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

2016-01-13 23:33

Congrats on completing the challenge. Here's a few tips moving forward:

You are improving, but because you're kind of loose and sloppy with how you've been practicing (not really putting 100% into each box and not drawing through them), you're still repeating a lot of mistakes like drawing boxes with far planes larger than near planes.

If you're going to sit down and practice something, it should not be just for the sake of getting it done. Give each part your full, undivided attention and focus, and spread it out over as much time as you need to do it to the best of your ability.

I'm still marking the challenge as complete, because you did draw 250 boxes.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-13 23:29

It's never been a factor. People generally use whatever paper they have available, usually leaning towards lower weight pages. After all, if you're working on expensive paper or expensive sketchbooks, you're going to end up getting caught up in being too precious with your work.

I generally just encourage people to use loose printer paper.

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

2016-01-13 23:18

Nicely done! Your constructions are coming along nicely, and your textures are well thought out and executed. For the furry/hairy type textures, you can take a look at these extra notes, but you're making some solid progress. Feel free to move onto the next lesson.

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

2016-01-13 23:15

Pretty well done! Your lines section is solid. Your ellipses are coming along nicely, though as you continue to move forward, start trying to tighten them up. Right now they're looking just a little loose, which is totally fine right now, but you do want to ultimately aim for the lines from successive passes of drawing-through to get closer together.

Your rough perspective boxes are a little disconcerting. It doesn't look like you're putting a lot of time into applying the ghosting method to all of your lines, rather it seems you're just putting your pen to the page and trying to draw slowly and carefully. This results in wobbling - the benefit of the ghosting method is that it separates things into multiple stages, and ends with the execution being relatively quick and confident.

It definitely is a little tough to see though if other mistakes are just due to a lack of accuracy, or because you don't fully understand how to apply 1 point perspective. I'm inclined to think it's the former, based on what I'm seeing, but just in case I want you to read this: Guessing, Instead of Knowing.

Your organic perspective boxes are generally quite well done. Your lines are certainly better than the previous section, and your box constructions are coming along nicely. I do believe you could use a little more work in that area though.

I'm going to mark this lesson as complete but I'd like you to move onto the 250 Box Challenge next. It'll help you iron out the issues with ghosting your lines while helping you get more practice with constructing arbitrarily rotated boxes.

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

2016-01-13 23:09

Pretty nice work. There's a few issues that we can work on as you move forwards, but you've generally done quite well.

Your lines are looking good, though your ellipses are a little on the stiff side. You're allowing your brain to guide your hand as you draw the mark, rather than developing muscle memory through the ghosting method and then letting your muscles do all the work when actually executing the mark. Try to draw a little faster and with more confidence so your brain doesn't have the chance to intercede. Also give this a read: Stiff, Uneven Ellipses.

Your boxes are coming along nicely, though for the rough perspective boxes I highly encourage you to go back over your finished homework as described here: Lines Not Lining Up With Vanishing Point.

Lastly, your organic perspective boxes do have plenty of room to grow. This is completely normal, as it does take quite a bit of time and development to establish a solid sense of how forms can be rotated in 3D space. I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I'd like you to move onto the 250 Box Challenge next to get some more practice with arbitrarily rotated box constructions.

Also, you should give this blurb about keeping your foreshortening consistent a read: Inconsistent Foreshortening Between Boxes in the Same Scene.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-12 14:22

Thanks for the kind words! By the way, I always contact new patrons through patreon's messaging system to get a little extra information (like tying their patreon account to their reddit username) so be sure to take a look over there when you get the chance.

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

2016-01-12 13:44

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking they're expected to submit perfect homework. That kind of defeats the purpose of getting a critique - if it's already on the mark, then I don't have much more to offer.

The point is to give me something to work with - when I look over your homework, I can generally see what you're understanding, and what you're isn't quite clicking just yet. Based on that I can give you more appropriate advice for moving forwards, ask you to redo certain sections with a different approach, or point you to parts of the lesson that you missed.

