Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-24 20:13
Not bad! There's only two things that I want to bring to your attention, but the lesson was generally done quite well, and I'll be marking it as complete.
The first thing is that whenever you draw ellipses from here on in, I want you to draw through them, as you did in the table of ellipses exercise. Don't attempt to draw them in one shot any longer. Drawing through them allows you to draw them more confidently, which results in a better line quality, curvature and general elliptical shape. When you draw them in one shot, it tends to come out uneven and awkward. This is totally normal though - drawing through them will give your muscles more practice, and will make you better at hitting them in one shot in the long run.
Secondly, your organic perspective boxes show me that you're a little less comfortable with the idea of rotating forms arbitrarily in 3D space. This is totally normal, and I mainly included that exercise to gauge your abilities in that area. I'd like you to try doing the 250 box challenge next. It's got a helpful video and some extra notes. The challenge itself will give you the chance to practice more and increase your comfort level.
There's one other thing I want to mention, actually. When you do any freehand drawing - like in the rough perspective and organic perspective box exercises, use the ghosting technique. It's not just an exercise, but rather a whole mindset that forces you to think and prepare before every individual mark you make. This reduces the number of wasted lines, and generally cleans up your drawings and keeps them more accurate.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-24 20:03
Well done. The ones that you ghosted through are definitely the best of the set, so that's definitely something to keep in mind.
Feel free to move onto the next lesson. You may also want to check out the 250 box challenge. It does seem like you're not fully comfortable with the concept of rotating those boxes arbitrarily in 3D space - which is totally fine. The video, notes and challenge itself should help you increase your comfort level.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2015-07-23 20:15
Much better! You're doing a much better job of capturing the volume of the forms - they look convincingly 3D now.
I'd like two more pages, this time with full detail. Also, for each one try to focus on identifying the nuances of the constructions. For example, right now you seem to be drawing a lot of the torsos as simple tubes (which is totally fine right now), I want you to pay special attention to how how it tapers and tucks near the back. For example, look at this fox.
I think you're making great progress, keep it up! I'll mark this lesson as complete once you've finished this last two page set.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-07-23 20:08
Your form intersections were pretty solid - I'm not really focusing here on the intersections themselves (the name's kind of misleading) but rather your ability to draw many forms together in the same scene without having them look all wacky in relation to one another. You nailed that, especially in the last two pages.
Your organic forms and dissections definitely need work though - first off, for your organic forms I can see that you struggled with getting your contour lines to wrap around the forms. After a while, you were able to do it a little better with the full contour ellipse done in pencil underneath, but you're still not quite getting it when you're doing it without that extra help. I'm sure you've watched this video already, but I want you to watch it again. Focus on the part where I talk about the curve accelerating around the form.
I see what you mean when discussing the dissections. When doing them, I don't want you to worry about creating objects. Don't fuss with making a snake, or a fish, or something that exists. You've made an unidentifiable organic form with no texture on it. That's step one. Now, you have to place texture on it.
Looking at your photo reference, you'll see two types of information. You've got form information - that's the stuff that has its own volume, that extends out into 3D space. Then you've got texture information, which wraps around forms. It might extend a little into 3D space (think bumpy surfaces) but it generally just follows another form.
It's that second category of information that you want to pull.
Now, we have a natural tendency to simplify what we remember - and the moment you look away from your photo reference to draw what you saw, your brain immediately starts simplifying that information. 90% of the information you captured in that glance is now useless. Most people don't realize this - they remember a simplified version, so they'll just draw that. What you've got to do is force yourself to look back an instant later, and refresh your memory.
When looking at the photo, focus on what you see. What elements are there? Bumps? Fuzz? Is it smooth, is it porous? If there are little spots, are they applied regularly across the whole surface, or do they cluster in little groups? What is the rhythm of these details? Every texture has a rhythm, even the ones that seem random. It may be hard to see, and it make take a while to discern, but what you're really carrying over into your drawing is that rhythm.
Anyway, I'd like you to take another shot at the organic forms with contour curves (without the pencil ellipses) and the dissections.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-23 20:00
I'm glad you've decided to start these lessons! I'm sure you'll gain a lot from them. My critique may come off as somewhat harsher than you may expect, but stay with it and follow my instructions, and you'll see massive improvement in no time.
So overall, I'm seeing a lot of sloppiness. This is pretty normal, and it's one of the things my lessons strive to fix.
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Your super imposed lines are actually pretty solid.
