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

2016-02-01 21:45

To put it plainly, I think you're still missing something. First, I want to explain the difference between shape and form. They're pretty much the same thing, except that shape is a 2D term, and form is its 3D equivalent.

Our base construction is not one of shape - I'm sure you used that word meaning form, but looking at your work you do seem to be thinking much more in 2D than in 3D. Our base construction is one of form, focusing entirely on how the different elements relate to one another in 3D space.

For example, these cacti don't show any use of 3D space at all. You would probably start off seeing those as a somewhat organic cylinder, but I don't see any of that in your approach. Furthermore, when you draw leaves, if you start off with your center line, you don't seem to be thinking of that center line as flowing through 3D space. Based on what I see in your work, you're still thinking of it as a line moving across a flat page.

I wrote an article last night about constructional drawing, the same concept I explained in my last critique. Read it and look at the demos included with it. Then try another 2 pages of plant drawings - I don't want you to put ANY extra detail. All I want to see are your constructions. You definitely still get too preoccupied with texture and detail long before ever establishing a solid construction.

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

2016-02-01 21:37

In my previous critique, I mentioned that you should be framing your compositions. You seem to have ignored that. Aside form that, you've done pretty well. I'll mark this lesson as complete - I do have one recommendation though, which I share with everyone. Go over your completed rough perspective homework as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. It'll help you identify places where your estimation of perspective tends to be off. You don't have to submit that to me, that's primarily for your own benefit, so you know where to compensate the next time you attempt that exercise.

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

2016-02-01 21:33

I think your forms are coming along quite well, and I like that you're taking advantage of segmentation with this particular subject matter. As you move forward, there is one thing that I'd like you to keep in mind, however - when drawing texture, you seem to be relying very heavily on crosshatching. There is a lot more than that going on, if you take a close and careful look at your photo reference. This is a demo I've posted in the past showing the various approaches to demonstrating texture. In truth, cross hatching isn't actually a texture you'll see often in nature, and it's generally used as a sort of "filler" texture when the artist hasn't looked closely enough.

Anyway, definitely keep that in mind as you move forward. You may consider this lesson complete.

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

2016-02-01 21:29

I definitely think you've shown some serious improvement. There's room for growth, but I definitely think you're moving in the right direction. I especially like the sets of boxes-on-a-string, I think you were quite successful in those particular exercises.

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

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

2016-02-01 21:27

The second page of form intersections is definitely better than the first. In both areas (form intersections and dissections) there's definitely plenty of room for growth, but you should be okay to move onto the next lesson.

With your dissections, while you have improved, I think you're still simplifying a lot of what's going on and leaning towards symbol-drawing instead of focusing the vast majority of your time observing your reference images and drawing only a little bit at a time. Definitely continue to work on that as you move forwards.

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

2016-02-01 21:23

Not bad. Your lines and ellipses are looking pretty solid, and your boxes are coming along well - I do think your organic perspective boxes could use a little more work. They're not bad, but most people do require additional practice to really pin down their sense of 3D space, and get the concepts behind the near/far plane size relationships down solidly.

I also noticed that you did not complete the rotated boxes exercise. Instead of having you redo it as part of this lesson, I'm going to ask you to move onto the 250 box challenge next and do your rotated boxes exercise as a part of that. The challenge itself should give you extra practice as well as extra tips and resources.

So, you can consider this lesson complete.

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

2016-02-01 21:19

Not bad! There is one common issue that I'm seeing affect your work across the board, in your lines, ellipses and boxes: Wobbling, Drawing Too Slowly and Carefully. You're not drawing with enough confidence, and instead are drawing very slowly and carefully, which results in a wobbly line (as your brain has plenty of opportunity to intercede and make little corrections). This may keep your accuracy in check, but it destroys the flow of your lines.

Drawing quickly will inevitably mess with your accuracy, but this can be compensated for by applying the multi-step ghosting process introduced in the ghosting method. I will mention though that this method only has an effect if you execute with a confident, persistent, swift stroke.

Aside from that, your work is coming along nicely. Your plotted/rough perspective boxes are solid (and I'm glad to see you checking your accuracy on your rough perspective exercise.

