Uncomfortable in the post "250 Cylinder Challenge"

2016-02-06 22:42

Good work completing the challenge. Just a couple things to keep in mind:

1. Draw through all of the ellipses you draw for my lessons. Each and every one.

2. Remember that the degrees of the ellipses should not be the same - the farther ellipse should have greater degree (it should be wider) and the closer end should have a smaller degree (narrower).

3. I should actually change the 'how to draw a cylinder' diagrams to reflect this, but it's probably a much better idea to have your minor axis cut through the entire cylinder, not just end at the center point of the ellipse. Reason being, the minor axis is supposed to cut an ellipse into two equal, symmetrical halves - if we're not cutting all the way through the ellipse, it's harder to tell if it was aligned correctly.

Consider this challenge complete.

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

2016-02-06 22:38

Honestly, I'm not entirely satisfied, but at this point I don't think it would be productive to continue having you grind on plants. Similar concepts apply with the next lesson (insects), and a lot of students who struggle here tend to have those concepts 'click' when they deal with the more solid constructions in that subject matter. So, I'm going to mark this lesson as complete and ask that you move ahead.

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

2016-02-06 21:59

Your arrows are pretty good. Your organic forms with contour ellipses/curves are well done too. Your texturing is generally well done, although you left a lot of surfaces untouched. that isn't to say that blank areas aren't important, but there are a lot of surfaces you just didn't apply texture to. As for your questions about applying texture and struggling with being stuck with black/white, these recent notes I posted touch on how to tackle that: http://drawabox.com/lesson/texture. Still, you're mostly moving in the right direction.

Your form intersections are quite solid as well. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by your question regarding the video, but honestly that video is rather old and I'd recommend following the notes in the lesson over it. If I remember correctly, I removed the link to the video altogether.

Lastly, your organic intersections definitely do seem to be the area where you struggled most. I don't see a whole lot of confidence with your linework - the lines wobble in a lot of area, and you tend to get very sketchy and almost chicken-scratchy with some of your lines. Focus more on planning a mark and executing with a single, smooth stroke. When it comes time to add line weight in certain areas, ghosting can still help when running your pen over an existing mark. Also make sure you use line weight to separate your forms clearly (you did on some areas, less so in others), and don't forget about shadows one form will cast onto another. They can also be used very effectively to separate different forms and make things a little clearer.

Anyway, you're moving in the right direction and have generally done well. So, I'll mark this lesson as complete. Feel free to move onto the next one.

Uncomfortable in the post "How to Approach Drawing Texture"

2016-02-06 16:39

Each lesson has a link on the top, "View Homework Submissions on Reddit." It'll take you to a reddit post where people submit their homework as comments, and you can do the same. If the lesson has a 'self-critique resources' link at the top as well, you should be sure to go through it as well though to catch any major common mistakes before submitting. Not all of the lessons have them yet, but the first two should.

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

2016-02-05 20:41

I do think your boxes and your sense of space and construction is improving over the set, going from fairly weak to reasonable. There's still plenty of room to grow, but you're moving in the right direction. I'd say my biggest concerns lie with the quality of your lines - more effort should be put into thinking through your lines and drawing them straight and solid in one go, rather than giving into the habit of immediately reinforcing a line with another as a reflex. Be sure to apply the ghosting method from lesson 1 more consistently to every mark you put down. If the lines that make up a box aren't solid, the box itself won't appear solid either, even if all of the lines are otherwise correct.

Anyway, like I said, you're showing progress. Consider this challenge complete

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

2016-02-05 20:34

Very nice work! Your arrows, organic forms, dissections and various intersections are all done quite well. I'd say the only thing I'd like to point out is that though your organic intersections are pretty nice, I can definitely see that the idea of each of these forms having solid weight to them and sagging around each other still has yet to fully crystalize in your mind - you're definitely heading in the right direction though. What I would recommend here is to picture a solid object, like an iron rod, and a very large water balloon. Imagine in your mind that you gently place the water balloon on top of the iron rod, such that the balloon spills over on either side of it, sagging down. Think of how that weight would feel as it droops. Remember that sense of heaviness and tension.

I especially enjoyed your dissections - your handle on texture is very good, with a clear sense of both the details that exist on your subject, as well as for how those details can be organized and communicated to the viewer in such a way that they do not become overly distracting where they should not be.

Anyway, consider this lesson complete and keep up the great work.

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

2016-02-05 20:27

Nicely done. I'm glad to see that you drew through many of the boxes, and your forms are coming along very well. I think you've improved both in construction as well as in confidence across the set, and your corrections do seem to be on point.

Keep up the good work, and consider this challenge complete.

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

2016-02-05 20:24

I generally eyeball it. You're free to use whatever methods you are most comfortable with though, it won't interfere with what's being taught here. Either way though it's still going to rely heavily on practice.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-05 20:23

Nicely done on both counts. I'll mark the lesson as complete.

Accuracy with the rough perspective exercise improves with time and practice. I expect everyone to continue doing these exercises in small quantities now and then, and with the rough perpsective boxes, going over your homework as you have done after you've finished it off helps you stay aware of where you tend to make mistakes. By being aware, you can consciously compensate for them the next time you attempt the exercise.