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Your ghosted lines are looking rather wavy. When you do this exercise, try putting more time into ghosting through the motion, getting your arm comfortable with it - then, when you finally decide you're ready to make the mark, draw more quickly, more persistently, more confidently. You've already done all the thinking and planning, now all that's left is to execute.
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Your ellipses aren't too bad, but you may be taking the 'drawing through' thing too far. It's important to draw through them, so I'm glad you are, but you're losing track of the ellipse you should be aiming to draw. While you draw through the ellipse, you should strive to keep the lines more tight and together. At times you succeed at this, at other times they end up being more loose. Also, when you're drawing your table/rows, use a ruler. If those lines are wavy and sloppy, that will impact how your mind behaves and treats the exercise.
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On a similar vein to the ruler thing, with the funnels, try laying them out more consistently on the page. Draw through these (and all) ellipses as well - basically, don't let yourself draw an ellipse in one go anymore.
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Use a ruler for the plotted perspective exercise. Read the lesson more carefully, this was explained in the exercise brief. Secondly, keep your vanishing points on either side of the page - the closer they are together, the more distortion you'll get, and that'll just add more confusion. The verticals should be 100% perpendicular to the horizon. That generally means going straight up and down. Be careful and conscientious about this. Don't try to do it quickly, take your time.
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Three things for the rough perspective boxes AND the organic perspective boxes- one, do each one inside a separate frame, drawn with a ruler. Then, when drawing the boxes, use the GHOSTING method. Any and all freehand drawing from here on in should use the ghosting technique. First, identify the line you want to make (where does it start, where does it end, is it curved or straight, etc). Then find a comfortable angle of approach (rotating your page if you need to) and ghost through that motion until your muscles and arm get used to it. Then, make the mark with confidence. Thirdly, when you apply crosshatching, don't be sloppy. Apply consistent, parallel lines that stretch all the way across the surface from edge to edge. Nothing at inconsistent angles, nothing floating in the middle of the plane or stopping too early.
I'd like you to take another shot at this lesson. It's going to take a lot of time, so I don't want you to try it in one sitting. Take as many breaks as you need, do a bit each day if you have to. Focus on putting your all into each exercise, not on getting it done. And if you get tired, don't push yourself. Pushing yourself when you're tired will only result in sloppy work again.
I could tell from looking at your homework that it was definitely not your best, and that you're capable of much better. Prove me right.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-07-23 19:46
Technically speaking they are contour lines, though in that first example I did follow the vein structure. Technically speaking, any line that runs along the surface of an object is a contour line, as it describes the distortion of that surface through 3D space. Usually though, I simplify it to talking about contour lines that cut a 90 degree cross-section when first introducing it to students.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-07-23 19:41
Very solid work. Generally you have a great sense of form, construction, and establishing a hierarchy of detail/focus. The only thing I'd like you to put more effort into is planning your marks before making them.
You're exhibiting a fairly common tendency of thinking on the page - you do it far better than most, as you appear to have a strong control of pen pressure. All the same, before you make a mark, you should consider whether or not it will contribute to either the final drawing, or your understanding of the forms you are depicting (like contour lines and drawing through forms). If any mark you're about to make does not on its own contribute to either of those categories, it may be unnecessary.
Long story short, instead of sketching on the page to find your forms and shapes, try spend more time visualizing them first.
As for your question, I'm a strong supporter of using the reference as a guide to understand the construction and nature of the plant, and not necessarily simply trying to 1:1 reproduce the image. I often recommend taking two photos of the same object and attempting to draw the object at a third angle.
Anyway, feel free to move onto the next lesson - you did a great job.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-23 19:22
Your lines were done decently, and your box exercises were fairly solid. Your ellipses however tell me that you could have definitely read the lesson more carefully. You missed the part about drawing through your ellipses a few times before lifting your pen from the page. I did see that you did it a few times, but for the vast majority of the ellipses you drew, you only went through them once. It's very important that you get used to drawing through them.
For your lines, as I said before they were generally pretty decent, but I am seeing some wobbling with your super imposed lines. If you catch your lines wobbling, it means you need to speed up your drawing a little. Wobbling is caused by your brain having the chance to make microcorrections as you draw. Rather than trying to be careful and slow as you draw the line, you should invest the time into preparing to draw the line (similar to the ghosting technique, to do what you can to get used to that drawing motion and get comfortable with it before drawing). Then when you actually execute the line, draw it quickly.