So, finish the homework to the absolute best of your ability, and then submit it.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-12 13:40

Yep, I only accept submissions of homework from drawabox.com - I get so heavily inundated with those alone that to accept more wouldn't make much sense. You might want to try looking for critique on /r/learnart though, or on /r/artbuddy.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects (version 3)"

2016-01-11 19:30

There's definite improvement here, but more in your linework (which is considerably less sketchy than before) than your sense of form. As I get more and more homework submitted for a given lesson, I tend to learn more about the subject matter myself, and I get a sense of what people tend to do wrong. More recently, I've been getting a better sense for this lesson.

The thing is, right now you're drawing objects. You're drawing a bottle, you're drawing a canister, etc. What you should be drawing however is a series of simple forms that come together. A box, a cylinder, positioned together so that they combine to create something more complex.

Drawing a cylinder means being aware of its minor axis (which you drew none of), drawing a box means being aware of how it sits in 3D space. While your observational skills are pretty damn good, your constructions are weak and flimsy and don't actually carry a sense of solidity or weight.

I'd like you to go back to lesson 2 and read the form intersection section again. I've actually updated that whole chunk very recently, so it will be a little different from what you remember. I'd like you to do 4 pages of form intersections.

Once you've done that, try another 4 pages of every day objects, but REMEMBER: you're not drawing objects, you are looking at your subject matter, breaking them down into their simplest forms, and then drawing those forms as if you were doing another form intersection. I want to be able to identify every rudimentary form in your construction, and if you include any detail, it should be as a greater breakdown of forms, not just visual details you've drawn on top.

I also recommend that you reread the lesson before doing the extra 4 pages, since your work here doesn't actually show any of what was covered in the lesson.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-10 16:31

Glad yoy like it!

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

2016-01-10 03:54

Very nice work on the boxes, especially the ones that work in a gradually rotating series. I do want to mention though that it probably wasn't a great idea to do large clusters of arbitrary boxes overlapping with one another - by making them overlap like that, you're adding another level of complication that comes from them existing within the same physical space. Separate boxes drawn with no overlaps can be interpreted as just being independent boxes, which is the simple training we're after right now. As soon as they overlap, they exist within the same scene.

Anyway, you still did a great job, so congrats on that.

As for your questions:

  1. It's a personal decision. You don't need to do them all each time, or in any great quantity, but you should not be in a situation where you haven't done one of the exercises in a very long time. The point is to make sure you practice those concepts regularly, continuing to sharpen those skills and ultimately work towards keeping them sharp. Your eagerness however is completely irrelevant. You should read my article on motivation.

  2. Again, I'm not going to give you an amount of time. I get these kinds of questions all the time, and each time they severely miss the mark. The point is not to master the exercises within the minimum number of pages I ask for as a homework submission. All I want to see is that you understand what each exercise needs to be aiming for. As long as you read the lesson carefully and take the amount of time required to do the best you are capable of for each exercise, I will be able to find any major misunderstandings, and we can resolve them so that in the future you are able to practice these exercises without going off track.

Don't overthink things. Don't get caught up in amounts or time or motivation or any of that. Just look at the task ahead of you and do it.

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

2016-01-10 03:01

As I mentioned, the rushed work makes it difficult for me to separate out what you misunderstood from the result of sloppy work. Redo the homework and you'll get a more valuable critique.

An organic form is a unique case, because with these we are not aiming for any specific form - so as long as you draw a confident shape with plenty of room for contour lines, you're fine. Start off with sausage shapes, since they're simple.

Arrows are just two parallel waves/curves running alongside one another. You ghost each one on its own, moving through the drawing motion required to draw it. There's nothing complicated about that.

If a form or shape starts becoming too complex to ghost, it means you need to start breaking it up. For example, jumping ahead several lessons, we don't jump straight in and draw the torso of an animal - we block in its ribcage and pelvis with ellipses, then we connect those to create a slightly more complex organic form.

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

2016-01-10 02:41

From the looks of it, you drew on both sides of your pages, so one side shows through to the other. I'm not sure if that is actually what you did, or if you drew on a stack where the drawing on one page soaked through the paper and stained the one below it.

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects (version 3)"

2016-01-09 23:37

Not bad! You're doing well, demonstrating the beginnings of an understanding of how to draw these kinds of objects. There is a serious component missing here, though. It's one of those things that I start to notice more and more as people submit homework for a given lesson, and eventually culminates in me editing the content of the lesson itself.