Your rotated and organic perspective boxes do need a little more attention, but this is completely expected. Constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes requires a well developed sense of 3D space which takes time to establish.

I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. The additional tips and material there should help considerably, and the practice will give you the chance to both work with box constructions while also giving you the opportunity to sort out your wobbly lines.

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

2016-02-01 17:06

That is correct! Except my car's still dirty and my fence still needs painting. Lessons 1/2 teach you both how to use your body and how to construct the most basic building blocks of our constructions. Subsequent lessons put them to use.

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

2016-02-01 15:43

Haha, yes, honestly I always mention that drawing from life is vastly better because of how it impacts your priorities, but I never really expect anyone to actually do it.

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

2016-02-01 15:42

That's an interesting take. I suppose this approach does align itself more with drawing from imagination than traditional observational drawing, since you are using that understanding of the base structure, and then reconstructing it in a way that does use some interpretation and imagination. Ultimately you end up not doing as much of a direct study, but rather reconstructing the object in the way you'd use photo reference in an original illustration. Lets you work more freely, and pull what's needed from the reference, while avoiding the speed bump everyone who does pure observational drawing hits - that is, not being able to draw anything when the reference is taken away.

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

2016-02-01 15:40

Back when I was learning the stuff I teach here, our instructor had us draw a random thing he chose for us on a whiteboard, and he took a photo of it for posterity. Then on the day of the last class, he had us draw another completely random thing to show us how much an improved understanding of form allowed us to draw anything with greater confidence and believability. I kind of regret not doing that here from the very beginning, but it's probably too late for that.

I'm glad to hear that you've been having success with a similar approach. I would like to add though that when it comes to human beings, I change it up a little bit, for better or for worse. I start off with constructing a 2D silhouette (a sort of simpler representation of what eventually becomes 3D form). I feel that this allows the student to focus more on nailing proportion before then filling 3D forms into that silhouette.

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

2016-01-31 17:30

Look, I don't mean to be harsh, but your motivation needs to come from yourself, not from me. I don't believe in just pointing out the mistakes on someone's work, and I do think it's important to give a bit of encouragement here and there, but from where I'm standing, you've ignored everything I said in my last critique. That's not behaviour I should be encouraging, for your sake and for mine.

And yes, you're right, I don't give critiques for work done in pencil, because it entirely undermines the concepts I try to teach. If you expect to gain anything from these lessons, you need to be doing them as they've been described, not mixing them with your own decisions and ideas.

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

2016-01-30 23:13

Your lines and ellipses are looking very solid. Your plotted perspective boxes are also done well (though you should be framing those compositions, not leaving them free on the page), and the line weights you demonstrated there are definitely a plus.

It seems to me your skipped the rough perspective exercise entirely, so you'll DEFINITELY want to go back and do that. This exercise requires you to set down your horizon and single vanishing point and estimate the angle of your lines without using a ruler or plotting the lines all the way back.

You also skipped the rotated perspective box exercise, so you should also do that. Not sure why you skipped so much, honestly.

Lastly, your organic perspective boxes are on the weaker side, but this is entirely expected. It takes time to develop a sense of 3D space that allows you to freely rotate box forms and construct them on a page. Once you submit the missing pages of your homework, I'll (probably) mark this lesson as complete. Once it's marked as complete, I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next to get that extra practice.

I would also like to mention that in your organic perspective boxes exercise, it seems you tried to sketch faintly underneath and then commit to darker lines. This approach is not something I recommend, as it undermines one's confidence and also causes them to actively avoid having to think through a spatial problem in their head. Thinking on the page will resulted in wasteful linework, and every single line you put down on a page (whether it's part of the drawing, or something that helps you understand how a form exists in space like drawing through a form, it should contribute - if it doesn't, it shouldn't be drawn at all). Often applying the ghosting method covered in the lines section helps plan out every mark instead of sketching roughly.

So, as I mentioned:

  1. Complete the missing parts (2 pages of rough perspective, 1 page of rotated boxes)

  2. Submit for critique, if there are no misunderstandings I'll mark the lesson as complete

  3. Do the 250 box challenge

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

2016-01-30 23:04

I'd say you have a good eye for detail, a decent sense of form, and a hell of a lot of patience - something that will help you a lot as you continue to move forwards.

