that, as well as some helpful notes.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-08-06 01:01
Unfortunately, I recently made an announcement about critiques in August being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
I will however mark this challenge as complete, since it doesn't require any indepth critique. The only thing that I want to remark is that you should get used to drawing larger. Smaller drawings will often restrict the motion of your arm and cause the thickness of the line to be quite large in relation to the size of the drawing, making it look somewhat clunky.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-04 23:59
You generally did a very solid job. The only thing that I want to bring your attention to is that it seems your ghosted lines may be a little bit wobbly.
This is usually caused by attempting to draw the stroke itself a little too slowly, so as to increase your control and accuracy. Unfortunately, it allows your brain the chance to make little microcorrections as you draw, which manifests as a wobbly line.
Instead of drawing the line slowly, put more time into ghosting through the motion and getting your arm and muscles familiar with the task at hand. Once they are comfortable enough, draw the stroke swiftly and confidently, and trust that your muscles can take over. This is a concept you can also apply to your ellipses, which are looking a little wobbly as well.
Aside from that, I'd also like to emphasize the importance of using frames in your box exercises. No composition should be left floating without clear definition as to its edges.
Generally however you did quite well - your execution of your box exercises was fairly strong. Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-08-04 23:55
Phew. Just got back from work, and my spaghetti is a little too hot to eat, so I figure I'll do a few critiques.
Your plants are generally very well done. Your forms are pretty solid, and most of all I'm pleased with your approach to constructing those forms, moving from very simple to more and more complex.
One thing I wanted to weigh in one was your Camphor tree. The texture study you did in the top right was quite well done. The way you applied your texture to the larger drawing however didn't quite come out successfully. The use of shorter lines resulted in a wrinkly aesthetic. To tone down the visual noise, I'd recommend using some longer lines (since every line break will result in a little more contrast). To emphasize the roughness of the texture, I'd throw in a few shorter lines going perpendicular, to show where that particular bit of bark maybe protrudes and comes to a stop. Like a splinter of wood sticking out a bit. The wavy lines all running in the same direction tend to still promote a smoother texture. The study on the top right was done quite well because those waves all appear as layers of bark, and we get that sense of roughness where each layer comes to an end.
Anyway, that was mainly me being picky, because if I don't find something to critique, I don't feel like I'm doing my job. Generally you did a fantastic job, so feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-08-04 00:14
I definitely see some progress throughout this set. You seem to be getting more comfortable with the idea of rotating the forms around in space.
There's only one thing I want to mention - when going over with a different coloured pen, instead of just circling the problematic lines, actually draw in the correct one. Also, don't worry about instances where you overshot a line, or your hand went a bit crazy. Instead, focus on lines where your intention itself was incorrect. Your ability to control your hand will improve with time, so what we want to solidify right now is the understanding of form itself. It's possible to know what the correct line is, and simply fumble when attempting to draw it.
Anyway, I'll mark this challenge as complete! Nice work.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-03 17:16
So there's a couple things here that stand out to me, and generally it's various signs of rushing.
First off, when we look at the super-imposed lines, I see a bit of fraying on the starting end of the line. It's totally expected to see the lines separating on the far end, but at the beginning you should be taking the time to line up your pen correctly at the starting point. So, what I see is that you need to stop and think before rushing to put a mark on the page.
This leads us to the next point - the ghosting technique. It's true that it's an exercise in this lesson, but it's not just that. It's more than a exercise, it's a whole mindset to be applied to how you make marks on the page from now til the end of time. Instead of thinking on the page, exploring and figuring out your shapes by actually drawing, you should be stopping yourself and considering what kind of mark you want to make.
Start by identifying the mark you need to make - where does it start, where does it end, does it curve, what kind of angle does it require, etc. Then prepare to draw the mark - find a comfortable angle of approach (rotating the page if necessary) and ghost through that drawing motion until it feels comfortable. Based on your ghosting exercise, I think you might not be ghosting through the motion enough.
Finally, the last step is to draw the mark - repeat the same ghosted motion and draw the mark with persistence and confidence, doing so swiftly so as to avoid any wobbling. From the looks of it, your drawing speed seems to be okay, it's just a matter of spending more time ghosting through it.
Now, this process should be applied to all of your drawings. This is going to take a lot more time than you're used to, but it will quickly become second nature. The first opportunities to use this technique were in the rough perspective and organic perspective exercises. It would have helped reduce the inaccuracy of your lines, and the tendency to automatically reinforce your lines with another mark. Always remember - one mark per line, and every mark should be driven by thought, planning and consideration.