Right now, you're still focusing on drawing the object in front of you. You see a camera, you see a pen with a pen cap, you see a hairdryer. You establish a box for that object, and then draw the object within it.

That's not what we're after.

What you should see is a series of simple forms. Let the detail melt away, and see how every single object is just a series of forms mashed together like the form intersections from lesson 2. Even the details themselves can be broken down into smaller forms appended to this network.

If you let yourself see nothing more than the object, then you'll be jumping into drawing something that is by nature, very complicated. If you draw the forms instead, you will lay down a scaffolding - once it is set down, you can round off a few corners, add a few little touches and all of a sudden the object will spring to life.

We're going to put a pause on the lessons for now, and jump back to basics. Do the following:

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

2016-01-09 23:26

There is one serious problem that is affecting your work: you're sloppy. Really, really sloppy. You jump into drawing before you are finished thinking through a problem, and then when your solution doesn't work, your solution is to draw more. This runs completely opposite of the principles covered in lesson 1 - specifically the importance placed on the ghosting method.

I want you to try this lesson again, taking the following into consideration:

I mention this often in my lessons - you MUST submit to me the absolute best effort you can. If you show me rushed work, not only will I be able to tell that you did not do as well as you could, but I will also not be able to differentiate mistakes caused by sloppiness and those caused by not understanding the material.

I know for a fact that you can do much better than this. Take your time, and reread the lesson - read each exercise description before you do it, as well as the common mistakes listed in the lesson's self-critique resources section. Then when you're finished, read over those common mistakes again - if you find any, redo the exercise.

I'm noticing a lot of things that you simply missed, that were mentioned in the lesson. Now, that does happen to everyone, and I do allow some leeway with that, but after a certain point it just becomes clear when a student quickly flips through a lesson and jumps straight into doing the exercises.

I will mention one last thing - you will likely feel ashamed after reading this. On one hand, you should - on the other, what you've done here isn't abnormal. With these lessons and my critiques, there are numerous problems I'm trying to solve. Technical problems, spatial problems, observational problems, and so on. Focus and patience is just another one of those problems, and you're not the only one to experience them.

So, in short - give it another shot.

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

2016-01-09 18:28

I'm somewhat on the fence about this. Your results aren't generally bad, but I feel like there is something in the underlying construction, something about how you approach it, that suggests that you're not yet seeing the forms you draw as 3D forms sitting in 3D space.

The most important thing is to keep in mind that the forms we put down as the first step of our lay-in are not rough approximations of the space the object takes up. These forms - often dropped in as simple ellipses - actually represent a solid, voluminous mass. Think of it as though you're playing with putty, and you're laying the ground-work for what you're building.

From your drawings, I'm getting the impression that you're placing 2D shapes on the page, which you will then draw on top of with your "real" lines. This approach is common in step-by-step drawing guides, but focuses entirely on taking a 2D image and simply transferring it to a 2D drawing - rather than what we're after, looking at a 2D image, understanding how it works on a 3D level, and then reconstructing it with 3D forms, represented by 2D shapes in a drawing.

Anyway, the tricky thing is that this isn't something easily explained - so, I'm going to ask you to go to lesson 2 and look at the "organic intersections" exercise that was recently added at the end of the lesson as part of the new years update. Do that exercise, it really pushes the idea of creating actual 3D forms within a 2D drawing.

Do two pages of those, then try drawing two more pages of insect lay-ins. Do not get into any sort of detail or texture, all I want to see is the lay-in construction.

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

2016-01-09 18:16

Nice work. The confidence of your lines improves considerably over the set, which makes your boxes look pretty snazzy. I am noticing however that you've got quite a few far-plane-bigger-than-near-plane issues. Drawing Through your Forms would help you identify these problems, so you should incorporate that into your practice. It generally gives you a better sense of how that form sits in 3D space.

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

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Cylinder Challenge"

2016-01-09 00:08

Good catch, that's my mistake. The common mistakes section was wrong - the ellipse farther from the viewer should have a larger degree, so it should appear wider.