I do have one important thing to impart, however - it's something I've been including in a lot of critiques lately, and it's definitely something that's not covered as well as it could be in the lessons so I plan to summarize it in an article about the core of the dynamic sketching approach.

When you draw, though you're definitely applying a great deal of the understanding of form from the previous exercises (contour lines to depict volume, and so on). Your process is still quite similar to the traditional approach to drawing you see in art schools - you look, you observe, you really see what's going on, and then you draw it.

Our approach is a little different, and I think it is something you're slowly discovering on your own, but I will emphasize it.

If the other approach is see, then draw, our approach is:

  1. See

  2. Look beyond all of the light and detail and see the simple forms that lie beneath it all, the most basic 3D construction.

  3. Rebuild those basic forms in the first pass of our drawing

  4. In successive passes, build up complexity. Each pass relies on the structure from the pass before it, and we are limited to adding only detail that can be supported by information already there. Very much like constructing a building - you cannot add a window if the wall isn't there yet, and you can't build the wall without the foundation, and so on.

This is a demo I did when explaining the concepts to another student. The process applies to everything - both solid 3D forms like a flowerpot, as well as flat forms that move and twist through 3D space like leaves and petals.

Now, I think you're coming along great, so I am going to mark this lesson as complete - I do think you should think on what I've just said, and look at the demo in great detail, and try to apply that concept of drawing in successive passes to everything to approach.

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

2016-01-30 22:51

Great work. Everything seems to be coming together, the only thing I want to mention is that in your form intersections, when you try to draw cross-sections to figure out how your intersections work, don't draw broken lines. In general, broken lines are not trustworthy, because the second the flow of a continuous line stops, it will not resume when you pick up the line again. It'll be an entirely different flow, making it a useless mark.

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

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

2016-01-30 22:49

I'm not seeing any sign of you using anything I mentioned in my last critique, especially in regards to moving from simple to complex, one pass at a time. Reread what I wrote last time, especially the demo I did for you. Everything I mentioned then still applies, so there's no sense in me repeating myself.

Instead, I'd like you to draw this potted fern. Take photos at the end of every pass so I can see your process. Draw larger as well, your current drawings are very small on the page.

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

2016-01-30 22:44

Not bad! I have just a couple things to point out.

First off, I encourage you to go over your completed rough perspective homework as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. I recommend this to everyone, as it does a good job of making you aware of where your perspective estimation's accuracy tends to be weaker.

Secondly, when applying hatching lines for shading, make sure the lines are continuous from edge to edge - don't stop marks halfway through and then resume as you have done, I'm sure you notice the unpleasant results from that approach.

Thirdly, in your first page of rotated boxes, I did notice that you abstained from drawing through the forms, and instead hid lines that were blocked by other boxes. The approach you used for the second page is much better - we're focused on understanding how each box exists in 3D space, and not including all of the lines hinders us on that front.

Lastly, I think your boxes in your organic perspective exercise are coming along nicely, but as you said, it would be a good idea to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Be sure to read the material included on the challenge page before starting. I will be marking this lesson as complete though, as you've done quite well.

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

2016-01-30 22:39

Pretty solid work across the board. The only thing I took issue with was that you aren't drawing through your ellipses, which is something I stress vehemently. It doesn't matter to me what you do in your own drawings or other exercises, but in the work you do for me, you must draw through all of your ellipses at least twice. Aside from that, everything looks in order. Good volumes on your organic forms, nice textural experimentation in your dissections (note that the face and bear don't have anything to do with texture but the rest were well done), and your form intersections are solid (although I do want to point out that when you use an faint underdrawing, followed by a clean-up pass, it tends to undermine the confidence of one's line work - it's best to just focus on the first pass, but drawing those marks confidently instead of faintly).

It seems you missed the 1 page of organic intersections exercise, so submit that and you should be good to go.

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

2016-01-30 22:33

Very nice constructions, and very nice attention to texture! Your drawings make good use of contour lines, and you do a great job of conveying complex textures without undermining your focal points. Keep up the fantastic work, and consider this lesson complete!