For your boxes, your forms are generally quite good. You should, however, be using the ghosting technique to draw your freehand lines here. In fact, you should be applying that methodology to all your freehand drawing from here on in. It'll take you more time, but it'll force you to get used to thinking through your intentions before drawing, resulting in fewer wasted marks, straighter lines, and generally a cleaner result.
I'd like you to take another stab at the ellipse exercises - once you submit that, I'll mark the lesson as complete.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-23 00:16
It's a bit odd, but I was just doodling something and it occurred to me that you asked a question along with your homework submission, and I didn't answer it. It's.. really odd that I remembered out of the blue. Anyway, I tend to critique a lot of submissions all at once, so sometimes I miss questions. Sorry about that!
To be honest, I haven't given too much thought about pulling and pushing until I read something about it quite recently. It was because I saw this article linked on facebook. Personally, I'm inclined to agree with the article (my lines go a bit nuts when I pull my straights, and my curves do appear to be somewhat better when I pull them), but a lot of the comments on the facebook post suggested that you should never push your lines. Ultimately I think you should experiment with both and find out what works best for you.
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-07-22 19:58
That was actually my initial intent, before I even started building a website around this stuff. I figured I'd start building myself up as someone that people would associate with cheap/free education, and then perhaps one day I'd start a small-scale mentorship.
Ultimately, I haven't been a professional artist for very long, and I still have a long way to go myself before I feel like I'll be ready to teach anyone one-on-one. Still, that's definitely something I'll be considering for the long term.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-07-22 19:55
Your first page was laughably bad, but I was really pleased to see that the rest of your work was actually pretty good. You go on to demonstrate a decent use of form and construction.
There is definitely room to grow, but I'm pleased with your progress thus far. I will however leave you with this. Try to apply that leaf-drawing process to things like your last page. It's important to capture the most basic shape of the leaf first, without any fraying or warping in the leaf. Just capturing the simple motion through 3D space. Then you can build up the complexity on top of that, adding the waviness in its sides and such. That way those waves will still follow that initial gesture. If you jump into the greater degree of detail too early, the leaf will lose its solidity and believability.
Anyway, feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-22 19:48
Not bad. Your lines are fairly well done, though your ellipses are looking quite wobbly at times. I know it can be daunting, but it's important to push past your own timidness and draw through those ellipses with a consistent, persistent pace. Drawing too slowly will allow your brain to interfere and make micro-corrections that manifest as wobbling. Letting your muscles draw based on their muscle memory will result in smoother lines, even if it is less accurate at times. The accuracy can then be gradually fixed by ghosting your ellipses before drawing them and also through good old fashioned practice.
One thing I'd like to stress is that you should absolutely be using the ghosting technique on all forms of freehand drawing. Here, a prime opportunity to put it to work would have been the rough perspective and organic perspective boxes. The technique is designed to help improve the accuracy of your lines without sacrificing the line quality. Definitely keep that in mind and put the technique to use in the future.
Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-07-22 19:45
The consistency of your lines definitely seems to improve throughout the set, growing straighter as you progress. Your forms in general and the corrections seem to be on point. It is too bad that you forgot about line weights, but there's always time to tackle them later. Congrats on completing the challenge!
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids"
2015-07-21 20:00
Very nice! I like the confidence of your lines and the solidity of your forms and constructions. I honestly don't have much to recommend - just keep doing things the way you are! Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-21 19:54
Aaaaabsolutely not. There's no expectation of you executing each exercise perfectly at this point. That sort of thing will take a considerable amount of practice stretched over a long period of time. The lessons here serve to teach you how to approach certain exercises or certain subject matter, and they are marked as complete only when you show that you understand what you should be aiming for. Then it is up to you to continue practicing that material on your own time, while moving through the subsequent lessons. It's all about giving you a sense of direction for your journey.
Of course, I do expect you to try your absolute best on each exercise - taking your time and showing patience and care.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-21 19:52
Your lines look fairly solid - I noticed that you wrote a little question of whether you should be ghosting the in-between lines. The fact of the matter is, you should be ghosting all of your lines. From here on in, all of the lines you draw freehand should utilize this technique. It definitely takes more time as you are getting used to it, since it requires you to pause, think, prepare and ghost before actually drawing the line, but it trains a mindset that will result in a significant improvement in your overall control. We have a tendency of thinking right on the page, making marks without thinking through them, and this breaks us out of that habit.
For your ellipses, you seem to have not read the lesson as carefully as you should. You missed the part around Figure 2.9, talking about drawing through your ellipses a couple times before lifting your pen. This is extremely important.