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

2016-01-08 22:55

That approach sounds fairly decent, but I do have one concern - you have a tendency of drawing ellipses quite stiffly, too concerned with drawing slowly and carefully to get the shape right, which results in wobbly linework and doesn't rely at all on your muscle memory. You need to draw with more confidence, using a stroke fast enough that your brain does not interfere and cause your lines to wobble. That's why I encourage people to draw through their ellipses, because it allows them a little leeway, giving them the room to draw with a little more confidence. Keep that in mind.

Generally you have improved, though the main example of this is the moth. The others suffer quite a bit from wobbly lines.

Also, for your ellipses-as-guides, continue to use that for the main bodies, but avoid it for parts that are smaller, like the legs.

I'll mark the lesson as complete - you should continue to practice these as you move forward, but you may move onto the next lesson when you feel ready.

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

2016-01-08 22:51

The purpose of the self-critique page is to catch mistakes so you can correct them before you submit (ultimately to make my job easier). So, if you find that you've made some mistakes I've mentioned there, you really should redo those exercises on your own.

Anyway, generally your work is pretty well done. Your organic forms with contour ellipses are fairly solid (though I do notice that in many cases you have a tendency to draw ellipses of the same degree throughout the form, which gives me the impression you don't yet understand how the degree of the ellipses describes the rotation of that ellipse in 3D space. Watch this video and read these notes for information on that subject.

Your organic forms with contour curves, however, are not well done. The issue is discussed the video linked above, and also here: Contour Curves Do Not Wrap Around Organic Forms.

Your dissections are coming along - there's plenty of room to grow, but it does take time and repeated attempts at capturing different kinds of textures for one's sense for how to balance apply and organize detail to develop fully, as well as for one's observational skills to solidify. That said, you're moving in the right direction, so keep ti up. I especially like the one on the top left of page 17 - not the most visually pleasing but the organization of detail and the focus paid to how each visual element differs slightly breaks up the monotony and keeps the texture fresh. The cut-faces where you've applied the fruit texture on that same dissection's nicely done as well. Simple, but simplicity often is all that's needed.

Your form intersections demonstrate a decent sense of form, with some great line confidence. Mind the fact that you did not draw through your ellipses though - it didn't have too great an impact, partially because your ellipses are decent and moreso because you didn't use any spheres where unevenness tends to have its greatest negative effects. Make sure you draw through all of the ellipses you draw for me. Also, you should continue to practice drawing boxes - especially while Drawing Through your Forms, as you still have some near/far plane issues here and there.

Before I mark the lesson as complete, I'd like you to do two more pages of organic forms with contour curves. Fix the problem with the curves not wrapping convincingly around the rounded forms.

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

2016-01-08 22:40

That is pretty much the purpose of this exercise - to draw individual boxes with different amounts of foreshortening and different orientations, rather than cohesive forms within the same scene. That said, as soon as your boxes start to overlap, they immediately read as existing within the same space, so the inconsistency becomes a problem. Again, it's totally fine for this exercise, but it'd have been better not to overlap.

Your sense of form is generally quite solid, and is developing nicely. You are a little sloppier with how you draw your lines though - this is definitely because you jumped into this challenge before completing lesson 1, where we talk about things like the every-important ghosting method, which focuses on thinking and planning before every stroke you put down.

I'm sure that once you get into that material, your linework will get more concise. Consider the challenge complete.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Cylinder Challenge"

2016-01-08 22:32

/u/ChevalierFaible: looks like you got your submission (https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/3d0quq/optional_challenge_250_cylinders_2/cyq8vxv?context=3) just before the thread got locked. I can't do the critique there, so I'll do it here instead.

Your cylinders are coming along nicely, so good work completing the challenge. You tend to get more conscientious and less sloppy throughout the set, though keep working on aligning those ellipses to their minor axis, as that's the first thing that starts to suffer when you get tired.

Uncomfortable in the post "250 Cylinder Challenge"

2016-01-08 22:30

Looks like the old submission thread has been locked for passing 6 months of age, so you can submit your 250 cylinders to this one instead.

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

2016-01-07 23:07

Congrats on completing the challenge. I'll mark it as complete, though here's a few points that may help you as you continue to practice this in the future:

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

2016-01-07 22:51

You're moving in the right direction, and that's all I ask. This sort of thing takes time, since we're used to thinking "more detail == better" and being awed when our friends shows us a drawing where every square centimetre's got something to look at, just because in the back of our minds we register, "wow, that must have taken a lot of time and effort!"