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

2016-01-30 22:31

Better. There is room to improve, and you didn't reaaally meet this requirement:

Now, fill up the whole page with forms. I mean it, fill up the whole damn page. People tend to submit homework that has tiny groupings of two or three intersecting forms. I want to see an ENTIRE page of forms all layered on top of each other. It will get visually confusing, but push through it, and use line weight to emphasize certain lines over others. Remember that you have a repertoire of 5 simple forms - boxes, tubes, balls, pyramids and cones.

But frankly that's your own loss. I'll mark the lesson as complete, just be sure to continue practicing this material as you move forward. It'll bite you in the ass come lessons 6 and 7 otherwise.

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

2016-01-30 17:55

It is something you should be focusing on right now. One exercise that is similar to the rotated boxes is drawing a series of identical box forms that are connected by a "string". This string flows through 3D space, and the boxes follow it, rotating and moving further away and closer to the viewer. This page has a decent example of it.

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

2016-01-30 17:37

It's up to you. You should at least look at the 250 cylinder's notes though.

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

2016-01-28 22:50

You may, but be sure to continue practicing your boxes as you move forwards.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Cylinder Challenge"

2016-01-28 20:54

Better. One thing that is definitely worth practicing is being able to align an ellipse to a given minor axis - that's something you're still struggling with, although understandably as it's not an easy thing to master.

The major axis isn't really that useful as far as concepts go, I just added it there because it helped me get a sense of the orientation of an ellipse (major axis being prependicular to the minor axis). It was usually done as an afterthought though to check things.

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

2016-01-28 20:52

Great work. Your linework is confident, your boxes are generally well constructed, and when they're not your corrections are on point. Keep up the good work!

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

2016-01-28 20:51

Your lines and ellipses are solid. Your boxes do have some issues, but nothing too major.

First, with your rough perspective boxes, I strongly encourage you to go over your completed homework as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. This is something I recommend to everyone, as it helps you identify the inaccuracies in your estimation of perspective. It's off for everyone by varying degrees, although you will find that there are specific situations where your estimation is drastically less accurate than others. Being aware of this will help you compensate for it the next time you do this exercise.

Also, I want to stress that every mark you put down on a page is important - including the hatching lines you use for shading. You should make sure to draw these lines parallel and consistent, stretching from edge to edge across a plane with no scribbling/zigzagging, no lines floating in the middle of the plane and no lines overshooting the edges.

Your rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes are certainly on the weaker end, though this is to be expected. The concept of constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes is not something that most people wrap their heads around quickly, and it does tend to take time.

With yours, your angles all seem to be very dramatic, to the point that the forms are no longer cuboid in nature. You're also demonstrating this issue, which is quite similar in that it relates to using very dramatic perspective: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene.

I am going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. The material there should help give you some extra tips on how to understand how the forms sit in 3D space (like drawing through the boxes), and the extra practice should help solidify the concepts.

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

2016-01-28 20:17

Looks like you also missed the Draw Through your Forms instruction. It's highly recommended, as it helps you understand how your boxes sit in 3D space, and makes the spatial mistakes (like near/far plane issues) far easier to catch.

Generally you did pretty well (aside from what I mentioned above and the overlapping issue), but you should continue to practice this material while applying that drawing-through tip. In the future, read the text more carefully before jumping into drawing.

Anyway, consider this challenge complete.

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

2016-01-28 20:15

Here are a few tips:

On the note of corrections, don't just circle mistakes - actually draw in the correct line, and do it with a different coloured pen so it's clearer. Don't worry about issues where your pen just got away from you - focus on areas where you thought you were drawing the correct line, but upon reflection realized that it was incorrect.

I'll mark this challenge as complete. You have shown some improvement by the end of the challenge, but drawing through your boxes is extremely important, and you would benefit greatly by applying that to your future practice.

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

2016-01-28 17:52

Marking the end point is what you should be doing for the time being. In the long run you will probably be able to visualize that end point, but right now the focus is on breaking down the process into as many steps that can be tackled individually as possible. Both struggling to draw a straight line and know where that line should be heading is a much larger challenge than you're ready for.

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

2016-01-28 15:38

  1. I think for the most part it's fairly unavoidable, and doesn't have too great an impact, so don't worry about it too much. The elbow still provides a decent radius, unlike the wrist.

