My last set of practice before moving on to the next project. As a "final test", I decided to draw an entire body from reference using blobs to boxes. I would say it turned out pretty well in my opinion, even if certain parts may be a little off. This was a fun project, and actually the first project that I actually lost track of time because I was enjoying the process.

What is a box? Is everything a box?

After seeing people made the top half of people, (head, torso, and pelvis) I decided to try it and I realized that I can use some of the “blob-like” shapes that I would sometimes make during the rhythms part of this course, and then make a box using those blobs. I’m not sure if this is really the “best” way to he doing this. So I have also been doing what Proko says and making normal blobs and also making “snakes” using the blobs.

It's sooo powerful!!!! Stan, I've only heard about this method from the Chinese artist Teng Teng, but here it's more simplified for people. Thanks!!! My life is getting better. And I feel the psychological help from the course. People face the same problems and thoughts that I once did. It helps me to look back and realize that my suffering was not accidental. Drawing is difficult, and everyone will go through the same thing. Self-compassion and play are the keys to success. Play more, friends. Don’t get it seriously.

Hey , I had a discussion point that has been in my mind extremely recently about the role fundamentals has in our art journey and some of my misconceptions that I had when starting the course and I thought the most recent video would be a better place for people to not miss it. When I first started I think I had the misconception that art fundamentals were some how separate tool and knowledge from using reference when creating art. It goes back to the whole problem that has existed forever where people say using reference is "cheating" and that some how its supposed to be the end game for all artists to eventually never use reference ever again. And since you don't normally or if ever see the thousands of references artists use to create comics, manga, paintings, gallery pieces you may get into the mind set that they're just so advanced that they don't use references when they probably had lots just sitting out their studio they look at for a few seconds to make sure what they're doing still looks correct. I also heard another new artist recently complaining that they were learning fundamentals but it didn't feel like they were any closer to drawing from imagination then when they started. So this brings me to my biggest misconception I have had when I started the course. I thought using reference removed the need for fundamentals, where as fundamentals removed the need for references, when actually fundamentals allows for an artist to use references better then an artist that doesn't have those same fundamentals. Conceptually it feels like a misconception that I had dealt with and I would love for someone who is seasoned or a professional to weigh in on their thoughts about it. Sort of, the small parts that make up the whole. Learning Line, Shape, perspective, on paper seems like it wouldn't be necessary when creating character art using a reference of a person in front of you that clearly as a picture is showing perspective and the shapes and possibly lines that could be extracted from it. Does the fundamentals just give you a more solid conceptual grasp of what you're looking for when using a reference to draw something entirely different, like just using a model to not draw them as they are, but to use them as a starting point to make character art? I know @Stan Prokopenko is very busy, but I would love to hear from anyone who is really seasoned and has gone through perhaps the same misunderstands as I have had and have till recently after a year and a half been slowly peeled back to understand the actual role fundamentals and reference has for an artist.

I'm always happy to see that there's another critique video. Thank you for critiquing my submission in this one @Stan Prokopenko! It is super helpful to see your approach to my references. After watching the video, I went in with a coloured pencil to draw new boxes over my initial drawings and will keep this practice going for a while. I'm still trying to reprogram my brain to be able to let go of what I see (a human body, the total form) and focus on the assignment (the shapes, the directions). That's what happened when I drew that weird non-boxy ribcage. There was no genius plan behind that decision I'm afraid ;) Actually now I'm typing this, I want to add that although it sounded so simple to 'draw blobs to boxes', I discovered that it's about so much more. For me, I'm really learning to see the flow and movement of a figure, to become aware of the separate body parts, and learning how they can point towards different directions but still work together. Through this project I feel like I became aware of a really important step in the proces. I'll stop rambling. This project teaches a valuable lesson that I can apply to my personal projects. Thanks again, I really appreciate your feedback!

As watching the demo and critique videos, I practiced more blobs. I am slowing improving in finding right box rotations, but it takes me several trial and errors before I got it right. So when finally I found the rotations and positions of the boxes, they are often shifted from original blobs.