Your plotted perspective exercises were done well, though your rough perspective and organic perspective boxes missed the part in the lesson about ghosting all of your lines.
I'm going to ask you to redo the ellipse exercises. Once those are done, I'll mark the lesson as complete, but then I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge. The challenge will help you in two ways - first off, it'll help you increase your comfort level with the idea of rotating boxes arbitrarily in 3D space (like in the organic perspective exercise, which I suspect was quite challenging). It'll also give you the chance to get used to ghosting all of your lines.
Still, do the ellipse first so I can mark the lesson as complete before you move onto the challenge.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-21 19:45
It certainly is a lot of work, but homework submissions like these make things a little easier. You seem to have nailed just about every exercise.
I have only one concern - your lines for the rough perspective and organic perspective assignments were done freehand, right? They're really goddamn straight, it's perplexing. I'll assume that you are just very good at drawing steady, straight lines, but if you misread the exercise brief and did them with a ruler, be sure to give those another shot.
Anyway, feel free to move onto the next lesson!
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-07-21 19:36
I definitely see improvement in your general confidence. There's room to grow for sure, but that's to be expected. I think you've earned yourself a break, so go ahead and tackle lesson 2 again when you feel ready.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-07-21 19:34
Pretty solid work. The only thing I want to warn you against is drawing your form intersection constructions in two stages (roughing things in lightly, then 'cleaning' it up with another pass. It's the second step that I don't recommend, as it often undermines a lot of the lessons we learned in the previous lesson about how to attack drawing things like ellipses. Furthermore, having the option to clean up after the fact tends to make us think and plan less while drawing in the first stage. It's still very important to think before putting down any mark about whether or not it will contribute to the drawing, or your understanding of the forms you are depicting (like drawing through forms and ellipses). If the line contributes to either of those two categories, then it should be drawn confidently. If it does not, it should not be drawn at all.
That said, your rough pass looks very solid - it's just faint. It'd have been perfect if you'd have done the same thing, just with the pen you used for the clean-up pass.
As for your question, you seem to be doing a pretty decent job with textures as it stands. What I always stress about conveying textural detail is to take the time to study and observe your subject matter. Every texture has a specific rhythm and arrangement to it, even those that seem random and overwhelming. Take the time to study and identify that rhythm, separating the major elements from smaller, less integral bits of information.
It's always important to spend more time than you expect you'll need, actually looking at your reference material. Our memories have a tendency of being very weak, forgetting and oversimplifying information the moment we look away from the reference image. Because of this, we need to train ourselves to look back at it constantly, spending only a second or two between glances.
Like I said though, as far as texture goes you seem to be on the right track.
Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders (#2)"
2015-07-21 19:29
Nope, you're definitely not too late - people are still submitting homework for lesson 1 every day.
That said, I definitely think you should go back and submit your lesson 1 homework, because there's a lot of issues I can see here that are dealt with there. For example, you're not drawing through your ellipses at all, and it doesn't seem that you're using the ghosting technique for drawing your lines.
I'm also not seeing much of what I covered in the cylinder video (which was linked in the challenge post). You should definitely read things more carefully and try to consume all of the material related to any given lesson or challenge before attempting it. It's great to be enthusiastic and excited, but rushing ahead won't do you much good.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-07-20 22:11
This is how I'd tackle it. I didn't go too in-depth with it (or do too great a job), but I think the biggest change you could have made is to treat each clump as a mass that radiates from a center point, and placing your petals along the lines that come out from it.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-07-20 21:27
That potted cactus was the only one that jumped out at me as having that problem. That's also because it's the only one that was really composed of two cylinders.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-07-20 20:15
Generally very solid work! Confident lines, nice textures and constructions. I do want to remind you to draw through your ellipses in the form intersections, though. And as for going over your work, I generally don't encourage it. It's not that it's bad, it's just that people have a tendency to use that as an excuse to think less about what they draw with the thinner pen, because in their minds, they're going to "clean up" in a second step. I always emphasize drawing in a single step only, for that reason.
Ultimately from the looks of it, you only added line weight, and you thought through that initial construction quite well, so you didn't suffer from this common issue. Still, don't worry too much about that sort of thing - they are just exercises after all.
Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids"
2015-07-20 20:12
Nice work! Your forms came out really well, and generally you demonstrated a strong understanding of how to construct your subjects, and how to organize the detail to produce strong focal points.