  2. Using a ruler for the set up of your exercises (building tables or frames) is perfectly okay and encouraged.

  3. It's not something I've ever really considered. On points like this, I always encourage people to do what feels most comfortable to them. In most cases, that's what's most important, and if what's generally more comfortable tends to be detrimental, I make a specific point about it (like drawing longer lines from the wrist).

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

2016-01-27 22:27

Yup.

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

2016-01-27 21:00

Your boxes are looking pretty solid. I do have a few recommendations though:

Anyway, keep up the good work. I'll mark this challenge as complete.

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

2016-01-27 20:55

Fantastic work. I was hoping to find something helpful to recommend as you move forwards, but I'm hard pressed to find anything. You're investing your time at the right parts of the mark making (ghosting) process, you're drawing through your ellipses just enough to maintain enough confidence to keep them even and rounded, you're taking your time with every part of your box constructions (hatching lines included) and you're double checking your rough perspective boxes as recommended in the self critique resources.

I honestly don't really have anything to say, except maybe... The most minor of things, the slightest of warnings: the kind of sketchbook you're using may start to get fussy as the pages try and fold back over while you're working. If you're not troubled by this, it's fine, but if it does start to hinder you, don't tough through it. Loose leaf or ring-bound sketchbooks tend to work better because it doesn't get in your way.

I'll mark this lesson as complete - keep up the good work, and feel free to move onto the next one!

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

2016-01-27 20:50

In a lot of ways, you're demonstrating good observation skills and are moving in the right direction. There are some elements of this approach that you are missing however. You're not alone on this, and I plan on writing an article dedicated to this concept some time soon and directing everyone to read it before they get into the dynamic sketching stuff.

What we're used to being told in drawing classes is that we are to look at our subject - really look, and study it - and draw what we see. They lecture us on the concepts of symbol-drawing, and how our brains naturally simplify everything we see, so our memories of an object don't actually represent it in reality, and so on. And all of this is extremely important - but it's missing an important step that our approach here incorporates.

Instead of focusing on seeing, then drawing, we instead include additional steps:

  1. Look at your reference

  2. Look beyond all of the extraneous detail and visual information there to its very core, and identify the major forms that make up its construction. Some of these may be basic geometric forms (balls, tubes, boxes, pyramids, cones), and some may be organic masses, while others may be flat shapes that turn in 3D space, like the ribbon/arrows we looked at in lesson 2.

  3. Again, ignoring all of that extra detail, we reconstruct these basic forms in our drawing. This is the base level of our drawing, everything else will hinge on this. This is not a loose approximative sketch, it is a construction - think of the scaffolding of a building.

  4. In successive passes, we break this down into smaller forms, adding only as much detail as the previous pass can support. You can't jump from a line to an extremely detailed and complex leaf with wavy edges, there has to be an inbetween step, otherwise you'll be dealing with far too many spatial problems at once.

So, you are running into the problem that you are skipping constructive steps - you start off with a few loose shapes and then jump right into detail. Instead, I want you to focus on objects and how they sit in 3D space (flat shapes aren't going to give you that kind of information) and go step by step, building up slowly.

Here's a demo I did for someone recently who had similar issues. Notice how I build out simple leaf forms, completely ignoring the more complex shapes that the leafs actually take, and focusing instead of how the whole body flows through space. This is because the entire object has a particular flow, and if you jump into complex detail you'll be worrying about both the general flow of the form, and the flow of the sub-forms. It's always better to deal with one problem at a time, and breaking our forms down into successive passes will allow us to do this.

I think your observations are great as far as detail and texture go, but I definitely would like to see two more pages focusing on construction before I mark this lesson as complete.

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

2016-01-27 20:39

Your first two sections are pretty solid, but I have some concerns about your boxes. The issue is primarily that your not spending enough time ghosting your lines and preparing, so while your lines have great confidence and flow to them, they tend to either be inaccurate, or don't come out straight. This ultimately undermines the solidity of the boxes you draw, and also makes it difficult to assess whether you are making certain mistakes because you don't fully grasp a concept, or if it's just because your lines are too inaccurate, and your intention isn't getting onto the page even though you understand what you should be doing.

