gave this one a proper try now that I had the time to
then I did the first plant with my own critique but it's hard to read because I don't have good hand writing and the light washed it out a bit. I'm going to do it again, do some more with the walkthrough then tomorrow I'll be doing them on my own from plants to see how that goes
Nice progress. I think the organization of the squares really helped, that first image I feel like alot of the outer ones have the same angle, but the second image shows more control and thought over what you are trying to achieve.
I think your cylinders would benefit from the same sort of organization. Remember that the end goal is to be able to effortlessly turn an object in space, but on the page. As your mark making improves and gets more confident, the exercises need to be about more than just mindlessly putting shapes down. Building up a confidence around knowing that a cylinder at a particular angle is something you can draw is part of the process.
Yes, the second image with the squares and circles and then the pitcher plant are much more useful ways of structuring this exercise. I still think it could be helpful to take a can of beans or something and set it in front of you, then draw/rotate/draw it again/rotate it again/etc until you have drawn it a full rotation.
Hey these plants are looking great! your line confidence has improve a lot! Something with the cylinders: I think you should make a real eyeline, draw 2 pt perspective on it, and make some boxes, and then draw ellipses on all their surfaces. The thing is to see how they change as planes recede into perspective, I think you're getting a little too cautious with forshortening stuff, and its making things look like they're getting squished instead of having perspective. This pic is talking about drawing streets, but the main point is really that perspective effects stuff more radically than you would think and everyone gets a little cautious and wants to show a little more than you would really see
so the demos were kind of whatever, but the birds felt odd. they seemed easy to do which could mean a few things: 1) I'm getting better 2) I did everything wrong 3) they're just birds
A lot of your basic shapes are still a bit warped and skewed. When you are getting into the more complex things, like the dog and big cat, proportions are getting a out of control. As soon as you hit something as particular as anatomy, small spatial discrepancies make a large difference.
I'll try and do some draw-overs when I get back home, I'm traveling at the moment. The draw a box methodology skips over a ton of basic observation and measuring tools, which is what you begin to learn when you do still life drawings. Drawing things like juice boxes and toilet paper rolls are part of the way that artists initially train to use their eyes to assess something: "What does the top of this toilet paper roll look like from the angle I'm sitting at? How do I draw the correct ellipses?" "When I drew this juice box, why can't I replicate the label? Is it because the I drew the proportions wrong? Is this face of the object too wide?"
For instance, when looking at this:
The rightmost drawings are fairly imprecise. The bottom right looks like a long skinny oval, the top right looks like it has a top face that is tilted towards the viewer, like the top of a used lipstick. These small inconsistencies dont feel very critical when you are just drawing a page of cylinders. Drawing simpler objects than birds and panthers makes it a bit easier to see mistakes, and particularly inorganic forms, that have less hidden structure to approximate. You're goal is to be able to look at something, either in real life or in a photo, and know how to translate that into its basic 3d properties in your head, and translate that on a 2d surface accurately. The process is deceptively complex to teach, and easy to take for granted when you have some of the basics and not all of it.
I draw enough organic forms that it still takes me some time, generally, to nail putting down the right structural shapes. The reason a lot of the advice you are being given is also being sandwiched with advice to slow down, is because even when you are experienced, sometimes you'll get the structure wrong initially and need to adjust. case and point, in this video around 8:40 : https://youtu.be/3uEtdDvK6Xo?t=517
In this section of his video, the first cube Proko draws in his example video about structure is incorrect. A user comments "at 8:42 this first box is incorrect though. We see the bottom plane, so we are looking upward, and the lines of the box would converge upwards, not downwards."
Proko acknowledges this is a mistake in the subsequent comments, as he can immediately see that was not the form he intended when he looked back at it. It's not that proko cant draw cubes accurately, it's obvious that he can, but the process actually requires thought, and continues to, indefinitely. You'll need to develop the senses to get it right consistently, but also develop methods to find your mistakes.
we've still got Big Problems but I think there's some improvement here. I might have lost my focus on the 3rd one, that one got all haphazard after how well the second one turned out
took a break from the more difficult stuff to do some mechanical things and simpler fish, then finished off the lesson for now. I might do more still, I haven't decided.