I do want to remind you though that you should try to draw more confidently all throughout the process. This includes the lay-in. I've seen several instances where what appear to be your initial lines are drawn more timidly, as if you're afraid to put ink down on the page, lest you make a mistake. Don't worry about messing up. When you draw timidly like that, you have a tendency of forgetting to do simple things like wrapping contour lines convincingly around your forms. In fact, I noted a lot of places where the contour curves don't wrap around well, and don't really convey a strong sense of volume.
It's all psychological - if a mark is going to go down on the page, that mark belongs there, so draw it confidently. This simply means that you need to think before drawing, about whether or not a line will contribute to the drawing. This, I believe you did well - I didn't really see a whole lot of wasteful lines, so it becomes a matter of ultimately trusting your judgment in which lines you chose to put down.
Anywho! Still, great work, so feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-20 20:08
I'm glad that you've decided to submit your homework. I do think there's a lot of things you missed from the lesson, or things that you may have misunderstood, but now that you've taken the first step of submitting your work, we can iron those issues out.
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Superimposed lines - generally these aren't bad, but you're definitely not taking the time to place your pen at the beginning of each line before drawing. Patience is very important, and there are many signs of rushing across all of your homework. You need to slow down and relax. Take the time to do what you can to prepare to draw, before actually drawing. I am glad to see that your lines don't wobble, however, so your actual speed when drawing the lines seems to be good.
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Whenever you draw any marks, use the ghosting technique. You didn't do too badly on this exercise, but I want to reiterate the process - first, you identify the line you want to draw. Figure out where it needs to start and where it needs to end, the angle of the line and whether or not it curves or arcs. Then find a comfortable angle of approach (rotate your paper if you need to) and start ghosting through the motion. Do this as many times as you need to until your arm becomes more comfortable with the motion. Then, while you continue to ghost, when you feel ready, put the tip of the pen to the page and repeat that same motion with a confident, steady and smooth pace. Don't go too slowly or you'll wobble - you've done all the preparation you can at this stage, so now you must let your muscles take over and do as they are told. Do this for every line you draw freehand, in every drawing you do from here on in. It'll take much longer than you're used to, but it will be worth it and will gradually become second nature to you.
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Your ellipses completely missed the part in the lesson about "drawing through/truing up" a couple times before lifting your pen. Go back and read that entire section of the lesson, especially figure 2.9.
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Your rough perspective boxes definitely need work - for the most part, it's a matter of taking your time and ghosting through those lines. But to start with, as was described in the lesson, draw your frames with a ruler. If you start off with wobbly lines, your whole mindset for doing the exercise will be off. Next, don't try and shake things up with vertical horizons or angled compositions. You don't have this down solid yet, so if you try and spice it up, you may miss out on key concepts. Remember that this is one point perspective, so you need to focus on following three rules - all of the lines that go off into the distance MUST converge at the vanishing point. Many of yours intersect with the horizon quite a ways away from the VP. Secondly, all of your horizontals must be parallel to the horizon. Thirdly, all of your verticals must be perpendicular to the horizon. Three simple rules that define the behaviour of every single line in this exercise. There should be no guesswork, and the only mistakes should occur when you attempted to do something, and simply drew it wrong. Your intent, however, should be correct.
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Your organic perspective boxes need work as well, but this one I totally expected. I didn't include this exercise expecting people to do it perfectly, but rather to get an impression of how they handle the idea of rotating boxes arbitrarily in 3D space. We'll talk about that a little more later.
I want you to try this entire lesson over again, keeping in mind everything I've said above. I strongly urge you to reread each section of the lesson right before doing the relevant exercises - don't read it all at once, then do all the exercises, rather, do them in chunks. Also, be ready to spend many, many hours on this. Take your time and be patient. Take lots of breaks when you get tired, and don't let yourself work while you're getting sloppy. Feel free to spread it out over several days.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-20 19:57
I'm glad that you pushed through it with patience and care, despite finding it difficult. Often times when people struggle, they have a tendency to start rushing out of frustration. It's key to keep a calm mind and take your time.
Generally you did quite well. Your line quality is quite confident, your ellipses are looking good, and you did each exercise to the letter. Your organic perspective boxes aren't bad, but you're right - I do sense some discomfort with the idea of rotating these boxes arbitrarily in 3D space. I agree with your decision to move onto the 250 box challenge, and encourage you to do so.
