Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-06-07 16:39
Thanks for taking the time to complete lesson 1. I do have a few concerns about this one, but you're moving in the right direction. We'll get things sorted out and send you on your way.
I think one thing that stands out the most to me is that you're either drawing on a small piece of paper (which I'm not sure is the case) or you're drawing with a very heavy hand. I see this most with your organic forms and your form intersections. All the lines come out really quite dark. I think it would be worthwhile simply practicing making marks of different weight - try playing with the amount of pressure you place on your pen. If you do happen to be drawing on a smaller page however, that could be the cause - since the size of your drawings would end up being smaller (in order to fit on the page). A smaller drawing will make the lines look considerably thicker.
Your organic forms and dissections are decently done. They capture solid volumes and some interesting textures. I'd have liked to have seen more texture work across all of your dissections, showing more examples of how you study reference images and extract information, though.
Your form intersections are alright, but I do see a few issues. For the vast majority of your spheres, you avoid drawing through them. This results in uneven forms that do not really read as spheres. You should always be drawing through your ellipses. Once you nail the shapes regularly, then you have to move to working on tightening up the overlapping lines. You don't actually stop drawing through them until you've already been able to draw through your ellipses and have those lines overlap so tightly that they appear to be a single, perhaps thicker, line.
Another thing I noticed about your form intersections is that when you draw through your forms (which I commend you for doing, it really helps understand how a form sits in 3D space), you do so with timid lines - often dashed or broken. Don't do this. If you're going to draw a line, it should be a confident one, otherwise it will more than likely not come out straight.
There are two kinds of lines that you should be drawing - ones that contribute to the overall drawing, and ones that help you as the artist understand the forms and how they sit in 3D space (like drawing through ellipses, drawing through 3D forms, etc.) Both of these are integral, and should be drawn confidently. Forget about the fact that the latter group technically doesn't contribute to the final drawing, because we're not interested in making pristine works of art at this point.
Anything that does not fall into these categories - for example, the tendency some of us have to immediately, reflexively, draw two marks for a line where one will do - should simply not be drawn. Confidence or bust.
Anyway, I'd like you to do one more page of form intersections.
... Holy crap I was just about to hit save, but I hit cancel instead... Thank goodness I was able to go into chrome's devtools and get it back.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-06-07 16:19
Your form intersections are alright - though I did notice that your spheres tend to look a bit.. questionable. You should put more into drawing through those ellipses so you can achieve a more consistent shape.
Your dissection's cuts look pretty neat, but I would have liked to see more texture on the surface of the forms. I also noticed that you were struggling just a little bit with wrapping your contour lines around the forms. You'd get it sometimes, but other times it'd fail to accelerate around the curvature of the form as I describe in this video.
I think I'll have you redo one more page of dissections - focusing on first nailing those contour lines, and then pulling some nice surface textures from some photo reference and applying them to your forms. No banana this time, but you're not far off.
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-06-06 22:22
I think what turns me away from the volunteer thing is that in the long run, I want drawabox to become a significant source of income for me. Not sure if it will, but that's the goal.
I appreciate the offer though - I'll definitely keep you in mind. One of my close friends who's on board with the project is an extremely skilled graphic designer, and I've worked with her before, so for now the plan is to get her to redesign the website for me when I'm ready to make that jump. If those plans change though, I'll be in touch.
As for how long you should be spending, you're right it does vary quite a bit on the individual to the point where it isn't terribly productive to give you an amount of time. I will however tell you that when I took Peter Han's dynamic sketching course, I spent at least eight hours each week (so per lesson). My course includes much more homework however, especially with lesson 1.
So generally, it'll take a lot longer than people expect. It's been a pretty long time since I received work that was truly rushed though, so from what I can tell people have been getting the idea.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 2: Organic Forms, Contour Lines, Dissections and Form Intersections (version 2)"
2015-06-06 01:40
Generally, I'm quite pleased with your intersections. What I tend to focus on is people's ability to draw forms that exist within the same scene, and how those forms relate to one another. You did that quite well.
The only concern I have is with your dissections - on page 5, it does look like you looked at photo reference, but you focused a lot on form rather than the surface quality of those rose petals. What you need to learn to do is look past all of the external shapes and forms and study the surface texture itself. What makes it look smooth, rough, waxy, slick, wet, dry, etc.
Another thing I noticed was that your textures don't really wrap around the forms. Similar to the contour lines - which you did fairly decently - as they reach the edge of the form, they tend to compress. I explain this concept a bit in this video.