It's a whole different way of thinking - to begin to process what you see as forms when you're drawing forms, and as shapes of light and dark when you move into rendering texture. These shapes can be combined into larger masses, leaving only their edges to imply the detail that lines within.

But like I said, you're moving in the right direction. I do intend to create a new challenge relating to textures, once I can think of how to explain the concepts in clearer terms. I'm not going to lie, it's confusing, and has as much to do with how you see things.

Don't stress too much - just be sure to think about those concepts of light and dark with every drawing you do, when it comes time to add detail. With each drawing, those concepts will become just a little bit clearer, but to expect yourself to understand them after just a couple is too cruel.

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

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects (version 3)"

2016-01-07 22:42

Huuuuge improvement - and I hope you see it too. Your forms feel so much more solid and tangible now, especially the hammer and the weight. Some of your constructions still need work of course, but the direction you're moving in is perfect.

I'm going to mark this lesson as complete, but I thought of a demo I did in a critique for someone else that may help you out with some more organic objects. It involves building a cross section/slice and then building around it: https://i.imgur.com/Mi2xVdj.png

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

2016-01-07 22:30

Wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to stop practicing anything, really - you're expected to continue practicing all of this material on your own. By marking the lessons as complete, I'm only acknowledging that you're going in the right direction.

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

2016-01-06 23:39

You're heading in the right direction, but one thing I'm noticing is that your drawings feel rather stiff and flat. I believe this comes very much from focusing on drawing your plants with flat shapes (circles, rectangles, etc.) and less on consciously drawing solid forms.

This can at times be tough because we're dealing with flat forms, but these flat forms bend and warp within 3D space. The arrow-ribbon exercise in lesson 2 is a good example of this. One approach I like to use to remind myself that I'm working on 3D space is to start off with a simple line that depicts the movement of the form. I then build my flat forms around it.

I depict that in the first row of this demo - I start with the center line of the leaf, and then build the edges around it. Then I break down those edges down in another pass, gradually adding more complexity, but being careful not to jump too complex too quickly. When you do that, you end up without enough framework or structure to support that complexity.

I'm also noticing you doing that a little - that is, jumping too complex too quickly. Always build up visual information slowly, piece by piece. Here's an example of what I mean: http://i.imgur.com/dZilgH1.png

Lastly, remember to draw through all of the ellipses you draw for my lessons.

I'm still going to mark this lesson as complete - you did a decent job, and I believe the next lesson's subject matter (insects) does a far better job of letting you play with drawing solid forms, especially with all of their natural contour lines. Still, keep what I've mentioned here in mind as you move ahead.

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

2016-01-06 23:18

Pretty nice work. Your forms are fairly well done, though I do encourage you to work towards tightening things up - being less loose, thinking through your decisions more before you put the pen to the page. That said, I understand the difficulties of drawing while standing, and I don't doubt for a second that it contributed to some of these issues. I remember having to do the same thing when I was doing these lessons myself - we went on fieldtrips to an arboretum and to a zoo for the animals unit. It's a whole other skill of its own, to be able to draw while hooking your sketchbook in your other arm.

Either way, it's coming along well. One thing that I do want to draw your attention to though is sometimes you have a tendency to scribble a little when adding texture. Try to avoid scribbling in general. A single well thought out mark, though it may take more time and focus, is always significantly better than a scribbly mess.

Anyway, feel free to move onto the next lesson.

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

2016-01-05 23:53

I see. Yeah, that is how I generally add line weight, it does take some practice to be able to nail that line properly. Remember to draw from your shoulder when doing that.

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

2016-01-05 16:16

If you look at page 4 of your intersections, the ellipse on the top left - it's the base of a cone. I count at least 6 end points. If you were drawing through your ellipses with a single continuous line, there would be only two.

As far as getting your texture right, what you're doing is a normal reaction to being overwhelmed by the amount of information in your reference image. There are two possible reactions to it - one is to just draw and hope things come out right, which is what you're doing right now, and leads to scribbling and randomness. The other is to stop drawing, and focus on your reference image. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed - if you have to look away, or take a break, that's fine. But when you draw, make sure every mark you draw is driven by a specific decision you've made.