This latest round of deer is markedly better than your previous attempt! Those fish are lookin quite good too. Seems like this exercise has helped! Keep it up, yo
I feel like you should mix in some actual work too. Studies are nice, and are much like sharpening your ax if you're a logger. But it's important to remember to cut down some trees, no matter what ax you currently have. Because that's the actual job.
I feel like you should mix in some actual work too. Studies are nice, and are much like sharpening your ax if you're a logger. But it's important to remember to cut down some trees, no matter what ax you currently have. Because that's the actual job.
Hope that analogy makes sense!
Just browsing through threads, but I wanted to say - this sounds like awesome advice. I find it very hard to accept the ax I currently have and keep putting off doing work because "I'm not good enough yet...".
Also your studies are awesome Jars!
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then I did the first plant with my own critique but it's hard to read because I don't have good hand writing and the light washed it out a bit. I'm going to do it again, do some more with the walkthrough then tomorrow I'll be doing them on my own from plants to see how that goes
Nice progress. I think the organization of the squares really helped, that first image I feel like alot of the outer ones have the same angle, but the second image shows more control and thought over what you are trying to achieve.
I think your cylinders would benefit from the same sort of organization. Remember that the end goal is to be able to effortlessly turn an object in space, but on the page. As your mark making improves and gets more confident, the exercises need to be about more than just mindlessly putting shapes down. Building up a confidence around knowing that a cylinder at a particular angle is something you can draw is part of the process.
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first couple were reversed
with the 3 demos done the training wheels will be off so it will probably be a solid week+ of plants
that's enough plants for now, which means it's time for arachnids
doing the scorpion again as the body is all off
I'll try and do some draw-overs when I get back home, I'm traveling at the moment. The draw a box methodology skips over a ton of basic observation and measuring tools, which is what you begin to learn when you do still life drawings. Drawing things like juice boxes and toilet paper rolls are part of the way that artists initially train to use their eyes to assess something: "What does the top of this toilet paper roll look like from the angle I'm sitting at? How do I draw the correct ellipses?" "When I drew this juice box, why can't I replicate the label? Is it because the I drew the proportions wrong? Is this face of the object too wide?"
For instance, when looking at this:
The rightmost drawings are fairly imprecise. The bottom right looks like a long skinny oval, the top right looks like it has a top face that is tilted towards the viewer, like the top of a used lipstick. These small inconsistencies dont feel very critical when you are just drawing a page of cylinders. Drawing simpler objects than birds and panthers makes it a bit easier to see mistakes, and particularly inorganic forms, that have less hidden structure to approximate. You're goal is to be able to look at something, either in real life or in a photo, and know how to translate that into its basic 3d properties in your head, and translate that on a 2d surface accurately. The process is deceptively complex to teach, and easy to take for granted when you have some of the basics and not all of it.
I draw enough organic forms that it still takes me some time, generally, to nail putting down the right structural shapes. The reason a lot of the advice you are being given is also being sandwiched with advice to slow down, is because even when you are experienced, sometimes you'll get the structure wrong initially and need to adjust. case and point, in this video around 8:40 :
In this section of his video, the first cube Proko draws in his example video about structure is incorrect. A user comments "at 8:42 this first box is incorrect though. We see the bottom plane, so we are looking upward, and the lines of the box would converge upwards, not downwards."
Proko acknowledges this is a mistake in the subsequent comments, as he can immediately see that was not the form he intended when he looked back at it. It's not that proko cant draw cubes accurately, it's obvious that he can, but the process actually requires thought, and continues to, indefinitely. You'll need to develop the senses to get it right consistently, but also develop methods to find your mistakes.
I feel like you should mix in some actual work too. Studies are nice, and are much like sharpening your ax if you're a logger. But it's important to remember to cut down some trees, no matter what ax you currently have. Because that's the actual job.
Hope that analogy makes sense!
Just browsing through threads, but I wanted to say - this sounds like awesome advice. I find it very hard to accept the ax I currently have and keep putting off doing work because "I'm not good enough yet...".
Also your studies are awesome Jars!