Anyways, keep what I've mentioned about textures in mind, as it will come up later. For now though, feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids"
2015-06-06 01:32
Veeery nice work. Your forms are very well done, they do a great way of sitting in 3D space convincingly. The only issue I have is that your linework has a tendency of being very sketchy - where one line would do, you tend to have several. This undermines the inherent solidity of your forms, though somehow you've still captured that illusion very successfully despite this. This only leads me to believe that you could do even better by exerting more control over your lines and considering which lines are contributing and which are not.
Anyway, again- well done. Onwards to the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-06-06 01:28
Nicely done. I especially like the forms on the mangrove and mushroom. One thing that stands out to me though is on page 2, your Agave Havardaiana - there's no clear consideration for how those leaves connect to one another. They just sprout out of nowhere, floating on the page. In order to draw something convincingly, you yourself have to understand how those forms are anchored to one another in 3D space.
I also agree that you could spend a little more time studying the textures you see. Every texture has a specific rhythm and pattern to it, which you can identify if you slow down and study it carefully. You will have other opportunities to practice this in the next few lessons.
Anyway, generally you did well, so feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-06-06 00:08
Congrats on completing the challenge. Your line quality by the end is looking really nice, though you still need to work on the forms themselves. Though they look really confident (which goes a long way to convincing the viewer that they're right), you have a tendency to draw the far plane larger than the near one.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-06-05 23:55
There's improvement in the solidity of your forms for sure, but there's still a whole lot of room to grow. The biggest things that I'm seeing are:
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Your flat forms (leaves, petals, etc. - things that exist in 3D space but are flat themselves) are very stiff
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You cover everything with very regularly spaced contour lines. This leads me to believe that you are not considering what purpose those contour lines serve and instead simply putting them everywhere. Kind of like haphazardly firing a machine gun at a single target in the hopes that one of the bullets will hit, instead of carefully aiming with a pistol.
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Your tree-like forms, with many branches splitting off (page 6) are still lacking in lay-in. You did lay-in the initial spines (just simple lines), which was a good choice, but you jumped from there to drawing the outline of the complex form. What you need to do is identify the main limbs of the trees, draw them in their entirety - kind of like noodles, focusing on keeping them consistent, and then drawing more noodles coming off of those to make up to branches. Each noodle needs to be cylindrical, with consideration put towards their general volume and form. When I say 'keeping them consistent', I'm referring to keeping them parallel, in a sense. Each line needs to stay the same distance away from the spine down the middle.
That last point is usually pretty difficult for people at this stage, so it's not a subject I want you to focus on. The stiffness mentioned in the first point is far more important - this is very closely related to the arrow exercise, so that might help.
Overall, you did show improvement, but you need to think through the purpose of every step instead of simply doing it because I tell you to. At the end of the day, you need to understand what you're doing, and why you're doing it.
Instead of making you continue with these plants, I often find that people who struggle with this lesson have an easier time understanding the concepts in the next lesson, leading with insects. So, I'm going to mark this lesson as complete and send you onwards. Just keep in mind that these are still things you'll need to practice.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-06-04 19:46
I often worry when people tell me how happy they are with their work - it makes telling them they have to go and redo some of it a little harder.
Thankfully, I agree with you. You did great! You did a fantastic job of establishing a hierarchy of information - you clearly focused heavily on capturing the forms, then went onto some of the smaller details, and finally hinted at enough minutia to create areas of interest without getting too busy.
Your homework reminds me of the notes of botanists in years gone by - and the notes in english and (I assume german?) add a very intriguing touch. I hope you save these pages and compile them with your future assignments. I feel like the final result would end up being something really special.
I'm definitely going to be saving this for example-purposes, once I get the drawabox.com website redesigned.
Anyway - onwards to the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 7: Drawing Vehicles"
2015-06-04 19:31
On one hand, they're looking a lot better - the form intersection stuff helped you consider more of the subtler elements that make the forms look convincing.
On the other, you've completely abandoned the box approach. All things considered, you aren't doing worse than before due to this decision, because you weren't really using the box-block-in correctly beforehand either. There are areas where using this technique would have avoided some issues.
For example, in the middle of your last page, you've got a car from the rear. The rear window is not sitting parallel with the rear lights and that whole section.