In the rough perspective boxes, there's another point I want to raise, and that is with your shading. The hatching lines you used were sloppy. I'm sure you're aware of this, it's very clear you did not put your full effort into them. What I want to emphasize here is that if there is anything in a drawing that you are not willing to put your full effort into, you simply should not draw it. In this case, for instance, you could either take the time to draw consistent, parallel lines that stretch from edge to edge all the way across the surface, or you could choose not to include shading at all. Either would have been an acceptable choice. Falling in between, adding a few sloppy lines that float in the middle of the plane, really brings down the quality of your overall aesthetic. Consider that in all of your future drawings. Nothing should be rushed or sloppy and ill-considered.
Lastly, you're right - your organic perspective boxes aren't great, but that is through no real fault of your own. That exercise is very challenging, and is one that I added not expecting people to nail immediately. Instead, it serves as a gauge, letting me know where I should be sending you next. The main skill it tests is the ability to rotate simple forms in 3D space - which sounds simple, but really isn't.
As you stated, you will need to do the 250 box challenge next. The challenge post contains a video that explains the concept, as well as some other helpful notes. Furthermore, the challenge itself will give you the chance to work on applying the ghosting technique to your drawings, as well as the opportunity to really push yourself to be more patient and rush less.
Since that pretty much covers all of the issues I had with this homework submission, I'll mark the lesson complete. I assume you'll be able to work out those problems in the 250 box challenge.
Don't try to complete the challenge in a single sitting - get used to spreading things across several days, and don't let yourself work on it while you're tired.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-08-03 15:12
Unfortunately, I recently made an announcement about critiques in August being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
However, since the 250 box challenge doesn't generally need a whole lot of critique, I'll go ahead and mark it as complete. You definitely seem to show a marked improvement over the course of the challenge.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-02 19:32
Generally you did quite well! Your ellipses are solid - drawing from all three points (wrist, elbow, shoulder) are acceptable in different contexts. Your longest lines will definitely require you to use your shoulder, while middle-length lines will be better done from the elbow, and fine detailed lines that require a high degree of control will be best done from your wrist. It's not a matter of everything having to come from the shoulder. The longer radius gives you smooth gestural lines, while the shorter radius gives you a stiffer line, but much better control.
Your rough perspective is coming along nicely, but there are a few problems that I want to make you aware of. The further you move away from the vanishing point, the less accurate you are with approximating the angle of your lines as they go off into the distance. The best way to fix this is to go back over your homework and, with a different coloured pen/pencil and a ruler, plot your lines back to the horizon like this. You'll see that many of the lines further out to the side intersect with the horizon at points fairly distant from your VP. A bit of leeway is to be expected (since this is approximated) but you can tell that some of them are getting too far out.
By making yourself aware of this, you'll know what to compensate for the next time you attempt an exercise like this - and you should keep up with all of these exercises. They make great warm-ups, and will show considerable impact when done over a long period of time.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, though before you move onto the next lesson, I'd like you to do the 250 box challenge. The organic perspective boxes could use some improvement. This is to be expected - the exercise was quite challenging, and was included more as a way to gauge where I should send you next. The exercise focuses on the ability to rotate simple forms arbitrarily in 3D space. The 250 box challenge includes a video on the subject and some helpful notes, and the challenge itself will give you the chance to really get comfortable with it.
That will ultimately make lesson 2 - specifically its form intersection exercise - less painful.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-08-02 19:18
Thanks again for the contribution!
You're off to a decent start, but there's one thing that really jumps out at me about your approach - you're very much thinking right on the page.
What I'm referring to is really the sketchy quality to your linework. It's a normal thing to see, and is the result of drawing before you have a clear thought in your head. Instead of diving right into drawing, stop and think.
Consider the shapes and forms that exist in your subject. Consider how the lines of those more basic forms come together. Try to visualize them, one at a time, on the page. Think through the individual lines, and draw them each using the ghosting method. Draw a single mark for every line, no more than is necessary. Draw through them where you need to - I definitely encourage this - but always remember, one mark per line.
Focus on simplifying those shapes and forms. Generally I think you do this fairly well, it's just the hairiness of the linework that gets a little distracting.
Before moving forward, I'd like to see two more pages of lay-in constructions. Don't worry about moving into detail, just focus on those simple shapes and forms.
Try to follow this kind of process, trying to spend more time thinking before executing each mark.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-08-02 15:23
Unfortunately, I recently made an announcement about critiques in August being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
I will however mark this challenge as complete, since it doesn't require any indepth critique. All I want to remind you is that when you correct with a different pen, don't just circle your mistakes. Draw the correct line. Also, review the ghosting technique from lesson 1.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-02 15:19
Unfortunately, I recently made an announcement about critiques in August being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
That said, that'll give you a chance to hunt down some felt tip pens - or worst case scenario, some ballpoint pens. I understand your enthusiasm and eagerness to get on this, but there are several reasons that I limit my critiques to those who work with specific tools. The tools themselves are part of the exercises, as working with them forces you to build up a level of confidence that pencils simply would not. Enforcing this also makes things much easier on myself, as I would have to take many other things into consideration when critiquing work done with different tools. By imposing this limitation, I am able to handle a much larger number of critiques each day, since they force everyone to demonstrate the same skills, often resulting in the same mistakes.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-08-02 15:17
Unfortunately, I recently made an announcement about critiques in August being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-08-02 15:15
Normally you would post them here, as a comment in the lesson thread.