Once you feel more comfortable with that, you may move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-20 19:55
Your work is pretty solid. It's expected that you'd make some mistakes here and there, I'm not interested in seeing perfect work at this stage. All I want to see is that you understand the purpose and goal of each exercise, and that your homework demonstrates this understanding. Ultimately you are expected to continue doing these exercises as warm-ups on your own time, as they're the sort of things that will help you over the long-term.
As for the boxes, yours were actually quite well done. You seem to have a decent sense of how to rotate simple forms in 3D space, which is what I was hoping to see from that exercise. Most people struggle with it, in which case I send them to the 250 box challenge for extra practice and instruction. You may want to check it out as well if you personally feel that you are not comfortable with the concept of rotating the boxes arbitrarily in 3D space. At the very least though, it'd be beneficial to watch the video and read the notes. At the beginning, it's all about understanding the material (so you aim for the right thing, even if you can't quite reach it just yet), and then it becomes more about practicing, sharpening your skills so what you intend to draw and what comes out on the page become one and the same.
Anyway, feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-07-20 19:49
Not bad. Your forms and details are generally quite good. You may want to take a look at the 250 cylinder challenge, specifically the video on there (I'm not asking you to do the challenge, just look at the info posted there). The cactus in the pot on the second page is getting pretty distorted, because of how the orientation of the pot and the cactus differ.
Generally though you do seem to be following the process of breaking forms down from lay-in to gradually increasing levels of complexity. I am curious though about that last one - I can see that you definitely struggled with it. What did the reference photo for it look like?
Anyway, feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-20 03:21
I'm glad to hear that. Always remember that if your lines are wobbly, it's because you're drawing too slowly. You'll either go too slow and wobble, or go too fast and simply be inaccurate. The inaccuracy can be dealt with by spending more time preparing before actually drawing the line, and also through practice, though the wobbling is caused by giving your brain the chance to make micro-corrections as you draw. You've got to trust in your muscle-memory.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-07-19 17:10
Thanks for catching that broken link.
I think with your homework, I'm seeing a somewhat common issue. Attempting to draw something real rather than abstract constructions can be very overwhelming. When a person gets overwhelmed, everything they've learned up until that point tends to fall away, and they revert to drawing the way they were used to drawing beforehand. Essentially, the wrong way.
So, that said, you totally reverted to the way you were used to drawing before any of these lessons. On top of being overwhelmed by the subject matter, it may also have a lot to do with the fact that it's been three months since you completed the last lesson, so you may well have forgotten a lot of that previous material. It's important to keep up with the exercises you learned in those previous lessons, so you can cement them into your mind.
The biggest thing that jumped out at me about your homework here is that all of your lines are chicken-scratchy. They're composed of small, individual lines (likely drawn from your wrist) rather than single, smooth, continuous lines. This breaks any sense of solidity and form.
Secondly, you don't seem to have paid all that much attention to this lesson - I'm not seeing a whole lot of lay-ins. It's important to start simple and build up levels of detail, rather than attempting to jump straight into higher levels of complexity. Kind of like this breakdown of how I approach a leaf.
I want you to go go back and read the previous lessons over again, and maybe do a bit of the exercises to refresh your memory. Then come back to this lesson, read the lesson carefully, follow the demo steps, and try again.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-07-19 16:45
There's definitely some improvement in the organic forms with contour curves as well as the form intersections. In the form intersections, your boxes still need work - the near/far plane relationships that I went over in the 250 box challenge's "how to draw a box" video are incorrect. Often times practicing drawing through the box (drawing all six lines as though the box itself were transparent) may help, as it allows you to define that far plane with all four lines rather than just two. Getting a more solid grasp on how to turn those boxes in space will help you in general.
As for the dissections, they haven't improved much. There's two issues here - first, you seem to have missed the following from the lesson:
You start off with an organic form with contour lines. It's important that you don't start off with any particular design or object in mind. Just start off with a random form, and add contour lines.
You didn't start off the same way as the previous exercise - you went in specifically drawing something that would have a gap in it, and where you did draw the extra contour lines, they did not wrap around the forms (something you had since fixed with your organic forms with contour curves).
Secondly, it does not look as though you used any photo reference for your textures, which is something else that I mentioned in the lesson. Right now your visual library, the part of your brain where you tuck away bits of visual information that you use when 'drawing from your imagination' is fairly empty. You fill it up by studying from life and from reference photos.