The whole idea behind the box-block-in is that you start off with a box - it should be fairly easy at this point to get a box to look right. Then you subdivide that box and start approximating out the form of your vehicle. Doing so will help you maintain those parallels where they are required, because there's very little guesswork - each line you draw is derived from others.
Your cars generally do look pretty good (probably better than what I can draw when it comes to cars), but those little discrepancies will stand out in the long run.
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-06-04 02:50
While on one hand, I totally understand the apprehension that's holding you back, you've gotta start somewhere. When I was deciding whether or not to go to CDA, I had another option to attend Sheridan College's art fundamentals course. It was much closer to home, and much cheaper in general. Part of me was thinking that if it was just my fundamentals, I could learn those anywhere and then have more time to learn the 'important stuff' in LA.
But then it occurred to me - it's called your foundation for a reason. It is the important stuff. Everything else is just fluff. If you build a house on a rickety foundation, the house will fall no matter how fancy it is. So if you're going to spend on something, it should be what you learn first, all of those basic skills.
But honestly, it's ten bucks per video, and you can cancel any time. I'd say that if you really do want to become a concept artist, you should try it out if it's financially viable for you right now.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-06-03 22:29
Very nice. There's definitely room to grow, but you're back on the correct path and at this point it's just a matter of practice. Your forms are looking much better, and you seem to be thinking through your lines a lot more. The only thing I want to point out is the cylinder of the flower pot on page 1 isn't technically correct - the bottom ellipse of the cylinder, which is further away from the viewer, will always have a wider degree than the one that is closer (and visible). That's just a minor point though.
Go ahead and move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders"
2015-06-03 22:01
Nice work! I just have one critique - be careful with that hatching. I see a lot of cases where you use straight lines as shading. Those little lines function a lot like the contour lines in lesson 2, so they reinforce the curvature of a surface. By using straight lines on a curved surface, you're telling the viewer that the surface is flat.
You can use curved lines, or alternatively you can do hatching in the opposite direction - running lines up and down the length of the cylinder instead of wrapping around it.
Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders"
2015-06-02 21:50
Nice work. I'm glad to see that you experimented with many different orientations and cylinder lengths.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects"
2015-06-01 22:35
Not bad. It's definitely moving in the right direction. Generally your overall forms are okay (at times I do see the perspective falling a bit out of whack, especially the boxes on page 8 showing the far planes being a bit larger than the near planes), but when it comes to the finer details, you have a tendency to sloppily doodle them on instead of attempting to construct them from forms. For example, on that same page (8) you leave the dials as ellipses when they're likely supposed to be cylinders. That is why you get the feeling that yours look basic. It's just a matter of paying closer attention to your reference/subject matter, and properly constructing all of the forms instead of being loose.
Another thing I believe will help is for you to practice drawing cylinders. I recently posted a video about constructing them that you should find handy. It details a method that involves drawing a box first and then constructing a cylinder inside of it. This would ultimately help with situations where you have to position/align a cylinder, which is generally quite challenging.
Anyway, I'll mark this lesson as complete, but be sure to keep practicing this stuff.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-06-01 22:13
Nice work. I like that as you progressed you started experimenting with your line weights. It's true that there's a lot of rather dramatic perspective distortions here, but they still look correct within their own isolated scopes. Of course, if they were in the same scene they'd be inconsistent, but since they're not, you're all good.
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-05-31 22:29
I really appreciate that! And I also appreciate the extra support on my patreon campaign. I think with all of the encouragement, and the thought that I've given it, I will be moving forwards with my plans to expand the website into something more community-driven and standalone.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-05-31 18:41
Pretty much, though not so much to add shape. Your form definition is already there. All the details/shading have to do is not contradict it. Since hatching lines have the same effect as contour lines, by having them go straight across like that, they're telling the viewer's eye that the surface is flat. Always keep in mind that the objects you are drawing are 3D and have volume - any detail applied to them needs to wrap around that form, not simply go across it as though you were drawing something flat.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids"
2015-05-31 16:59
Looking good! Your forms are pretty well captured, and you generally do a solid job of applying texture that doesn't contradict the forms from the lay-ins. The only one that I noticed does flatten out a little is the body of the beetle on page 8. Still, great work overall.
Feel free to move onto the next lesson.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects"
2015-05-31 16:48
Not bad! I definitely think drawing cylinders by starting off with a box would have helped in some scenarios, but in general you did fairly well. Your forms give the impression of solidity and volume.