As for drawing from the shoulder/elbow/wrist, there are cases where the wrist is preferable, and scale is a factor, but I strongly advise people to work from their shoulder for the first few lessons and to continue using their shoulder for the vast majority of their work. Wrist comes into play when you're working with really small details, where accuracy starts to outweigh the importance of how consistent the flow of the line is. This latter point is important far more often than most beginners expect.

It's true that drawing from the shoulder is harder to control, partially because that's the point (it's more about trusting how your muscles flow than actively being in control of the pen as you draw - this usually leads to wobbling because your brain is able to make little corrections along the way). It's also very much about the fact that you're using an entirely different set of muscles to drive motion from your shoulder. These muscles haven't been trained nor practiced, so they are quite weak. With time and practice, as long as you keep up with it and don't fall back to drawing largely from the wrist, this will get easier.

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

2016-02-05 17:54

I wouldn't play down the importance of proportions to the point of not trying to nail them. The first priority of the lessons however is to teach you how to construct things in 3D space. In that regard, messing up your proportions isn't the end of the world. If you take that and don't bother trying to develop strong observation skills (which are needed to get your proportions right) however, then you'll be missing out on a considerable chunk.

It's normal for people to make mistakes with proportions early on as they start developing that sense for observation, but over time as long as you acknowledge the mistakes and work towards improving on that front, things will get better.

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

2016-02-05 17:50

Gel pens certainly all equally unforgiving, but their downside is that they don't have the same flexibility in regards to line weight. Press lightly with a felt tip pen, get a thin line. Press harder, get a thick line. Things are considerably more uniform with a gel pen because the tip doesn't have much give. So, you're going to miss out on training your pressure control with that kind of tool.

Uncomfortable in the post "How to Approach Drawing Texture"

2016-02-04 23:36

We're so used to either drawing everything in line, or being told that 'lines don't exist' that what's right in front of us is often ignored. Lines are but one possible manifestation of a shadow.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-04 22:53

Your work is generally spot on - there's only one issue that I noticed, and that's all the way at the end with your organic perspective boxes. The issue is that your foreshortening on all of your boxes is very dramatic, and ends up being inconsistent across all the boxes in the scene. The issue is explained in further detail here: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene. It's important to get used to drawing forms with shallower foreshortening, as those will be more common in your constructions. Dramatic perspective is really reserved for very large scale objects, like a tall building whose roof is very far away.

Aside from that, you've done quite well, so I'll mark this lesson as complete. Feel free to move onto the next one.

As for your question, the cause could be one of a few things. You might be pressing too hard, it might be a poor quality brand of pen, or the pen itself might just be a dud despite being from a solid brand (it happens). I don't think it has to do with the angle though, but the 90 degree angle is ideal for getting the ink to flow out of shitty pens.

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

2016-02-04 22:49

Better, but I have a few points I'd like to mention.

• Don't be faint or timid with your construction lines. I want you to develop your confidence, and using a sort of underdrawing, followed by a 'clean-up' pass is not the way to go. Instead, every mark that serves a purpose (whether it's part of the final drawing or drawing through a form) should be drawn confidently, and every mark that doesn't serve a purpose should not be drawn. THEN you can come back in afterwards and push the line weight on some lines to bring them forward, in turn causing the lesser construction lines to recede. Some people get confused and don't see the difference between that and using an underdrawing - the difference is that with an underdrawing, your 'clean-up' pass replaces your underdrawing. The approach I'm encouraging takes parts of your construction and merely emphasizes them.

• I notice this a lot on your leaves, you're really sloppy when you draw the veins, or the rough approximation of the veins. This is part of because you're doing a clean-up pass, but in general it doesn't look like you've planned these lines out well. Remember that a leaf starts with the center line, then the edges are built up around it. I notice a lot of your center lines seem to be drawn after the fact, though again, that's probably because your'e not considering that order of process when you do a clean up pass. Really, it's the clean-up pass that's likely sloppier than the construction underneath. It's hiding the stuff you've done well.

Still, you've improved in the areas I'd hoped, so I'm going to mark this lesson as complete. You're right that it will take time to get a sense how to organize texture, but remember that it's a two step process - first you need to be able to identify the vast complexities of details in your photo reference. Once you're able to identify that, then you can start thinking about how to simplify and organize that detail. If you jump right into simplifying, you'll be missing an important step.

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

2016-02-04 22:42

Your animal constructions are looking pretty good! I definitely do notice though that your smaller drawings tend to be weaker, likely because you don't have as much room to think through spatial problems, resulting in stiffer constructions. In general though you're moving in the right direction.

The biggest problem I noticed was how you approach drawing fur - you add tufts everywhere, and that just tends to look messy. Instead, I recommend that you use this process. First add your tifts to the silhouette of your forms, then find out where your darker shadow areas are, and use a fur texture in your gradients/transitions between dark/light. Don't try to apply the texture all over the place, you need specific areas of detail (focal points) and spaces that are empty (rest areas).

The only other thing I'd like to point out is that it looks like your underlying construction lines are a little timid, often being considerably fainter. This timidness implies a lack of confidence which can trickle down into constructions that are less solid. Remember - if a mark serves a purpose, draw it confidently. If it does not serve a purpose, don't draw it at all. Then, you can use line weight to push the lines you want to emphasize and cause all other construction lines to start receding in turn.