The biggest struggle comes from the rough perspective boxes, where it appears that you are making this mistake: Guessing, Instead of Knowing. Personally, I do think that it's just a matter of you being sloppy and rushing, and that you understand that your horizontals should be parallel to the horizon and that your verticals should be perpendicular to it. Still, I can't be certain.

Also, I'd like you to go over your completed rough perspective boxes as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. I recommend this to everyone, but in this case especially I think it'll highlight your general inaccuracy.

In your rotated boxes, I noticed that you did not draw through your boxes - that's something you're going to have to get used to doing. We're not concerned with making pretty clean drawings (though we certainly don't want to waste lines), these are all exercises to help you understand form. If you don't draw an entire form, it won't have quite as much impact.

Your organic perspective boxes are okay, though they also suffer from the inaccuracy issues to a degree, along with the fact that you don't have a full grasp of rotating boxes arbitrarily in 3D space - though this last part is totally normal and expected of everyone.

I'm going to ask you to submit the following before I mark this lesson as complete:

Once you submit that (I assume it'll be satisfactory), I'll mark the lesson as complete. Then, I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge to get more practice with the idea of constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes.

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

2016-01-27 20:30

Looking good. Your dissections have improved considerably, your organic forms feel more solid and voluminous, and your form intersections are pretty good. Still need to work on nailing your spheres (perfect circles are hard, but if they're off by too much, it won't read as a sphere) but that will come with time and practice.

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

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

2016-01-27 20:28

Nice work! There are some issues I'd like to point out, but generally you're progressing well.

First off, I notice this in your earlier work with your super imposed lines, and the first sets of ghosted lines (though it diminishes over the set): your lines are wobbly. Here's an explanation as to why, and how you can fix it: Wobbling, Drawing Too Slowly and Carefully.

Your ellipses are generally done quite well, and show the kind of confidence and evenness that I'm definitely looking for.

Jumping ahead, the next issue I'd like to mention is with your rough perspective boxes. It's a minor point, but I would like you to take more time with your hatching lines - they're as important as any other lines, so try not to be sloppy with them. Make sure they're parallel, consistent, and stretch all the way from edge to edge without any floating in the middle of the plane or overshooting the edge.

Also, I recommend this to everyone so they can get the most out of this exercise, go over your completed rough perspective homework as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.

Lastly, your organic perspective boxes are quite good, but I did notice a somewhat common mistake - Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene. To sum it up, try not to apply overly dramatic perspective to each box - it tends to throw off the scale and it makes each form feel less a part of a single cohesive scene. Remember that dramatic foreshortening/perspective distortion implies a very large scale (like a building whose top is very far away), while shallower perspective implies more relatable objects.

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

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

2016-01-27 20:21

Nice work! Your lines and ellipses are looking solid. I do have some recommendations for your boxes though, although they certainly meet my expectations.

For your rough perspective boxes, I recommend (and I recommend this to everyone) that you go over your completed homework for that exercise as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.

I noticed that your organic perspective boxes also do require some extra practice. This is to be expected, as it does take time to develop a solid sense of 3D space, and constructing arbitrarily rotated 3D forms is quite challenging.

I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. I assure you that you are moving in the right direction, but I think the extra practice and the additional notes and tips there would be of use to you.

Keep up the good work!

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

2016-01-27 20:19

Looks like your imgur link isn't working.

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

2016-01-27 03:42

I don't expect people to submit perfect work. People read over the lesson carefully in full, complete the exercises to the absolute best of their ability and submit it for critique. I point out any areas that can be improved, but I mark the lesson as complete if I get the sense that the student understands the goal and purpose of each exercise. Ultimately when I mark the lesson as complete, the student's still expected to practice the same material at their own discretion.

So, do your best and submit it.

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

2016-01-26 21:11

No one ever does! I do have two big comments to offer, however.

The first is to read the material more carefully before attempting the challenge, or any lesson. In the tips section, I suggest that you Draw Through your Forms, which is something you did not apply at all. This helps bring your missteps to the surface and strengthen your overall sense of 3D space, because it forces you to think in terms of how the form sits in three dimensions, rather than just a series of lines on the page.