When it comes to that camera, those lenses are extremely challenging, for sure. That said, it doesn't look like you really used the cylinder-in-box technique correctly. You drew a box for the outermost ellipse, but the actual cylinder that protrudes out is significantly smaller. It would have been better to use a separate box for it. I understand that this would result in a whole lot of extra linework, but it's more important right now that we focus on getting accurate forms rather than a clean drawing.
It might also help to be less sketchy with your lines. The camera in the top left of page 7's got some lay-in boxes that are pretty rough. The one beneath it is far better, as each line seems to be drawn with clear planning and intent. It exudes confidence, while the one above seems more timid and uncertain.
Anyway, you're definitely moving in the right direction with these. I'll mark this lesson as complete, but be sure to keep practicing this subject matter.
Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders"
2015-05-31 16:44
Nice work. Your lines are confident as always, and your corrections seem to be on point. It may have been helpful to draw through that farther end of the cylinders a little more at the beginning, to help solidify your understanding of the form, but generally your size/degree relationships between the near and far ends seem appropriate.
Be sure to watch the how to draw cylinders if you haven't already though - I introduce a different technique that starts off with a box and focuses on the more technical anatomy of the ellipse (mainly the minor axis) to help position it in relation to other objects. Practicing a few of these will probably help you out in the long run.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-05-31 16:42
Nice work! Contrary to what you seem to believe, I think you did a pretty good job with your lay-ins. The forms do a good job of giving the illusion of volume and the impression that they flow through 3D space.
Your detailing's not bad either, though there's definitely room to grow there. I think this will continue to improve over the next few lessons, so feel free to move forward.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-05-31 16:40
Not bad. There is definitely room to grow, but I think you're moving in the right direction. Your forms are pretty well laid out, which is the most important part. The biggest critique I have there is that in your lay-ins, you should be drawing 'complete' forms. That is to say, close off your forms.
Your contour lines could be improved. If you look at that same image I linked above, you'll see how closing off your forms will show how your contour lines have a tendency to bend in the wrong direction. Lower down the stem, they can be considered correct, but you have to have that curvature shift gradually from the top.
One thing I'd really like you to avoid is using dashed lines when drawing through forms or contour lines, as you did on the tree trunk/branches on page 1. Everything you put on the page should be drawn confidently. Either it contributes to the final drawing, or it helps you understand the forms that you are depicting, or it simply shouldn't be drawn at all. Generally you do a decent job of this but dashed lines are usually a bit of a red flag to me, so I felt it necessary to point this out.
When it comes to detail and shading, you could use some work. For example, your hatching lines (from your shading) consists of straight lines. These function as little contour lines of their own, and they flatten out the form.
In general though I think this is good enough to move onto the next lesson, where you can continue to practice these skills on another subject matter. So, I'll mark this lesson as complete.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-05-30 17:56
Details really, really aren't the problem here. The issue is that you're not spending enough time on your lay-ins, and thinking them through enough. Great details on top of a quick and rough lay-in is going to look bad, but quick and rough details on top of a solid lay-in is going to still look good.
Your mushrooms (page 12) are actually really well done, and that's because they're composed of very simple forms, so the lay-in is simple. With the others, you've got all sorts of details that can very easily overwhelm you.
I'd like you to go back and do four more pages of lay-ins only. Don't start getting into any sort of detail, just establish the forms themselves. Consider what contributes to the form (like in your palm trees, you drew every little bit of foliage, rather than capturing the overall form of each branch. I actually did an example a while back with a palm tree that might help you understand better.
Also, draw solid, complete shapes and forms. No broken edges, nothing rough, timid or faint. What you draw should be confident, and it should either contribute to the overall drawing or to your understanding of the forms you're using (like drawing through your forms, or using contour lines). If the line itself does neither of these things, it is not necessary and should not be drawn.
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-05-29 03:01
Thanks! That means a lot. I donno how I'd make the 'give back' thing more prominent though, without screaming, "PAY ME YOU CHEAPSKATESSSS".. but I'm sure I'll find a way! The more I consider it, the more I feel I want to build a proper professional website around this.
I've never really been one to stop doing something on account of sound financial advice and business sense. Success be damned!
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2015-05-29 02:55
Alright, I'm tired as hell, but here's another demo.
A few points to take note of:
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Instead of focusing on making everything 3D, focus on 2D first, up to step 5. Then you can start worrying about refining your shapes into 3D forms. Early on just focus on your proportions and your silhouette.