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

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

2016-02-04 22:00

KSP never really did much for me. I was excited for it when it was really popular, but that's when I was in LA focusing on art classes so I put it off by a few months. Once I did play it, I didn't feel much motivation to really figure it out.

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

2016-02-04 15:33

I see. I think in some ways it demonstrates that you have remarkable control over your pressure, though perhaps not quite as much control over your own emotional response. There's always something to work on!

Uncomfortable in the post "How to Approach Drawing Texture"

2016-02-04 15:32

It certainly helps. My overall focus for all of these lessons is still about form, texture is a distant second priority. Still, the higher the resolution, the better.

Uncomfortable in the post "How to Approach Drawing Texture"

2016-02-04 15:32

I think the biggest problem here is that you are trying to make the call as to whether or not you should submit. You are trusting yourself to judge, despite being the student. I've mentioned this before - failure happens. It's inevitable, and it's necessary. Knowing this, I only expect my students to spend as much time and effort as is required to complete a given lesson's homework to the best of their ability. There is no specific global standard for the quality a student must meet in order to be allowed to receive critique, rather it is a personal one unique to them. I can tell when people rush, I can tell when people ignore the material. I can tell when a person has put forward their absolute best.

Though I do try to, I cannot convey every aspect of the criteria I apply while critiquing, so beyond putting forward your absolute best effort, you don't know exactly what I look for, and how I respond to various results. That's why I offer critiques.

First and foremost, texture and rendering is by far the least important component of these lessons. I've been focusing more on it recently just because it's what people are interested in, but if you ask me a person could go through all of the lessons without moving into texture/detail, focusing entirely on form and construction and I would consider it a success. When it comes down to actually learning about texture, I break it down into two stages - and I watch as students reach these stages across multiple lessons, not just after a single exercise.

First is as you called it, the "detail overload" stage. This shows me that a student has moved entirely beyond their natural tendency to use symbols and rely on memory. A student who has reached this stage can identify all of what's going on, will spend long periods of time observing and studying their reference, with only one or two seconds of mark-making before looking again at their subject. I don't expect students to reach this stage by the end of lesson 2 - I merely expect to see them moving in that direction.

The second stage is understanding how all of the little details that are being identified are in fact made up of light and shadow, and that the shadows can merge together into larger clumps and shapes, and that this information can in fact be reorganized. A student who has reached this stage has understood that the goal is not to reproduce exactly the image they're referencing, but rather to distill it into the core "information" that defines it, and then communicate that visually. That is why when I apply texture, it doesn't look identical to the reference image - it's an interpretation of it. You look at the leaf and still get a sense that it is a leaf, and understand how it might feel to the touch. At the same time, it is organized and structured with composition in mind - emphasizing certain focal points while simultaneously allowing for rest areas. A good drawing is, after all, not about how much detail you can squeeze in there, but rather knowing where and how to use that detail to get your point across.

Most students don't fully reach this stage over the course of the lessons. They walk towards that goal gradually, and continue to do so as they practice on their own. It's not a stage I myself have fully reached either, only in parts.

I'd like to emphasize my first point - don't set out expectations for yourself. The only thing you know at this point is whether or not you're trying your best. If you were taking a regular class in a school, you would have assignments and deadlines - and you'd submit those assignments whether you felt as though you failed or not, knowing that while not submitting is technically an option, it's immensely foolish. Think the same way about this course. If you've completed the minimum required amount, submit it. Get something out of it, instead of keeping it to yourself.

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

2016-02-04 14:53

ARK. I get bored of games really quickly though, so I've already put that one down. ): I don't play games nearly as often as I should. I try to get addicted, but it never sticks.

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

2016-02-04 14:52

Also be sure to check out the new page on texture: http://drawabox.com/lesson/texture

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

2016-02-04 04:00

Your organic form intersections look fine, so I'll mark this lesson as complete.

As for your question, I'll address the different scenarios you listed individually.

• There's a difference between a rough/clean pass approach and adding line weight. Adding line weight uses the lines that already exist in the drawing, whereas the multi-pass approach replaces them. When you play with line weight, you're just enhancing what's already there, pushing and pulling so as to emphasize and draw attention to certain marks, while letting others recede. It's definitely what I encourage, but is distinct from sketching faintly/roughly and then redrawing the entire thing on top with a darker line.

• When you draw an ellipse, I do insist that you draw through it at least twice. This does not apply however when you're just drawing a contour curve (part of an ellipse). I fully understand your preference for using just the curve over the ellipse, and agree with it. There are some situations where the whole ellipse is preferable (like when you're drawing both ends of a cylinder), but usually in situations where you're emphasizing the contours of an organic form, the curve is better. That's why I have a section of the exercise devoted to it. If a curve is a little off, it's not as easily noticeable, however, as when a full ellipse is off. That's one of the reasons I push for people to draw through their full ellipses. It allows for the ellipse to read better in general, and also gives your arm muscles a little extra training as far as developing muscle memory goes.