I'd like you to try the dissection exercise once more, then assuming you hit the points I've outlined here, I'll mark the lesson as complete.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-07-18 15:35
Yep, you're on the right track. Plenty of room to grow, but that's all practice. When correcting, don't bother focusing on areas where the lines are just messy, I don't really care about instances where you tried to draw a specific line and failed. I'm more interested in places where the line you intended to draw simply wasn't correct. In that situation, you'd draw the more correct line with the different coloured pen.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-18 15:33
Everything looks pretty solid. I noticed the issue you mentioned about your rough perspective, and that's fairly common. I generally recommend that people do exactly what you said - check with a ruler after you've finished drawing and plot the lines back to the horizon with a different coloured pen. That way you can concretely compare where they intersect with the horizon with the actual VP, making yourself more aware of what you're doing wrong. Then when you do the exercise next, you'll do so keeping that in mind, consciously attempting to compensate for the issue.
Everything else looks great though, so feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-07-18 15:31
Go ahead and move onto lesson 2, but you should continue practicing these when you get the chance.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-18 15:01
It must be a lot of work, are you still having fun with it?
BAHAHAHA. No, not particularly. It's rewarding at times, but it takes up way more of my time than I'd like.
As for your homework, you generally did well. Just a few things to keep in mind:
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In your super-imposed lines exercise, take the time to line up your pen correctly at the start of the line. You often do, but then there are other times where I see fraying on both ends of the line, which shows me that you were getting impatient. If you get tired, take a break, but don't allow yourself to do sloppy work.
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In any and all freehand drawing, you should be using the ghosting technique. I noticed many situations in the rough/organic perspective exercises that you used chicken-scratchy lines, or didn't take the time to think before drawing. The ghosting technique will take you more time, but it will ingrain a habit of thinking, planning and preparing before every mark you make.
I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, though I'd like you to tackle the 250 box challenge next. It'll give you the opportunity to practice your ghosting, while increasing your comfort level with the idea of rotating boxes arbitrarily in 3D space. You're not too bad at that, but the extra practice should help solidify your skills in that area.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-07-17 19:52
It's definitely an improvement in the right direction. You've still got some room to grow so keep at it, but I'll mark this lesson as complete. Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-17 19:51
Not bad. I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I did notice that your super imposed lines are showing some signs of wobbling. This often happens when you draw a little too slowly. Your brain interferes, making small microcorrections which manifest as a wobbly line. Take the time to prepare to draw the line (line up your pen correctly, ghost over it a few times) but once it is time to draw, let your muscles take over and do so with a smooth motion. It may not come out accurately, but that will come together with practice.
You should definitely continue practicing all of these exercises as warm-ups, you'll see the best results from them over a long period of time.
I also noticed that there was a little bit of discomfort with your organic perspective boxes. This is totally normal, and I expect to see it from most people. I'd like you to give the 250 box challenge a shot next. There's a video and some helpful notes in the challenge post that you should watch/read, and the challenge should give you the practice that will help you increase your comfort level.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-07-17 19:46
Nice line weights. I am noticing a lot of situations where your near/far plane size relationships are not correct however. Always remember that the further plane should be smaller than the closer one, never the reverse. One way to identify this problem more readily is to practice drawing through your boxes (as if they were invisible), so you can define all six lines and the planes that lie between them. When you don't draw through your boxes, it becomes more difficult to assess the size of the far plane, since you can only see two of the lines that define it.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-07-17 19:43
Definitely an improvement! I'll mark this lesson as complete. As for your question, do it similarly to the super imposed lines exercise. Never draw anything in a scratchy fashion, the line quality won't come out well.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids"
2015-07-17 19:40
Fantastic work. I really like the confidence of your lines, your attention to detail and your general sense of balance and presentation. As for the shield bugs, I'd say that the particular angles you were attempting to draw are quite challenging, as they don't give you a lot of the usual cues you'd use to show form and volume. I honestly think you'll do just fine when you reach the non-organic subjects.
Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-07-17 19:35
Hm.. You're not quite there yet. It seems to me that you're still not really grasping the idea of 3D form. I'd like you to take a break from this lesson and do the 250 box challenge and the 250 cylinder challenge. Focusing strictly on simple, solid forms may help you begin to understand how to capture the illusion of three-dimensionality at a simpler level before tackling these plants again.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-17 19:31
Generally quite well done. I did notice that you spent a couple pages of ellipses not drawing through them - based on your ordering, those seem to have been the later pages. I want to remind you that you should make a habit of drawing through your ellipses for some time - work towards getting those individual lines to come together tightly to keep them clean, but don't stop drawing through them until you can confidently nail a proper elliptical shape. This won't be for some time, however.