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Try not to make everything so bubbly. Balance your use of curves with straight lines.
I do kind of like the back legs on that goat, and the way you tried to tackle the lion's head is admirable (breaking things into planes) but your proportions are still way out of whack.
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-05-28 13:37
Good lord, those how-to-draw-an-owls are getting more and more elaborate every time I see them. Glad I could help, though.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2015-05-28 02:35
I'm going to critique this tomorrow, but could you post the reference images you used?
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-05-28 01:39
On the bright side, I worked as a professional web developer for some time, and still keep up with more modern technologies. When it comes to either building something from scratch or jerry-rigging an existing forum system... Well, when I was in high school, I was faced with a similar quandry. I was very much into text-based roleplaying, but wanted to build a proper RPG system under it. I had the option of modding the everlivingcrap out of a phpbb system... but instead I spent the better part of a year building a custom system from scratch where instead of forum>sub-forum>thread you'd have town>building>room, characters could only exist in one place at a time, characters had customizable avatars, inventories, all sorts of fun stuff. I kind of miss that game, it kept my friends and me entertained for a couple years.
Long story short, to hell with existing systems! On the bright side, that also means I only have to worry about paying for the design side of things.
Ultimately I do think I'll probably still walk down this road. Business-sense and financially sound decisions have never stopped me in the past, and there may still be room for a strong, community-driven experience rather than the rigid instructor-student relationship Foundation Group will offer. That is, aside from the community blog thing, which they did at Concept Design Academy and didn't really encourage that much student-student interaction.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-05-27 22:47
Good work completing the challenge. I must say though, it's getting pretty muddy there. The lines seem rather thick, and with the corrections done in the same colour, it all gets very busy. For the most part you do seem to be making progress though. I do want to make a suggestion though - when doing this kind of exercise, avoid overlapping the boxes. It's best to tackle one problem at a time, and overlapping multiple boxes introduces other complications.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids"
2015-05-27 22:40
Pretty good! I like your lay-ins. Some of your detailed drawings are better than others, though. It's very easy to get too carried away with detail, and it's also very easy to accidentally flatten out your forms if you don't remember that these details sit on curving, 3D surfaces. Every little line functions as a mini contour line, so it's gotta flow along the surface.
Anyway, I'm definitely satisfied with your lay-ins and constructions, so I'll mark this lesson as complete. You can work on your detailing on the next one.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2015-05-27 22:22
I am starting to see a little more structure, so that's good. And I really do like the hind legs of the wolf on page 2. Also, your forms seem a little more purposeful. You're exploring less on the page and thinking through your decisions more.
What I'm not seeing though is a whole lot of attention paid to your reference images. This isn't an uncommon issue, really. I often see students looking too little at their reference and too much at their drawing. Our memories are not very good, especially initially, so after a couple seconds of looking away, we end up making up more of what we're drawing. This results in proportions that are way off. You should probably spend 80% of your time studying your reference, at the very least.
I'd like you to try another two pages. Focus on your proportions, and also this time don't worry about contour lines too much. For now, even using 2D shapes here and there is okay, as it will allow you to focus more on getting those general proportions right. Later we will come back and merge everything together.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-05-27 22:01
Congrats on completing the challenge! I must say though, I'm seeing a whole lot of signs of rushing. Don't forget that the core of all of these lessons is the idea of splitting up the process of drawing a line into three phases.
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Identify what kind of mark you need. Where does it begin, where does it end, is it straight or curved, etc.
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Prepare by finding the most comfortable angle of approach (rotating your page if necessary). Ghost through the motion as many times as you need until the motion feels comfortable and familiar.
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The last 10% of the process, continue ghosting through the motion and finally touch the pen to the page and draw the mark in a single consistent and smooth stroke.
It takes a long time at first, but your lines will be straighter, and you'll have fewer messes.
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-05-27 21:26
I just saw that you doubled your pledge! It really means a lot to me, and it goes that much farther for everyone who can't afford to pitch in. Thanks so much!
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-05-27 13:17
He totally is! His course on form language really affected the way I look at design. I ended up drawing some of my best stuff for that class...
If you don't mind my asking, how much does his mentorship cost?
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-05-27 13:16
I'm glad to hear that!
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-05-27 13:14
Hah, thanks, I appreciate the kind words. I guess the main reason I'm concerned is that drawabox is far from being sustainable at the moment. I've been going to various lengths to work towards balancing the expenses and the hours put in against the income it's generated, and while it's certainly been improving over the past few months, there's a ways to go.