• When it comes to 'seeing' your forms through the clutter, it's true that all of this extra drawing-through I push for can get confusing. At times it's hard to avoid, and line weight certainly helps organize things, so it is encouraged. Beyond that though, I always push for people to think before they draw anything. Line economy is important, and no mark should be wasted or purposeless. If a mark serves a purpose (even if it's used to draw through something), it should be drawn confidently. If it does not, it should not be drawn at all. It's important for students to learn to make that distinction and think before they put anything down.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-04 03:52

Generally pretty good, but I did notice a couple things. The most noticeable is that your lines often wobble. This happens sometimes in your super imposed lines, in many of your ellipses, and in your boxes. The reason is that you're drawing too slowly and carefully.

In order to achieve a smooth stroke, you need to draw confidently and quickly. This in turn leads to a decrease in accuracy, which can be counteracted by applying the ghosting method - ghosting through the drawing motion. By practicing and familiarizing yourself with the motion, when you execute it quickly and confidently, your muscles will know how to draw it with greater accuracy without giving your brain the chance to interfere with its little corrections along the way.

I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. This is partially to get lots of much needed practice applying the ghosting method to all of your lines, but also because your rotated boxes and organic perspective exercises shows me that while you're moving in the right direction, you need more practice with the idea of constructing these arbitrarily rotated boxes. This is perfectly normal, and most people struggle with it. It takes time and practice to develop a strong sense of 3D space, and this 250 box challenge, along with the resources included with it, should help considerably.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-04 03:39

Your lines section is looking pretty solid. Your ellipses do need work though - they have a tendency of being very loose. Part of it is the issue touched on here: Drawing Ellipses Without a Goal, in that when you draw through your ellipses you completely lose track of what your goal should be. Part of it is also the fact that when you start drawing through them, you lose any compulsion to keep them tight and together. Rather than an ellipse, many of the results end up looking like swirling squiggles, to a degree. This isn't true of all of them, but it is definitely something you need to work on.

I'm assuming you're not applying the ghosting technique here - that is the three steps outlined in the lines section. You should, and I think it'd help you retain your control. Don't do the complete opposite and draw slowly and carefully though - this will make your ellipses wobbly and uneven. Instead ghost through the drawing motion until your arm is familiar with the movement required to draw an ellipse accurately, then draw it with a confident stroke, going around the shape exactly two times. I think three might be a bit much for you, so two is what you should be aiming for.

Your first page of rough perspective boxes is bad. Your second page is a little better, but in both you're already moving beyond the scope of the exercise and adding your own little flourishes (not working strictly with boxes, tilting the boxes, etc.) I specifically advise you not to go beyond any of the exercise briefs, because 90% of people who do so don't end up getting a solid grip on the basic concepts. They don't start experimenting because they know the material, it's because they're bored and can't focus. If you get bored, take a break.

Now, when you are drawing, I want you to be mindful of how you draw. Don't be sloppy - apply the ghosting method to every line, and if you make a mistake, don't scratch it out, don't correct it, don't do anything that's going to draw more attention to it. Secondly, don't be messy with your hatching lines. Keep them parallel, consistent, don't scribble, and make sure they go from edge to edge - nothing floating in the middle of a plane, nothing overshooting. These lines are just as important as any other line in the drawing.

I want you to first go over the completed rough perpsective homework with a different coloured pen or pencil as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will highlight where your estimation of your perspective is off. It is something I recommend to everyone, as no one nails that perfectly, and it can always be improved. The best way to improve is to be aware of where those mistakes occur.

I do however want you to do one more page of rough perspective boxes, exactly as the exercise is described. Don't be sloppy, and take your time.

I also want you to do one more page of the table of ellipses.

Once you complete these two extra pages of work, submit them here and I will mark the lesson as complete. At that point, I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge. I think this will help you with certain concepts you struggled with on the rotated/organic perspective boxes exercises. This is perfectly normal and expected - it takes time and practice to develop a strong sense of 3D space, and to be able to construct arbitrarily rotated boxes within that 3D space. The challenge as well as the additional content provided with it should help in that area.

First, however, finish off those two pages and wait until I mark the lesson as complete.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-04 03:27

Definitely better. You still should go over your homework in the same manner to see where your estimation was incorrect here as well (I recommend it for everyone, though your previous set was a very special case). You'll still find some issues with your accuracy, but that's just something that gets better with practice.

I'll mark this lesson as complete, so you can move onto the 250 box challenge next.

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

2016-02-04 03:16

I really like the forms on the left side of page 14, in that mushroom there. The detailing/texturing is too focused on crosshatching (which isn't really that common in natural textures) and short crosshatching tends to look really rough and harsh look to it that makes me itch, but the forms feel very nice. It's got volume and mass to it. The sausage shape underneath the cluster of mushrooms to its right is very nice too. The mushrooms on top less so, especially because the caps give the impression of being paper-thin, because the underside has no thickness to it, and my brain tells me that the cap of a mushroom generally does have more thickness to it than that, so I automatically start thinking something's wrong. I just did a critique of someone who had a similar issue, so I'll show you the same image to carry the point: http://i.imgur.com/64vkA0y.png.

