uncomfortable

Lesson 7: An Introduction to Drawing Vehicles

And finally, the last dynamic sketching lesson has been updated - this week, Drawing Vehicles. This one isn't that different from last week's Everyday Objects, but with the increase in scale of the objects in question, proportion becomes a much more significant concern. This video focuses on a breakdown of drawing a specific tank, using an encompassing box and subdividing it in order to help construct an object with greater accuracy.

Measuring in Perspective: Constructing to Scale

While doing research for the last two exercises I've updated (6 and 7), I've delved a bit more into technical perspective, and ways to take advantage of certain tricks and techniques without having to explicitly rely upon vanishing points. This is an extension of the video I posted last week about drawing perfect circles in 3D space - how to use that technique to construct exact and specific proportions in perspective.

Lesson 7: 1967 Chevy Camaro Demo

A recording of a demo done for lesson 7 (http://drawabox.com/lesson/7).

Lesson 7: Coast Guard Boat Demo

A recording of a demo done for lesson 7 (http://drawabox.com/lesson/7).

Lesson 7: Cab-Over Truck Demo

A recording of a demo done for lesson 7 (http://drawabox.com/lesson/7).

Sad News About Critiques on /r/ArtFundamentals

You can read the full announcement here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/54l9rj/the_future_of_free_critiques_on_rartfundamentals/

The main things to know is that I'm restructuring how critiques are handled. They're not going away, but I am taking several measures to decrease my workload.

- Free critiques will resume October 1st, and stop indefinitely after October 7th

- Paid critiques will be available to those who pledge $3 or more

- The lesson demo video recordings will still be available to all patron levels

- I want to try doing semi-regular Q/A threads, where a post is created on /r/ArtFundamentals and for the next 6-8 hours everyone is welcome to ask questions (from minor things to "how do I do this" or "why does this drawing I did look wrong" - all related to the lessons of course). After the set amount of time, the thread will be locked and a few days later I will post a video answering as many of the questions as I can, with demonstrations, explanations, etc.

- I'm still working on updating the existing lessons. This is where I want to invest the majority of my time, rather than on doing individual critiques, as this is where the work will have the greatest impact. I want to clarify my explanations wherever possible, do more demonstrations, and perhaps come up with more helpful exercises that are relevant to each lesson.

Perfect Circles and Cubes in 3D Space

This is something that's confused me immensely for quite a while, and I've seen that a lot of people have felt the same way. Since I don't deal with plotted perspective much, I've mostly just ignored it but it has had some negative impacts on my work in the past. So, here's the results of some research I've done into the subject. In looking into how to properly construct ellipses inside of planes, I also discovered some neat tricks that allow us to easily construct perfect cubes in space - a very handy tool for building up grids and doing measurements.

Lesson 6: An Introduction to Drawing Everyday Objects

The majority of the things we deal with on a regular basis tend to be quite geometric, and can usually be simplified into boxes and cylinders. As such, it's often most effective to consider these objects as merely being arrangements of those forms, and to completely ignore the object itself. In this 30 minute video, I go over the main challenges people face, and explain certain techniques used to manipulate these basic geometric primitives to construct the majority of objects we use in our day-to-day lives.

Lesson 6: Computer Mouse Demo

Another flood of videos, this time updating lesson 6 (drawing everyday objects). Primarily focused on the use of geometric primitives (mostly boxes and cylinders), and how to leverage them to produce the majority of hard surface objects we use on a daily basis.

This one in particular is unique among this lesson's demos - I focus on an approach I use to construct more organic, smooth, curve-based hard surface objects, focusing on the use of orthographic plans while tying it back to many of the concepts we deal with for other simpler objects.

Lesson 6: Wooden Barrel Demo

Another flood of videos, this time updating lesson 6 (drawing everyday objects). Primarily focused on the use of geometric primitives (mostly boxes and cylinders), and how to leverage them to produce the majority of hard surface objects we use on a daily basis.

Lesson 6: Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Demo

Another flood of videos, this time updating lesson 6 (drawing everyday objects). Primarily focused on the use of geometric primitives (mostly boxes and cylinders), and how to leverage them to produce the majority of hard surface objects we use on a daily basis.

Lesson 5: An Introduction to Drawing Animals

A 50 minute video tackling a variety of challenges that students struggle with - constructing heads, dealing with fur, connecting legs to torsos, etc.

Lesson 5: Arabian Camel Demo

Back to updating the dynamic sketching lessons, this time lesson 5. Along with three new demo recordings, you've also got a 50 minute video tackling many of the challenges students seem to struggle with.

Lesson 5: Brown Bear Demo

Back to updating the dynamic sketching lessons, this time lesson 5. Along with three new demo recordings, you've also got a 50 minute video tackling many of the challenges students seem to struggle with.