Hi, Stan. This is super helpful. Watching you go through other students' works teaches me a ton!! I learn a lot by following your demo in these critiques. Also, thanks so much for answering my questions at the end there. Your answer really cleared things up :)

Thx for the critique video. Actually, I haven't finished reading the whole fun with pencil coz I am stuck at the exaggerated pose page, haven't a hard time understanding why the exaggerated pose looks so much more fun. So far, I like the most for the easy-following guide on creating characters by attaching different blobs on the face. I copied some of the drawings then tried to create my own. @Stan Prokopenko You mentioned a few times on difference between intuitive people and logical people in drawing. As a logical person, i am too afraid to break rules, do you have any exercise to mitigate the anxiety? Or the question is a bit too early to think about as a beginner?

I’m sculpting with clay now and when I do it it can feel a bit like cheating because I don’t need to think of perspective and make an illusion of depth. 🙃 If its not a diorama with flat background I want to create depth to.

I took Patrick's approach to this assignment and did a quick 10 pictures 1 minute practice. I'm still not clear on what I'm looking for here. The way I understood this assignment is that we're supposed to make circular shapes and fit a cube in perspective inside or roughly within the limits of our defined space. I'm still more comfortable just putting down the cubes especially with the time limit and a model. I can also make these from imagination if need be. I feel like I'm skipping something important and given my shortcomings I can't allow that.

haha, consider myself chastised. thanks Stan.

Thanks for sharing the critiques. The intuitive blob approach has been helpful. I liked the figures to blobs to boxes demos. :)

I really enjoyed the "monologue" about all the different art topics represented as a web of knowledge instead of a linear progression tree. Learning something and coming back to it months or years later seems to have value. At least I notice a lot of artists saying "I am brushing up on my fundamentals" or "Going back to the fundamentals". So it definitely seems like one can not master an entire topic like perspective in just one go. Better to learn the basics and get to start applying perspective in your drawings and projects in order to start training that muscle. This annoys the completionist in me as I realise that I can never say that I have completely finished learning perspective as I will have to come back to it in the future. BUT at the same time it is liberating because this tells me that I need to keep on learning different things and jump back into a topic later once my knowledge of other topics around it has improved enough. As in I am never blocked, there's always something else to learn or practise. Overall this removes some frustration around not seeing improvement or progress after practise sessions. If some topic stops improving then jump to another topic that is somehow connected and improve there instead. This drawing skill as a web of topics just feels very different to some other fields where the topics to learn are sets of very specific rules that you learn in the linear order (looking at you engineering, comp sci, med, etc). Sure there's intuition in those fields as well, but specifically the learning process in art requires you to loop back and forth A LOT MORE instead of considering a topic DONE. Thanks again for this monologue. Felt like a really insightful podcast episode.

Gaddammit, I was so distracted by my masterful blobs that I didn't even bother to put the correct box, the perils of blobbing to much. I'll pay better attention now on 😌

Thanks for the critique, Stan! Indeed, it was the first time I made this type of stuff from "imagination". As I suffer from aphantasia (a real condition! :D) I was never stepping out of my comfort zone and only drawing from observation, and unfortunately without a clue of what I was doing. I took this course exactly to learn how to draw freely and you gave me great approaches to start with, thanks again, can't wait for the next lessons!

Thank you for the compliment! I always work hard and study other tasks periodically. I'm always waiting for the next class! I'm always happy every time I come here because I can gain the knowledge I lack! thank you! I used a translator so the sentences may be a bit strange, but I hope you get the message across! thank you Stan!

Stan, I really like doing the practice assignments, They make me feel good because I feel successful when I do them. However I don't really spend time doing personal projects. Whenever I draw I just do the most recent lesson or a lesson from the past that I felt like I needed more time doing. However I am worried though if I am stunting my growth by not drawing something for me- or rather something original, either from a reference or from imagination. How important would you say it is to make sure I spend a few days a week drawing for me and not doing old projects over and over again?@@ For reference I love drawing characters but they never look as good as I like them to. So i default to doing drawing that makes me feel comfortable.