I'd say your weakest point in general though are your leaves. These can certainly be tricky to wrap your head around, because they are flat (which immediately makes one think of 2D), but they're flat forms that exist in 3D space - not unlike the ribbon-arrows from lesson 2. They bend and twist and can swim through the world, moving closer or further relative to the viewer. Swimming's a good term for it, I think. People get caught up in drawing them as lines that move across a 2D page, rather than through the 3D space you're depicting.

Early in your drawings, you jump into complexity way too quickly, drawing wavy-edged leaves without ever establishing how that leaf flows through 3D space in simpler terms (with simple edges). That's a concept I discuss on my recent article on constructional drawing. You do seem to try applying it much later, but not all that well.

Setting aside understanding how the leaves move through 3D space instead of across a 2D page, you do approach the first couple steps of establishing the 'simple' leaf reasonably well. When you draw the more complex smaller leaves inside however, what I'm seeing is a single continuous line zigzagging back and forth, carving out this multitude of teeny bits. By using a single continuous line, you're completely ignoring the flow of how this for moves through 3D space. Without directing each line independently, you're once again drawing on a flat page, not in 3D space.

Here's what I mean: http://i.imgur.com/iuoRdA4.png.

Lastly, and least importantly, remember that when you're drawing texture, to continue working at training yourself to spend more time observing your reference image, and shorten the periods of time you spend drawing, between glances at your reference. Memory is unreliable, so you've gotta keep looking back at your reference image after a couple seconds. It absolutely takes a lot of practice, but it's also important to consider what is and isn't important detail to include in your drawing.

I'd like to see you do two more pages of leafy plants.

...

...

...

Aaaaaand.... I pretty much stopped writing this critique about two hours ago, and ended up writing up this page on drawing texture because I felt that you needed some more explanation on how to approach texture on those leaves, and it's something a lot of people have been asking about. Somehow I only had six critiques to do today but ended up spending the entire evening doing them. Wait, shit - I still have four left. AAAH.

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

2016-02-04 00:41

Phew, I spent more time on this than I meant to. So, your biggest problem is that you certainly look at your reference, but you look, you look, you look, then when you look away, you spend a lot of time drawing before you look back. The second you look away, you start relying on memory, and the reliability of your memory plummets with every milisecond. Your brain is busy at work simplifying everything so it doesn't burst trying to process every little detail you witnessed. Unfortunately, the result is that most of what you draw from memory - really anything beyond the first second or two, is really really simplified.

Now, I did most of my critique on the very last mushroom you did, because I think it lended itself to a lot of major problems and also looked kind of fun to draw. There is actually a lot of good in your homework, primarily when it comes to form construction. For example, I really like page 16. You've done a pretty good job of giving the rounded hat-form on the top of that construction, although you could have done with a little extra thickness along the back edge of the underside.

I do believe you're a little stiff though - this probably comes from drawing way too small. Remember that the notes/extra doodles are an afterthought. The main drawing is the focus of the page, and should occupy as much space as you can give it. If you're working in a small notebook, get something bigger (at least 8.5x11, though I can't tell the scale of yours). Working small means giving yourself far less room to think through spatial problems, and also means that the tip of your pen is going to be very thick relative to the size of the drawing.

This may be related to the stiffness/drawing size, but I do think you're also still kind of timid when it comes to putting a mark down on the page. Feel free to put anything down, as long as you've thought it through and properly ghosted through the drawing motion beforehand. Draw from your shoulder, not your wrist. I definitely see some weakness in your cylindrical forms - you have a tendency to draw contour ellipses that don't align to the cylinder's minor axis (admittedly you never actually draw one so that's definitely a factor), you're not drawing through those ellipses (again, small drawings so you don't have a whole lot of room for it), and those are cases where you might be better off using contour curves instead of full ellipses.

Now, here's the critique of that last image: http://i.imgur.com/TyUaFfs.jpg. You've got a break down of your major mistakes (all stems from not observing the reference image enough), my observations about your reference image (main points to focus on, you can compare them to your drawing and see many are missing), a demo on how I'd draw that particular mushroom and some extra stuff like applying texture to the curvature of a cylinder.

I'd also like you to read the Constructional Drawing that I posted recently if you haven't already.

Once you've had the chance to digest all of this stuff I'm throwing at you, try another two pages of plant drawings.

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

2016-02-03 15:41

Huh. I thought it was ballpoint based on the actual lines, not so much your wording. Is it perhaps thinner than 0.5? My reason for asking is more about the flexibility in line weight that it gives you. From the looks of it, your pen seems to be quite thin, making it harder to achieve solid black areas.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-03 14:44

It's normal to want to support your hand like that - for beginners though, I'd advise trying to avoid it. Reason being, beginners are not used to drawing from the shoulder, and this tends to work a bit like an anchor, limiting your willingness to move your whole arm because your hand is dragging across the page. People tend to slip back into drawing from their wrists because of this.

I generally encourage people to do the first lesson with their hand unsupported (it'll be tiring, so take lots of breaks). In the future you may be more lax with this, but always be aware of the risks that come along with it.

As for things to avoid, be sure to check out the self critique resources.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-03 03:50

It's not about a specific amount of time, but rather however long you need in order to complete the minimum required amount (from the lesson's homework section) to the absolute best of your current ability. It doesn't matter if your best is garbage, or if your best is the mona lisa - just as long as it is as good as you can manage right now.