Unfortunately, I made an announcement about critiques in august being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
Uncomfortable in the post "Announcement: Important news for those seeking critiques for their homework submissions during the month of August"
2015-08-01 16:25
Haha, thanks. I do actually have a bit of recovery time included in the semi-hiatus. I'm heading back to my home town to pass out for a few days near the end of the month.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-08-01 16:22
I'm going to mark this challenge as complete, because since it's a challenge it doesn't really warrant much in the way of critique.
In case you haven't had the chance to see it, that I made an announcement about critiques in august being limited to patreon supporters only, since I'm totally swamped with work from my full-time job this month. Regular free critiques will resume on September 1st.
If you do happen to be a patreon supporter though, send me a message via Patreon with your Reddit username so I know to associate the two accounts.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects"
2015-08-01 16:19
That's exactly the case. Geometric forms force you to make decisions, because they have clear-cut edges and corners. A smooth surface is basically just a field of indecision, which could represent any number of configurations of solid, flat planes.
That said, you generally did a great job. I especially liked your boxier forms, and your shaving razor really stood out to me (I saw it beforehand on your twitter).
Your cylinders do need some work at times, though they're moving in the right direction as well. The other thing I want you to keep an eye out for is your contour curves. If you look at the tea-pot, you'll see them failing to wrap around the form to varying degrees.
The reason for this is your timidness. You seem to be a little afraid to draw through those forms - so while you are drawing through them, you're struggling to keep your lines very faint and unnoticeable, lest you make a mistake. In a sense, you're hedging your bets - you're making yourself more likely to make a mistake, but you're making the ultimate effect of that mistake less noticeable. Ruining a drawing isn't the worst thing in the world, so try to push yourself to draw through your forms with more confidence. If things go wrong here and there, just move on to the next one.
Anyway, generally you did quite well so I'm going to mark this lesson as complete. The next one is essentially more of the same, but at a larger scale which can present its own challenges.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2015-08-01 15:51
Those zebras came out really well.
In general though, many of your concerns (in regards to gesture, form and proportion) are rooted in your lay-ins. Right now yours are looking rather loose and unclear. Rather than dropping in rough ellipsoid shapes and then going to town on them, it's important to hold yourself back and try and think through the spatial problems.
The lay-in is a construction. It's composed of 3D forms that intersect with one another at specific points. No elements float arbitrarily, they all exist in relation to their neighbours.
Right now, you're drawing loosely because you don't have a firm idea of what it is you want to draw before putting your pen to the page. I call this 'thinking on the page', where you explore your shapes before really thinking them through and visualizing them in your mind's eye.
Before you draw, take a step back and consider what forms you need. There's always the cranial mass of the head. This isn't the whole head, just the spherical mass that functions as a base for the rest of the skull. So, you draw a sphere. It's great that you draw through your ellipses, but you should probably work towards tightening them up.
Next you've got the ribcage and the pelvis. The relationship between these three elements will define your gesture. Consider, looking at your reference, the size and orientation of the ribcage and pelvis, and try to capture those forms on the page. Of course, we're doing this in a simplified manner, so an organic egg often works, but it's important to focus on the fact that it has volume and is sitting at a relevant angle.
The same way, you continue to build up your forms. After adding the spine (which like a string, flows through the cranial mass, ribcage and pelvis, as the embodiment of your gesture), you keep building it up by adding more solid forms. Consider where the shoulders sit, where the limbs attach to the torso, and so on.
Here's a bunch of other demos I've done on the same idea, of constructing with solid forms and clear points of intersection:
You're not particularly far off, but I would like you to do four more pages of animals. I'd like you to take pictures of the lay-ins before you move onto any stages of detail as well.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-08-01 02:47
Sometimes an individual pen will just be a dud, but my instructor did warn us that with the staedtlers, you get the optimal flow of ink if you hold your pen upright, at a 90 degree angle to the page. Personally I've taken advantage of this by holding it at a lesser angle when I want to lay-in shapes (which becomes more relevant in later lessons) with fainter lines without compromising the confidence of my stroke.
Uncomfortable in the post "Announcement: Important news for those seeking critiques for their homework submissions during the month of August"
2015-07-31 23:25
Yeah, I figured this would really mess up the plans of at least a few people. Still, you're young, you can afford to wait a month :P
Until then, be sure to flip through the homework others have submitted. There's a fairly limited number of mistakes people have been able to make, so you should be able to see what kind of things I've drawn focus to in other peoples' submissions.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-31 22:38
Generally very solid work. Your lines, ellipses, plotted and rough perspective boxes are well done.