Generally everything else is pretty solid. Your lines are confident and your forms are well done. Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2015-07-16 23:44
For now, stick to animals where you can clearly interpret the forms that make up their bodies, and stick to reference photos that don't cut sections off. In time, you will become more familiar with how bodies generally work, and you'll be able to catch the subtle cues in how that fat/fur is arranged that hint at the structure underneath.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-16 19:53
I have had a couple people mention this to me in the past. Some people have a tendency to press very hard on the page, I'm thinking that might be the case here. Try and ease up on the amount of pressure you're using to draw.
Are you using a felt tip pen?
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-07-16 19:51
So overall your observational skills are fantastic, and you're definitely coming into this with a lot of skill - however, I can fortunately tell you that there is something you can learn here!
The biggest thing that I noticed from your drawings is the lack of lay-ins. You did use them here and there, but much of the time you jumped into some higher levels of detail without putting in any sort of understructure. While it can often look pretty decent, the biggest issue there is that you'll find your drawings looking a little flatter and carrying less of the illusion of form.
Now, I'm only really saying this about your leaves - your more bulbous plants, the ones with concrete forms were great. I loved your fourth page especially.
The thing about the leaves is that they are flat objects that move through 3D space. When you dive into the complex visual detail without any sort of an underlying lay-in/framework for it, you basically have to try and figure out draw the detail and the twisting/turning of the form through space, simultaneously. It requires you to tackle two complicated things at once.
You're much better off dealing with them one at a time. Take a look at these leaves. First you establish the flow of that form through space, using a relatively simple form. Then you map your details onto that. Since your simpler form is already established, all you have to worry about is observing and carrying over the more complicated bits of information. In the end, you have all of the detail, while maintaining the illusion of an object flowing through 3D space.
The downside is that you have more lines in the way, but we're not focused on creating pretty, clean drawings. By practicing capturing the illusion of form, you're gradually changing how you perceive the world, and your drawings. You become more conscious of the three dimensions in which these objects exist.
Anyway, your homework was still great - though it would have been better had they not been upside down! Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2015-07-16 19:31
It seems that you've missed the core point of my previous critique. I can see that you are trying to think through where the limbs connect to the forms, but you're not actually making that a part of your construction.
See? Your limbs are still extending out of nowhere. You've got to understand the things you're drawing as solid 3D forms that start and end, have volume and occupy space. It's very easy to let the fact that you're drawing a 2D image on a 2D surface get the best of you, and forget that you are capturing the illusion of 3D form.
Another thing I noticed is that here and there, you're showing a greater need to pay attention to your reference images. Our memories deceive us all the time - the moment you look away from your reference, the vast majority of what you saw is immediately oversimplified. Because of this, it does not suffice to look at your reference now and then - you have to look back at it constantly, after every mark or two, studying it carefully identifying the underlying forms and how everything fits together. Spend 90% of your time studying your reference, and only 10% drawing.
I'd like you to take another stab - another four pages.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-15 20:13
Your homework is very well done. Your lines are confident, and you seem to have a strong understanding of perspective and how to manipulate form in 3D space. I'll mark this lesson as complete, so feel free to move onto the next one.
As for your question, moving forward onto something more complicated doesn't mean you'll be leaving these basic exercises behind - you should really be continuing to do them as warmups. You do them quite well as it is, but we always get rusty if we don't keep up.
I generally insist that people should complete the first two lessons here before moving onto more complicated things, just because it covers a lot of general skills that I feel are necessary. Once that's done, there's no reason you couldn't move onto figure drawing, observational studies, etc.
That said, I think you should consider what tools you would need to do something successfully. I don't mean physical tools - rather, in your example, if you think about what you would need to be able to practice character design, figure drawing comes to mind as a solid requirement. If you can't draw a figure to save your life, then there's no sense in tackling character design just yet. You don't have to be perfect at it, but you have to have some knowledge in that area so that you're not attempting to learn too many things all at once.
It's kind of like considering this lesson - we tackle drawing straight lines first, before we worry about drawing boxes. If we can't draw straight lines but rush into drawing boxes, we'll be forcing ourselves to learn both simultaneously, and will more than likely fail at both. Take things one step at a time.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 2)"
2015-07-24 20:15
Much, much better. You're one step closer to drawing plants, fee lfree to move onto the 250 box challenge!