That both forces you to be patient and focused, and also gives me the opportunity to give the most helpful critique I can.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-03 02:56

It's not something I'd recommend. Lined paper is just sloppy, and when you're already starting off sloppy, it's only going to go down hill from there. It's definitely in your best interest to find some blank paper - even loose leaf printer paper will do.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-03 00:36

Very nice work! I'm really glad to see your confident linework. Your lines and ellipses sections are solid. Your rough perspective boxes are decent, though I'm glad to see that you went over them as explained in the self critique section. I think a good awareness of the places where your accuracy is lacking will definitely help as you continue to practice this exercise.

Your rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes are pretty good, though I do think that you're still struggling somewhat with the latter. Perfectly normal and expected, and you're actually doing better than most. So, I'm going to give this as a suggestion rather than a requirement - take a look at the 250 box challenge next. You should definitely read over the text there, but you can try the challenge at your own discretion.

I'll mark this lesson as complete, and you may move onto the next one when you feel ready.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-03 00:33

Not bad. Some minor issues, one major one that we'll deal with.

In your super imposed lines, I noticed some of this: Fraying/Separation on Both Ends. Not all the time, many of them were good.

Some of your ellipses-in-planes get a little stiff and misshapen; this explains the issue: Stiff, Uneven Ellipses.

Your rough perspective boxes are definitely the major issue. More than anything, it's matter of many of the lines going off into the distance not even remotely going in the right direction (towards the vanishing point). Many of them go in the opposite direction, ultimately never intersecting with the horizon.

First, I want you to read this: Guessing, Instead of Knowing. It's not exactly specific to your issue, but the 3 behaviours of lines I list there are. Then, I want you to go over your completed rough perpsective homework with a different coloured pen as explained here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This will make clear just how far off your lines are from where they should be (all of these lines should ideally be converging at the vanishing point - generally for most people they're off by a little bit).

Then I want you to redo that exercise. You can resubmit those when you're finished, and if they're done correctly I'll mark the lesson as complete.

Everything else is reasonably solid, including your rotated boxes and your organic perspective boxes. I do believe however that once we've sorted out the rough perspective box issues and I've marked this lesson as complete, that you would benefit from moving onto the 250 box challenge next.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 7: Drawing Vehicles (version 3)"

2016-02-03 00:27

Your backhoe tractor is solid. Good process, good construction, a little weak on the finishing end (as soon as you start jumping into curving lines the solidity of your forms weakens, and you're totally forgetting about minor axes in your cylinder constructions which is SUPER important), but it's totally going in the right direction and what I hope to see. I do think you could lay off on those pointless hatching/pseudo-detail lines though, I think they weaken your drawings.

Now, you certainly don't put as much effort into your other drawings, what with your delorean jumping from a box straight into the car with no precision on any of the details (positioning the narrower front of the car, headlights, the grating on the rear window, etc). Your batmobile's a little better but you're not using any constructive techniques to determine the positioning of your wheels.

The tank's pretty solid, and I think it came out well even though it didn't use as much breakdown as your tractor. It would have come out better had you used the same in-depth techniques but it's still pretty good. Nice detail on the treads, though don't forget that your treads have thickness to them - on the bottom, underneath the wheels they're paper thin.

Anyway, I am going to mark this lesson as complete, because you clearly understand the process. Just remember to continue applying that in-depth breakdown approach, and also revisit how to construct ellipses and cylinders, specifically using the minor axis. Your ellipses are definitely a weaker area.

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

2016-02-03 00:21

Yes, as you mentioned, drawing through your boxes is something you missed and would have been hugely beneficial in helping you catch your mistakes. I believe that the way you started doing it on your early boxes - drawing through them as a part of your corrections is a good way to go. Apply this to the rest of your boxes as well, as most of them have issues with their near/far plane relationships.

I am marking this challenge as complete though, since you drew all 250 boxes.

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

2016-02-03 00:19

The problem is that you don't seem to fully understand what the difference between simple and complex is. You're also forgetting about the idea of drawing forms (both flat and voluminous) that sit in 3D space, not on a flat 2D page. Here's a critique of your work. Try another two pages.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-03 00:07

Pretty solid work. I have a few recommendations to make, but I'll be marking this lesson as complete. And by the way, I think both the pages of rotated boxes are pretty good - I totally understand the issue you encountered, and it's perfectly normal. We naturally fight against the idea of rotating these boxes, but I think you're coming along well.

So, here are the things I recommend:

• Sometimes, especially early on, your lines wobble a little. This happens in your ghosted lines exercise, some of your ellipses in planes, and so on. When you find your lines wobbling, it's because you're drawing too slowly and carefully. When you actually draw a mark, it should be done with a swift, confident stroke. All of your time should go instead into preparing to make that stroke - ghosting through the motion, for example. Drawing quickly will cause your marks to be less accurate, but this preparation will help compensate for that.

• Your rough perspective boxes are done well, though I encourage you to go over your completed rough perspective boxes as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This is something I recommend to everyone. You'll notice where your estimations of your perspective lines are off, so you know where to improve the next time you try the exercise.