Lesson 5: American White Pelican Demo

Back to updating the dynamic sketching lessons, this time lesson 5. Along with three new demo recordings, you've also got a 50 minute video tackling many of the challenges students seem to struggle with.

How to Draw an Airplane (Sky-sausage)

I did this demo for a student last night, figured it'd be worth sharing. I absolutely LOATHE drawing airplanes, but this didn't turn out quite as badly as I'd expected.

Lesson 3: An Introduction to Drawing Insects and Arachnids

This weekend I've gone and updated the content for lesson 4. As I did with lesson 3 last week, I added 3 new demos with recordings, plus a 40 minute intro video to cover basic concepts regarding how construction applies to this subject matter.

Unfortunately I won't be able to do the same for lesson 5 for a few weeks, as I'll be on vacation. I hope to get on that soon after I return.

Lesson 4: Common House Fly Demo

This weekend I've gone and updated the content for lesson 4. As I did with lesson 3 last week, I added 3 new demos with recordings, plus a 40 minute intro video to cover basic concepts regarding how construction applies to this subject matter.

Unfortunately I won't be able to do the same for lesson 5 for a few weeks, as I'll be on vacation. I hope to get on that soon after I return.

Lesson 4: Brown Scorpion Demo

This weekend I've gone and updated the content for lesson 4. As I did with lesson 3 last week, I added 3 new demos with recordings, plus a 40 minute intro video to cover basic concepts regarding how construction applies to this subject matter.

Unfortunately I won't be able to do the same for lesson 5 for a few weeks, as I'll be on vacation. I hope to get on that soon after I return.

Lesson 4: Black Widow Spider Demo

This weekend I've gone and updated the content for lesson 4. As I did with lesson 3 last week, I added 3 new demos with recordings, plus a 40 minute intro video to cover basic concepts regarding how construction applies to this subject matter.

Unfortunately I won't be able to do the same for lesson 5 for a few weeks, as I'll be on vacation. I hope to get on that soon after I return.

Lesson 3: An Introduction to Drawing Plants

So along with gradually redoing the demos (starting this weekend with Lesson 3) and rerecording the patreon-only videos, I'm also creating an intro video for each lesson, which will be available to everyone. I'll cover concepts that people tend to miss, or things that just need to be emphasized more, based on what I've seen while critiquing homework over the last year.

http://drawabox.com/lesson/3

Lesson 3: Hibiscus Flower Demo

I'm slowly going through the lessons, updating the various demos so they better reflect how the material has evolved over the past year or so, and with that comes new patreon-only video demos. These are going to be sped up about 3x, and as with before, notes and step-by-steps will be available on the lesson page.

http://drawabox.com/lesson/3

Lesson 3: Potato Plant Demo

I'm slowly going through the lessons, updating the various demos so they better reflect how the material has evolved over the past year or so, and with that comes new patreon-only video demos. These are going to be sped up about 3x, and as with before, notes and step-by-steps will be available on the lesson page.

http://drawabox.com/lesson/3

Lesson 3: Pitcher Plant Demo

I'm slowly going through the lessons, updating the various demos so they better reflect how the material has evolved over the past year or so, and with that comes new patreon-only video demos. These are going to be sped up about 3x, and as with before, notes and step-by-steps will be available on the lesson page.

http://drawabox.com/lesson/3

July 2016 patron supported

Thank you so much for the support this month!

Tackling the Rotated Boxes Exercise

http://imgur.com/gallery/vWktm

My original notes on the rotated boxes exercise were a bit lacking (and the demos had some glaring perspective mistakes in them that were a bit embarrassing) so I set aside some time today to redo them in greater detail.

Hopefully this helps explain how to go about tackling this intentionally difficult exercise! Just don't forget that you will still struggle with it, and many of you will be struggling with it for some time. Developing an understanding of 3D space takes a lot of time and practice, so keep at it.

Constructing an Interior Environment Cutout

This is a demo I did way back when I started /r/ArtFundamentals. I was drawing an interior environment design for my portfolio (was getting ready to apply to studios for a job) and I recorded the process just in case it went well. Turns out it went well enough, and while this demo is quite old, it's still got a lot of valuable information both in terms of construction as well as how to go about thinking through a functional design.

Animal Drawing Demo - An Oryx

25 Texture Challenge

http://drawabox.com/lesson/texture

For those of you who struggle with texture, know that it's not something that comes quickly. Learning to render different materials is a multistep process, and it's important that you not jump too far ahead before you're ready.

I've devised this rather intensive challenge to help students get mileage in the proper areas, in the proper order, with explanations of what to expect at the different stages. Remember though that this is a very time-consuming challenge - much moreso than the 250 boxes or cylinders. Spread this out over a long period of time, and mix it into your other work. Don't try to do it all at once, or there will be tears.

June 2016 patron supported

Thank you so much for the support this month!