Your organic perspective boxes are fairly good, but not all the way there. You're still doing better than I expected - I included this exercise to gauge one's ability to rotate objects on 3D space. This is not something most people can do, so I usually send them for extra practice at the 250 box challenge. Yours are almost there, but you may still benefit from at least watching the video and reading the notes included on that challenge post.
A more relevant concern however is that on page 1 (so I assume your last page of organic perspective?) you're demonstrating some inconsistent perspective distortion. That is, some boxes are affected by perspective more dramatically than others. Since all the boxes exist within the same scene and space, they should be affected consistently across the board. These notes explain the concept.
Anyway, once you feel comfortable with the boxes, feel free to move onto lesson 2.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-31 22:30
Your lines and ellipses are very solid. Your plotted perspective is also well done. With your rough perspective, there's two things I want to draw your attention to. The first is a bit of a tendency to be less accurate with how your lines go back to the vanishing point, the further away you get from it. So, the lines further out to the side of the page have a tendency to intersect with the horizon a ways away from the VP. A good exercise is to go back to your rough perspective work and, with a different coloured pen, plot each line back to the horizon. It'll make you more aware of your particular tendencies, so when you do the exercise again in the future, you'll know what to compensate for.
The other thing I wanted to point out about that exercise was that your hatching/shading is sloppy. This is something I stress a lot - when you add anything to your drawing, never half-ass it. Every mark should be the result of thought, consideration and planning. Many of those shading lines are floating in the middle of the plane, aren't really parallel, etc. Take the time to draw each one from edge to edge, parallel and consistent. Or, the other option is - don't draw them. Basically, if you're going to do something, don't half-ass it. This is a pretty common issue that I see though, and is something we usually work hard to weed out at this stage.
The organic perspective boxes are looking like they need work. This is to be expected - it's a really challenging exercise, and it's not one I expect people to nail. Instead, I include it so I get a better sense of what you need to work on, so I can send you to do the exercises that will help you the most.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I want to encourage you to do the 250 box challenge next. There's a video on tackling boxes, some helpful notes on perspective and the use of line weight, and the challenge itself should give you the added practice you need to really get this stuff down. Essentially, the big concept at play here is figuring out how to rotate simple forms arbitrarily in 3D space.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-07-31 22:24
Definitely some improvement in your confidence. Still gotta watch out for a few situations where the far plane comes out larger than the near plane (241, 245, etc). Also, there are some techniques in lesson 1 that will really help you deal draw your lines more cleanly. When you do that lesson, focus on the ghosting technique - rather than just an exercise, it's an approach to drawing that should be applied everywhere. It'll help you draw more accurate and smoother lines in one go.
Anyway, nice work on completing the challenge.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2015-07-31 22:21
Big improvement over last time. There's still a lot of room to grow, but you seem to be moving in the right direction now. With a lot of these lessons, it's not the sort of thing you'll master in a week - it still takes a fair bit of practice. My intent is to make sure you're spending that time going in the right direction.
Don't be afraid to screw up. If you screw up a drawing, does it really matter? Is someone grading you? Are you going to lose a scholarship or are you going to have to disembowel yourself out of shame? No, it's just a piece of paper, and I'm nobody. There's nothing wrong having a catastrophic failure next to a pretty decent drawing. It doesn't devalue its neighbour, and the confidence you'll get from letting yourself push your boundaries will have a big impact on your overall progress.
As for drawing from your shoulder/elbow/wrist, it's all about context. Often your detail lines will be drawn from your wrist, because you need finer control in a small space. Overall shapes will be drawn from your shoulder.
Anyway, from what I can see, your drawings have improved in confidence. You still should be drawing through your ellipses however, as I stressed in the early lessons, so you've got to get over your fears.
Lastly, I want to remind you what thighs look like on animals. Your attempt wasn't actually bad, and it definitely helped build up the form. Still, try and think about what a chicken thigh looks like, and how it connects to the chicken's body. Sometimes that helps.
Anyway, feel free to move onto the next lesson. I still hope you'll continue to practice these things for yourself, but you're definitely going in the right direction.
Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders (#2)"
2015-07-31 22:01
Ahh. Yeah, you can go ahead and move onto lesson 2. Check your flair badges if you're unsure of what's considered complete. The badges you have correspond with what you've finished.
Uncomfortable in the post "Show Us Your Progress!"
2015-08-10 01:41
Yeah, that's definitely troublesome. I think I've only found the pens sold individually when I was studying in Los Angeles. Even here, it's tough to find them outside of the sets. There might be other brands, though.
Just in case, /u/WolfyMr - check out VergilSD's comment (above this one).