• I think your organic perspective boxes are coming along pretty well, but I do get the impression that you're struggling a little. This is perfectly normal, and most people struggle much more. I just want to let you know that if you would like to get some more practice, and extra tips/resources, check out the 250 box challenge.

Anyway, like I said, I'll mark this lesson as complete. Keep up the good work, and feel free to move onto the next lesson when you are ready.

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

2016-02-03 00:01

Pretty good development of form. I'll be marking this lesson as complete, but I do have some things to point out.

• You're overusing contour lines - remember that these are visual elements that simply describe how a surface warps through 3D space. You rarely need very many, and how you use them can be as detrimental as it is helpful to a piece. Creating a 3D wireframe of your object is going to hinder your ability to convey other details. First, look for details in your object that already accomplish the task that contour lines perform - segmentation, seams, even some textural information can play the role. Try to make your contour lines line up with these. If there isn't anything that really does the trick, you can add two or three of your own, but remember that spacing them out evenly will look very man-made and unnatural.

• When it comes to conveying texture, I think you're struggling with waxy/smooth textures because for the most part you're used to just using short lines (ie: hatching, or similar approaches) and not much else. I don't ever see you grouping these marks into larger areas of black space, or anything of that sort. Take a look at this demo I've done on an insect - not one of the textures uses cross hatching. Actually, the leg there uses lines, but not in the same manner - instead they run along the length of the surface, and merge together into larger clumps and groups. This effect can give the impression of something that is smoother and waxier - specifically it's the contrast generated by crosshatching that works against the impression of smoothness. Run along the length of a surface, and don't create lots of contrast. Lastly, crosshatching isn't texture you see very often in nature - more often it's a shorthand artists use when they don't feel like really taking a look at the kinds of details and textures that are present in their subject. Look closer, there's a world of things going on there that you could be taking advantage of.

• Use a fineliner/felt tip pen! Ballpoint is not allowed past lesson 2.

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

2016-02-02 23:53

Not quite. You're not drawing your forms in a way that looks solid at all. First of all, what is the main element of a cylinder that ensures all of the ellipses are aligned properly? The minor axis. Your cylinder bends somewhat, but the minor axis is still relevant. Secondly, you're not drawing through your ellipses, so they're uneven and malformed. Thirdly, the curves on either side are wobbly - you're probably not drawing through from your shoulder, or you're drawing them too slowly and not properly applying the ghosting method, or a combination of the two.

Now, this isn't abnormal - you're getting caught up in the result you're after, not the steps required to achieve them. You want a cylinder, so you draw a tube - you're not thinking of how one goes about constructing a solid tube.

Here's a critique on that front: http://i.imgur.com/1Lbyvel.png.

Also, since you seem to be struggling with bending leaves through 3D space, the important thing to remember is that leaves can bend back over themselves, like this: http://i.imgur.com/oI6ncdQ.png.

Try another two plant drawings - full plants, not just leaves - and take photographs at every individual stage of both drawings, as I have broken down my process in the cactus demo.

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

2016-02-02 23:15

A few things to keep in mind:

• Draw through all of your boxes, not just some of them.

• When you do so, keep in mind the size relationships between the near/far plane. You do seem to have circled a lot of these, so at least you seem to be aware

• Instead of circling mistakes, draw the correct lines in your red pen. Identifying the mistakes is good, but you want to really figure out what you did wrong and show yourself what the correct way would be.

• I noticed a lot more dramatic perpsective boxes than ones with shallower perspective (where the far plane isn't that much smaller than the near plane). In later exercises that use a lot of boxes and geometric forms, you're going to want to have more experience with shallower perpsective, as it's generally what you'll be using in order to maintain consistent foreshortening. Make sure you don't draw all of your forms with really dramatic perspective just because that's what you're used to. I talk about that in greater detail here: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene

Anyway, I do think you have plenty of room to grow with this material, but you have drawn the 250 boxes so I'll mark the lesson as complete. If you haven't already, you should definitely read the entire challenge page and note the parts you missed (like drawing through your forms).

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-02 14:39

I'd say for this lesson, it's better to keep from resting your hand on the page. In the long run this isn't as necessary, but right now doing so tends to anchor your hand to the table, making it very easy to forget to draw from your shoulder. Once you get accustomed enough to drawing from the shoulder, it'll be less of an issue, but I strongly recommend that you keep your hand off the page for this lesson.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 7: Drawing Vehicles (version 3)"

2016-02-02 00:54

How about this - do one drawing, no multiple-colours, just one type of ink, and take photos at each stage of the drawing. Show those to me and I'll give you a breakdown of where you're going right, where you're going wrong. I'd have done that with these sets, but your black ink pretty much hides most of the construction work you've done so it's very difficult to critique.

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

2016-02-02 00:52

Honestly, your work is pretty much spot on. Not a whole lot to say about it.. which is good because it's the end of the day, I'm exhausted, and I really just want to go kill some dinosaurs. Your organic forms with contour curves start off a little weak, but end strong. Your dissections start off a little on the looser, sketchier side, but start tightening up by the next page. Everything else is well done throughout.