Secondly, when correcting, simply circling your mistakes isn't terribly useful - you should be drawing in the correct line. Also, be sure to focus not on the wavy lines or slips-of-the-pen, but rather on the errors of spatial understanding. Focus on issues that cause the forms themselves to be incorrect - like the far plane ending up larger than the near plane.

Anyway, I'll mark this challenge as complete but be sure to continue practicing this material at your own discretion as you move forward through the lessons.

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

2016-01-26 21:08

I notice that as far as your corrections go, you seem to be focusing very much on superficial slips of your pen (like overshooting a line, or a line going awry), but what you should be focusing on are mistakes in regards to the form, and your initial understanding of the form when you drew. That is, if you drew the box a particular way and then later realized that your far plane was coming out larger than your near plane, or something else to that effect, that is what I would expect you to correct.

I also noticed that you jump between drawing through your boxes and not - I definitely encourage you to continue drawing through your boxes, keeping a close eye on where you have issues with those near/far planes, as they are still occurring throughout the set. Drawing through your boxes defines all the planes quite clearly so it becomes easier to identify these mistakes - assuming you are looking for them.

Keep up the good work. You're steadily improving, but there is plenty of room to grow. You may consider this challenge complete.

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

2016-01-26 21:05

Pretty solid work! Your organic forms are coming along great, and your contour curves wrap around them nicely. Your dissections are moving in the right direction, and I'm glad to see that you're playing with the idea of simplifying textures. One tip I have there is that when attempting to simplify a texture, instead of thinking of each visual element as a separate entity (like each independent scale or bump or whatever), think of the texture as a collection of light shapes and shadow shapes that span over several elements together.

Your form and organic intersections are looking solid. The only thing I'd recommend for the former is that you should avoid using that sort of lighter underdrawing approach, because it undermines the confidence of your strokes, and because generally (not specifically in your case) the cleaner lines drawn on top tend to be drawn slower in an attempt to carefully match up with the underdrawing, so they end up wobbling and getting weird. I don't see this issue in your case, but it is something to be aware of.

Anyway, great work. Feel free to move onto the next lesson and keep it up!

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

2016-01-26 20:56

Very nice work! The only point of critique I would give is something I recommend to everyone - take your completed rough perspective boxes homework and go over it as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. It's a really helpful extra step you can do for yourself that will highlight common inaccuracies in your estimation of perspective, which you can consciously compensate for the next time you attempt this kind of exercise - given that you're aware of them.

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

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Cylinder Challenge"

2016-01-26 20:48

They're moving in the right direction, but I'd say there's a much larger issue than either of the ones you mentioned, though it's related: you're not reading the material included in the challenge. There is both a step-by-step demo on how to construct a cylinder and a video, and both stress the importance of the minor axis. I don't see a single point in your cylinders where you attempt to construct a cylinder around a minor axis, even though I say you should be doing it across the board. The minor axis is what governs the alignment of your ellipses, so that is definitely the cause of your struggles.

I'm still marking the challenge as complete because you did draw 250 cylinders, but come on. Read before you jump into drawing, this will continue to shoot you in the foot in the future.

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

2016-01-26 20:44

Nice work! I do have some comments to offer.

The first thing I noticed is that you do have a page where you experiment with not drawing through your ellipses (going around the elliptical shape once only, instead of multiple times). I'm sure you noticed that they tend to come out uneven, and I'm glad to see that you went back to drawing through them.

I do want to point out though that some of your ellipses come out a little stiff and uneven even when you draw through them - the reason for this is that you're being too slow and careful when actually drawing the ellipses. Drawing through them is intended to encourage you to draw with a more confident pace. When you go too slowly, your brain will be able to interfere and make little corrections. What you want is for your arm and your muscles to drive your drawing, as this ensures smoother lines and a greater emphasis on flow.

The downside is that drawing faster will diminish your accuracy, so to compensate we look to the ghosting method covered in the previous section. We invest all of our time in preparing to draw and getting familiar with the motion required to draw what we want, before executing quickly and confidently.

Secondly, in your rough perspective boxes, I noticed that in the first page you were quite clean and conscientious with your hatching lines, while on the second you you got a little sloppy. Remember that all the lines you draw are equally important, and should be drawn with focus and care. Make sure your hatching lines are always parallel, consistent and stretch all the way across the plane from edge to edge, nothing floating in the middle and nothing overshooting the edges.