For now I'm mainly just voicing my concerns and keeping folks informed so there aren't ever any big surprises. That, and I really do think people should check out this new option, because at the end of the day, they are going to cover most of what I have, but they have the benefit of a much clearer understanding of the material. After all, I only studied dynamic sketching for three months.
I don't believe I would ever actually take the website down. Hosting is cheap, after all. Worst case scenario, if this Foundation Group thing really does impact the growth of the patreon campaign and the website's daily traffic, the main thing that would suffer are the critiques. I'm fairly certain that the vast majority of people don't take advantage of those anyway, even though they're probably the biggest time investment on my part.
Uncomfortable in the post "John Park starts an affordable online foundational art program, "Foundation Group""
2015-05-27 13:05
Thanks for the encouragement. Ultimately, the reason I want to redevelop the website is not just for the sake of looks. That is definitely a factor, but it's more for the sake of functionality.
My goal has always been to use the drawabox website for everything related to these lessons - specifically adding homework submission, critiques and progress tracking. These are all things we do on reddit right now, and quite frankly it is painful. Reddit just isn't designed for this sort of thing, and using it makes my life more difficult than it needs to be.
Then there's the topic of critiques in general. Ideally I'd want to nurture a culture of users critiquing each other. I don't believe in listening to the suggestions of any random stranger, but I'd want to be able to give one of three grades to a lesson's homework submission - redo, good and excellent. The last one would allow that user to go on and critique the work others submit to that same lesson. Of course, there would have to be something they would gain by critiquing, and I haven't figured that part out yet. Maybe unlocking higher level lessons, achievements, I'm not sure.
The effect is two fold - most importantly it cuts down my workload. Secondly, it begins nurturing a culture of artists critiquing each other, as well as one of only accepting critique from someone who has proven themselves to understand the material.
From fairly early on, when the workload started to get a little out of control, I decided that would be a temporary thing. I'd work my ass off for a while and structure things to be a little more self-sustaining so that in the long run, I'd only have to focus on writing lessons. This project has really never been sustainable, mostly because of the ever-rising demand for critiques.
To be honest, I'm against accepting volunteers. Right now this project does pull in some revenue (which has been steadily growing). It's one thing to have users volunteering to help if a project is completely non-profit, but money complicates things. If I'm making a penny off it, it's important to me that any labour I benefit from is compensated fairly. Beyond fairness, it also goes further to ensure the reliability of those doing the work.
Still, I appreciate the offer, and I'll keep you in mind. Right now I do have a professional graphic/UX designer on hand, but if I ever need another hand on this project, I'll give you a shout.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-05-26 22:00
Fantastic work. I was actually looking at what you'd posted to twitter, earlier today. Your boxes are solid, and your corrections are right on point. I'm also really glad to see that you experimented with line weight - it definitely helped make your boxes look much more dynamic.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects"
2015-05-26 21:58
Your forms generally look very solid. I'm especially fond of USB charger on page 2 and the marker/highlighter on page 3.
There's definitely a lot of room to grow, and I think some of the techniques I covered in the very recent video on cylinders would help with how you place and align your cylinders (by starting off with a box).
I'm going to mark the lesson as complete, as I'm satisfied that you're moving in the right direction, but be sure to continue practicing this stuff on your own - once you've given yourself a well deserved break, of course.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-05-26 21:49
Hahaha, it's pretty easy to get kind of burnt out when drawing so many pages of the same topic, especially when it's not a particularly interesting one to you. Taking breaks and pacing yourself is definitely important!
Unfortunately, you're not quite there yet. And the problem isn't so much shading or texturing - it's your lay-ins.
One major issue is with your contour lines. You draw a lot of them, but they generally don't tend to wrap around the forms properly. I know I've linked you to this video before, but you should watch it again. Your contour curves don't accelerate and wrap around the forms when they reach the edges. They almost do, but it still feels rather flat.
These plants are basically a combination of everything from lesson 2. You've got a bunch of voluminous forms (mostly organic) that are intersecting with one another, and you've also got some flatter forms that are twisting through 3D space, like your arrows. I feel like you have a tendency to jump into more complex forms too early. Focus on breaking things down into their core components.