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

2016-01-05 15:30

Part of everything is practice, but it's also important to take things step by step. The first step is to be able to carry over what you see without simplification. Then once you're able to do that, you work towards organizing what you're drawing - implying detail is about looking at the elements in the texture and distilling it to only what you need to communicate the idea of how it feels. Roughness, bumpiness, wetness, hairiness, etc. By organizing and grouping your values into more consistent areas of dark and light (think, instead of dark light dark light dark light, you'd organize it more into dark dark dark dark light light light light).

The last thing I do want to mention though is that when you start compounding dark and light areas together, you create dark and light shapes. These shapes are solid, so you can't imply any detail within them - all you have to work with are the edges of those shapes. A smooth edge will read as a smooth surface. A jagged edge will read as a rough surface. That said, those edges can't be random - they have to be sculpted and designed, otherwise they'll just look random and thoughtless.

Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders (#2)"

2016-01-05 13:56

It's not about having to draw it - the center line of the cylinder is supposed to be the same as the minor axis. I was just showing that the minor axis and that centre line are different, meaning that your ellipses were not aligned correctly.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-05 03:31

Arcing Lines. Sorry for the brevity, but I'm on my phone.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-05 02:47

Size of the page, how much you fill it, those are all personal decisions. It's up to you to figure out how much you're comfortable with.

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

2016-01-05 02:32

Pretty nice work on your organic intersections. You're right though, your rhino doesn't really look a whole lot like mine. A lot of it does have to do with observation, which will improve with practice (so don't stay clear of things that you fail at - failing is good, failing is necessary.) There are however some things you can change immediately that will help.

First off, you're not drawing through your ellipses - those are the first steps, on which everything else is built, and they tend to come out uneven because you're not drawing through them as you should be.

Secondly, your lines are kind of sketchy and chickenscratchy when you put in that head. There's no solidity to that form because the lines are not clearly thought out.

Lastly, and this one's hardest of all and will take time - but remember that you need to FEEL the forms you're drawing are solid and 3D. You need to feel the difference between a flat, substanceless shape from a solid, weighty form.

Your organic intersections were starting to feel like they had form to them. They weren't all the way there (gotta work on getting those contour lines to wrap around), but they were much further along than your rhinoceros. As you move forwards, I encourage you to continue practicing that exercise as warmups before you draw more animals.

For now though, I'll mark this lesson as complete as there isn't much more I have to impart.

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

2016-01-05 02:26

Good work completing the challenge. One thing I would recommend to you though is that you practice Drawing Through your Forms. I think that'll make those mistakes much more apparent, and much more immediately. It's definitely worth doing.

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

2016-01-05 01:56

So, there are a few areas where you can definitely improve.

Organic Forms with Contour Curves - as you said, your contour curves are not wrapping properly around the forms, so you've got to work on that. Be sure to read this if you haven't already, and watch the video linked there: Contour Curves Do Not Wrap Around Organic Forms

Next, your textures still have a tendency of being scribbly. It's very much there in the first page, much less so in the second, but you're still relying quite a bit on randomly repeating lines, and not enough on really studying your reference image and drawing specific marks to create your texture.

I discuss issues with dissections in these two links:

Finally, with your form intersections, you're not drawing through any of your ellipses as you should be - instead I'm noticing some chicken scratching there. Reread the section on form intersections in the lesson.

I'd like you to do one more page of organic forms with contour curves, one more page of dissections and one more page of form intersections.

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

2016-01-05 00:51

Pretty good. Just a couple suggestions as you move forwards:

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

Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders (#2)"

2016-01-05 00:48

Soooo. You drew 250 cylinders so you're getting the badge for the challenge. That said, at some point you started to forget what a minor axis was, and as such your cylinders started coming out all weird and flat.

A minor axis is the line that cuts your ellipse into two equal, symmetrical halves down its narrower dimension.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-04 23:57

I think that's a great idea. It's definitely crossed my mind, and I've been meaning to take advantage of the "Thoughts" section for that purpose, but I haven't gotten around to it.