I would also like to encourage you to go over your completed rough perspective boxes as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point. You're heading in the right direction with that exercise, and going over your homework like this will help you identify your mistakes so you can consciously compensate for them the next time you attempt the exercise.

Lastly, I did notice that while you are moving in the right direction with your rotated boxes and organic perspective boxes, this is something you're struggling with. This is perfectly normal, and even expected - constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes is hard, and it takes time to develop a sense of 3D space.

I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. There's some extra material there that you can read, and the challenge should give you the practice you need to really solidify your understanding of 3D space.

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

2016-01-26 00:06

I'd say the biggest thing you're missing is the idea of constructing your object from simple forms. When most people start on these lessons, they're used to the idea of looking at a reference image, and drawing what they see. Instead of that, we look at our reference image, understand how it's made up of simple forms, and then reconstruct those forms in our drawing. Then we go over it with multiple passes, gradually building up the level of complexity.

Here's a demo based on one of your drawings. You're not quite starting out with simple forms, and you're also not building up complexity in multiple passes.

It's really important to go from simple to complex, and the leaves here make a good example. If you're caught up with all of the complex detail in the individual parts of the leaf, you're going to end up drawing a leaf whose overall form does not flow convincingly through 3D space. Because of this, we try to break our forms down and deal with each challenge individually.

First we establish our basic geometric forms (like the flower pot, which is just a cylinder - make sure you're applying the appropriate construction of the form, using your minor axis as taught in the 250 cylinder challenge page). Then we figure out the path our leaf should follow by drawing its center line - remember that this is a line, like the ribbons/arrows from lesson 2, that flows through 3D space. It is not simply flowing across your 2D page.

Then, you build simple leaf forms with basic curving lines to enclose the space your leaf will take up. Remember that this is not some approximate sketch. In the next step, you're using that enclosed shape as the strict bounds of your leaf's more complex detail - the ends of the leaf touch these edges and it all fits together very snugly.

Lastly, you mentioned struggling with petals and leaves, so I threw this together for you: http://i.imgur.com/oI6ncdQ.png. I noticed that you're somewhat afraid of letting your leaves and petals bend back over themselves. Remember that, like a ribbon, these are just flat shapes that exist in three dimensions. They can twist and turn through space very easily.

Anyway, focus on the idea of constructing from simple forms and building up in successive passes. I'd like to see four more pages of plants.

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

2016-01-25 21:09

Fantastic work. Your lines and ellipses are excellent, as are your plotted/rough perspective and rotated boxes. The only area where I noticed some mistakes are with your organic perspective boxes. Your linework here is very confident, which is excellent, it's just the forms themselves that need work.

This is the problem that I'm noticing: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene. Essentially, the perspective distortion/foreshortening on your boxes is really dramatic, which makes all of the boxes feel like they don't fit together within the same scene.

I'm marking this lesson as complete, and I'd like you to move onto the 250 box challenge next. Try to focus on boxes with shallower foreshortening (far plane should be similar in size to the near plane), as these are going to be very useful to you in the long run. Generally dramatic perspective is reserved for very large forms (like tall buildings where the far end is very distant), while shallower foreshortening is used for objects at a much more relatable scale.

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

2016-01-25 21:04

You're going in the right direction. There's still plenty of room to improve, mostly in the observation side of things. Spend more time really studying your reference, trying to identify the lighter nuances in the forms you see. This will come with time and practice - the most immediate corrections have been made.

I'll leave you to practice your animals at your own discretion, and will mark this lesson as complete.

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

2016-01-25 21:01

Looking good! I think you found a good balance of contour lines as you got further into the set, especially since they tend to match up with natural details in the given insects. Your volumes are looking generally strong, as are your constructions, and your texture/rendering is coming along well.

On the topic of hair, this might help a little. It helps to try and imagine the different hairs as being part of a large network/system of hair that flows and clumps together. Still, the way you approached it works decently because you did make sure to drown out a lot of the noisy/high-contrast sections.

Anyway, keep up the good work and feel free to move onto the next lesson.