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

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

2016-02-02 00:48

I think I see what you mean. These are definitely better. There's room to grow, but I think that will come with time and practice, and for now you should be good to move onto the next lesson. I do want to stress this though - the final drawing is irrelevant and unimportant. It's the process you take that is important, and how you construct your forms.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 7: Drawing Vehicles (version 3)"

2016-02-02 00:28

On one hand, I think a lot of your drawings are quite nice, but honestly, though you're doing a lot of subdivision to figure out your proportions (which is great, keep that up), by splitting construction and final drawing up into an underdrawing, and then a final drawing, you're ending up with drawings that don't carry a whole lot of weight. Instead, those final drawings feel much like the outcome you'd get from doing a pretty decent job of pure observational drawing (if you remember that from the article I posted today on constructional drawing).

That article may have already clarified a lot of points, but basically you need to look at your reference image, break it down into its core forms, and then reconstruct those in your drawing. You are drawing a bunch of boxes and some cylinders, not a truck. To dive deeper into complexity, you break down those forms into yet other forms. You only ever add as much detail as the structure that's already there can support. For example, in your vehicles, you tend to have a lot of details that just float there arbitrarily. Windows, mirrors, etc. In proper constructional drawing, nothing can be floating - everything needs to be grounded in existing forms.

A lot of your drawings are good, but they're good as observational drawings - not constructional. You do put in varying degrees of construction breakdowns in green, but honestly I never encourage people to separate out their construction lines from their 'final' drawings while going through these exercises - reason being, the final drawing is utterly unimportant. It just distracts us from the real meat of the construction.

I'm hoping that, having read that constructional drawing article, you've understood a bit better on what all of this means. So, I'd like you to do another couple pages of vehicles and see how they turn out. Remember - you're drawing boxes and cylinders.

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

2016-02-01 22:03

Looks like I accidentally marked lesson 1 as complete anyways after my last critique. I'm glad you still completed the extra work though!

Your rough perspective boxes do look better. Your box challenge work also does some show improvement. I did notice that you seem to be a little bit all over the place with your particular approach, sometimes drawing through your boxes as you draw them, sometimes drawing through them as a part of your corrections, etc. Try to keep things a little more consistent - it's probably best to draw through all of your boxes, as you draw them.

The only other thing I wanted to comment on was that when you did draw through your boxes with a different coloured pen/pencil, your lines were really scratchy. Remember to apply the ghosting method to everything you draw - chicken scratching is a bad habit and it's unwise to give it the chance to develop further.

Anyway, consider this challenge complete.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes (version 3)"

2016-02-01 21:59

A few things:

• You're not generally drawing through your ellipses. You seem to try it once or twice (although you go way overboard with it), but for the most part you seem to have decided not to. I expect you to draw through all of the ellipses you do for my lessons - it's not optional.

• I did notice a little sloppiness in your rough perspective boxes. Based on what I'm seeing, you do seem to understand the idea of all horizontals being parallel to the horizon and all verticals being perpendicular to it, but you've got many of these lines going off in weird ways. Be more mindful of your lines and be sure to apply the ghosting method to everything across the board. In case this is actually an issue where you didn't understand that principle, you should read up on it here: Guessing, Instead of Knowing

• I also encourage you to check your completed rough perspective box homework as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point

Lastly, your organic perspective boxes are coming along nicely, but I do feel that you could use some additional practice on that front, as you do seem to have a lot of issues with your near/far plane size relationships.

First, I'd like you to do one more page of the table-of-ellipses, being sure to draw through the ellipses this time. Once you've submitted that, I'll mark this lesson as complete. Then I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge. Be sure to read over the content there before starting the challenge. The challenge itself should give you lots of additional practice with constructing arbitrarily rotated forms. It's perfectly normal to struggle with this, and I do send most people down this path for additional training.

An additional note: you don't need to capitalize the first letter of every word in a sentence.

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

2016-02-01 21:52

Nice box constructions, and nice line weights. The only thing I'd like to mention is that you seem to have missed the tip on the challenge page in regards to Drawing Through your Forms. It's an extremely useful approach that helps make mistakes more obvious. Anyway, I'll mark this challenge as complete.

Uncomfortable in the post "Uncomfortable's Thoughts: Constructional Drawing"

2016-02-01 21:51

While that may have the advantages you mentioned, I can see it taking away from some aspects of practice. For example, you won't have as much experience with drawing freestanding forms on a blank page. This is more difficult than one might imagine.

Perhaps you might want to consider using this tracing approach as a means to study the form and identify the elements of its construction, before then reconstructing it on a separate sheet.

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

2016-02-01 21:48

I will mark this challenge as complete, but I have a few recommendations for you. First off, read the material provided in full - you seem to have missed the tip about Drawing Through your Forms. Secondly, I noticed that you have a tendency of drawing long boxes with a lot of perspective distortion/foreshortening applied to them. You should try drawing different kinds of boxes, and you should also be playing with shallower foreshortening (where the far plane is fairly similar to the near plane in size). Shallower perspective is going to be more common in our exercises and lessons, because it implies a much more relatable, smaller scale. Overly dramatic perspective tends to imply massive scale, like a building whose far end is very far away from the viewer.