Also I'm currently in the works to get a deal with my favourite sketchbook company to get discounts for our users. They've pretty much agreed, but unfortunately their contact recently had a baby so email responses are very behind - like, months behind.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-04 23:56

By example section, do you mean.. based on successful user submissions?

Uncomfortable in the post "Lesson 6: Drawing Everyday Objects (version 3)"

2016-01-03 23:38

Definitely moving in a good direction. The form intersections are feeling good as well. Now try the lesson 6 stuff once again, but remember - no details, only construction. Build everything out of those simple forms, mostly cylinders and boxes.

Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders (#2)"

2016-01-03 20:55

You sure as hell drew 250 cylinders, but I'm noticing that you probably didn't watch the video that went along with the challenge. In the video, I stress the importance of starting with your minor axis and constructing the cylinder around it. I'll mark the challenge as complete, but you should go back and watch that video and be more mindful of the resources given to you before starting on any given task.

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

2016-01-03 20:41

Congrats on completing the challenge. As you move forwards, here's a few things that might help:

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

2016-01-03 19:54

It's all about control. If you need to draw a near-perfect circle - that is, an ellipse with a degree of 90 - you should be able to. All the same, you should be able to draw an ellipse of whichever other degree when you need to. In order to do so however, it requires a lot of practice.

That's why the exercises in lessons 1 and 2 don't end when I mark them as complete - that merely means you're going in the right direction, and that you are to continue... for ever. Those exercises will help sharpen your skills, and ultimately help keep them sharp.

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

2016-01-03 19:43

Better, though I still have a few minor misgivings so here's what I want you to do:

Go to lesson 2, find the 'organic intersections' exercise I've recently added, and do one page. Then come back to this, and literally draw the demo I drew for you last time, and take a photo at each step. Submit both of those to me, then I'll mark this lesson as complete.

Uncomfortable in the post "OPTIONAL CHALLENGE: 250 Cylinders (#2)"

2016-01-03 19:38

Nice work completing the challenge. One thing I'm noticing though as you get further into the set is that you stop drawing the minor axis - which is definitely the most important component of the cylinder, as it determines the alignment of your ellipses. The box only exists to establish a minor axis (between the center points of both planes) - so if you're establishing a box but not using it to establish a minor axis, the box isn't really serving its purpose. It's definitely better than just drawing the ellipse without the box, but you're missing its primary advantage.

I'm marking this as complete, but be sure to keep that in mind as you move forwards.

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

2016-01-03 19:15

Your forms are coming along decently. I can see that you're following along the methodology of starting out with simple shapes and forms, and then breaking them down in successive stages.

As far as detailing goes, you have a tendency to be very scribbly. A good example of this is on page 4. At times you also do this in your lay-in phases, in general it comes from being somewhat overwhelmed by your subject matter, and giving into the urge to think on the page.

By thinking on the page, I'm referring to drawing before you have a clear goal in mind as to what this next mark should be. It is very important that you think through what you're doing before executing a line and putting any more ink on the page. When faced with this sense of being overwhelmed, there are two possible reactions.

  1. You dive in and draw, hoping that something will arise - this usually results in scribbling or using a lot of very simple hatching (which is generally a shorthand for 'i don't know what goes here but i don't want to leave it blank').

  2. You pull back, you put your pen down, and you think. You spend more time studying your reference image, first identifying the visual elements that are present in the textures you're trying to transfer into your drawing, then focusing on how those elements are arranged. Are they spread out evenly over the surface, do they exist in groups or clusters, do they clump together to create larger compound shapes (like a bunch of dots fusing to create large swathes of solid black).

The latter what you want to go after. To help with this, you may want to read the dissection section from lesson 2, which I have recently rewritten.

I'm still going to mark this lesson as complete - this is a skill that develops over time and with practice, so there's no sense in holding you back for it. You will face the same challenges in the next lesson, so feel free to move ahead.

Uncomfortable in the post "With the start of a new year, comes the reopening of critiques and a bunch of updates to the website!"

2016-01-03 18:38

Don't approach this under the misconception that what you submit has to be perfect, or close to it. All I ask is that you do the best you can right now. As long as you're putting forward your best effort, we can figure out what part of your approach and what part of your understanding isn't working out, and adjust it accordingly.