One area I believe you did well was page 6. A very good example of where you did poorly was page 8. Notice how it's got virtually no lay-in, aside from those center lines? You don't block in the shapes of those leaves at all, you just rush straight in.
I want you to do three more pages, though I strongly recommend that you take a nice, well deserved break, and then maybe go back and warm up with some of the lesson 2 stuff. It's important to keep up with the exercises you've learned in the past.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 5: Drawing Animals"
2015-05-26 21:24
Massive improvement overall, and I also see things starting to click more as you progress through this new set. There's still definitely a lot of room to grow, between taking the 2D shapes (which are a good place to start) and pushing them into 3D especially on the limbs. Essentially, you've completed the first stage, whereas before you were jumping into stage 3 before solidifying 1 and 2.
Another thing you should focus on is proportion. You're doing a much better job of it this time, but as with all things, there's still plenty of room for improvement.
Overall I'm very pleased with the direction you're going in now, so I'll mark the lesson as complete. I do think you should continue to do studies on your own, though, as there's a long ways to go.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 7: Drawing Vehicles"
2015-05-25 21:35
The problem is essentially that while you may be seeing those things in your mind's eye, you're not drawing them onto the page. Because of that, you're not properly able to wrap your head around how they exist within the same space. This causes the forms that you do draw to be misaligned to one another. By actually doing the form intersections, you'll go back to drawing each individual form on the page, drawing through them when necessary.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 7: Drawing Vehicles"
2015-05-24 19:25
maan, come on. All you did was draw a box around it and then do exactly what you did before. Go back and read the lesson! You've gotta start with defining the space (the box), then establish your major forms and break them down into increasing levels of complexity. You're diving into the complex really early.
I know my demo images jump very quickly through the process, but in the description on the side, I explain that I'm moving through it quickly, since the same concepts were covered in the previous demos.
As always, do your proportion study, then block in your forms.
It may help for you to practice your form intersections as well. One thing I've told others to do in the past when they've struggled with this is to do form intersections, but to construct them as though they were constructing a vehicle. So no reference, but just constructing things with absolutely basic forms (no detail) that look like they could be driven.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 3: Drawing Plants"
2015-05-24 19:21
There's still some room to grow, but these are definitely much more consistent. I'll mark this as complete - the next lesson tends to really drive these concepts home, so your best course of action is to move on to lesson 4.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-05-23 18:11
I can definitely see that you explored quite a bit - with different ways of drawing boxes incorrectly, and figuring out what exactly made them wrong. The results are that you have made some improvement, and while you have some more room to grow, you are definitely moving in the right direction. So congrats on completing the challenge!
Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders"
2015-05-23 17:59
I can definitely see that you put your all into this. I actually just finished a new video specifically on drawing cylinders, where I go over a method that uses a box lay-in to start with. You may want to check it out.
Another thing I noticed is that you avoid drawing through your ellipses, so the shapes don't always come out evenly. Don't be afraid to draw through them two or three times before lifting your pen. It'll both improve your ellipses in the long run, and will improve your forms right now. Shape is the top priority.
Anyway, congrats on completing the challenge.
Uncomfortable in the post "250 Box Challenge (#2)"
2015-05-23 00:38
Nice work! Congrats on completing the challenge. Just keep an eye on situations like this, where some of your angles go a bit out of whack.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 4: Drawing Insects and Arachnids"
2015-05-23 00:29
The lay-ins on the first page are not so great. Something about the proportions feel off, or something to that effect. Your second page, however, is very well done. Each of those feel very convincing, and they convey a great sense of volume and form.
I feel that in most of the drawings you take to completion, you don't spend quite enough time on the lay-ins. Based on that second page, I know you can do them, but it's very possible that you get a little overwhelmed by the prospect of doing a finished drawing that you aren't as careful as you could be.
Looking at the wasp on page 3, I can see a bit of your lay-in, and it's lacking complete shapes, contour lines, all of the good stuff I see on page 2.
I want you to do another 3 pages of full drawings, and I want you to take a photo of each one's lay-in before you move onto the detail phase. The submit to me both the lay-ins and the final drawings.
Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 14: Composition"
2015-06-07 16:41
The levels of value at different distances from the viewer used to confuse the crap out of me. Doing it this way seemed to solidify the concepts, though. By immediately marking down the absolute darkest any section could be, you end up with a better sense of that hierarchy, and also end up fixing up your values less later on. Not to say I don't still have to fix my values.. I'm generally kind of unstructured and messy. But that's our little secret!