Drawabox Lesson 4: An Introduction to Drawing Insects and Arachnids
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- čas přidán 7. 07. 2024
- You can find the full lesson here: drawabox.com/lesson/4, but don't forget to complete lessons 1 and 2 (the basics), as well as lesson 3 before starting this one.
Drawabox is a series of free structured drawing lessons that explore the basic mechanics of drawing, along with the fundamental skills of capturing the illusion of solid form and constructing complex objects from their simplest components.
You can find more free lessons at drawabox.com
Other Links:
/r/ArtFundamentals community on Reddit: / artfundamentals
Drawabox Discord Server: / discord
Patreon: / uncomfortable
Facebook Page: / drawabox
"I'm not going to go into the texture..."
*goes into the texture*
I, uh... I have a problem.
@@Uncomfortable lol i just love your chan
I actually appreciate when lecturers repeat stuff. It's just how we humans learn. It is far better than mentioning one important thing and never talking about it again, and you get that exact thing on your next exam wondering why you didnt write it down
totally, repetition can mean emphasis.
I know this is an older video but I seriously love this tutorial. you speak to us as if we're human, and you don't speak to us as if we are already professionals. it's very personable. thank you for this!!
I'm glad you enjoy how I deliver the material. I hope to hold to that same pattern when I remake these videos in the coming future, as they are due for an update.
You've made me feel crazy for wanting to draw more insects and arachnids now
Whoa whoa whoa, don't you go putting that evil on me. That's *all* you. The insects were inside of you the whole time.
@intersonality I said what I said!
i just love it how he uses hitboxes to explain torsos
I wish bug hitboxes were that big
The explanation of how it is like carving away clay made everything click. I always tried to draw the form of the object itself and not drawing the form behind it.
I'm really glad to hear that it clicked!
Thanks for making this. Its definitely going to get me into the right mindset when I approach drawing insects.
Glad you like it!
Before this video, I am like: Oh no, lesson 4 will start with animals, they will look like they were drawn by a 4 year old...
After the video: Dude... did I just drew this... looks sick for the first time...
PS: Thanks man, you are really a great teacher!
After 2 weeks I finally reached this point, since I'm trying to learn how to draw to design my own book covers, I decided to try to make a giant leap forward and draw a human being.
I guess I really need this lesson on insects.
Your lessons are super awesome!!
I'm glad you think so!
Very informative lessons. Not cheap talks at all! Very proud of you
Cant wait to start!
Thank you so much for this free, and very thoughtfully put together course.
this might be my favorite lesson so far 🤔
After taking a course in natural history illustration, where they encourage really looking at the details, I can say that ladybugs actually do have their hind legs protruding from their lower body - I caught a lady bug and turned "her" upside down to confirm. Still, I do really , really like your lessons! I wished I had started with your course first before the natural history illustration course, it woud have made that course so much easier and so much more rewarding. Thank you!
wooo wait a second , you did what ??? That should classified as some form of abuse 😅 😅 😅 😅 😅 😅 😅 😅 😅 😅
Because the thorax doesn't end at the start of their elytra. It's like half of their thorax is under their elytra.
"Got this weird segmentation going on and ... stupid little toes." Poor ladybug! lol
I am trying to accept insects so this comes in handy. Thank you!
Thanks
ouch 18:00
omfg i had my volume so high too
oof
I love insects and arachnids.
Uncomfortable Man, for me this is a dream come true! :D
@@Uncomfortable You should try hollow knight. the art direction is amazing and everything is an insect . but somehow many of them are cute
I HATE SPIDERS SO MUCH AND I FIND INSECTS TOLERABLE BUT THE TARANTULA DRAWING WAS HORRIFYING
I've got such a phobia of insects and arachnids that I might skip this lesson, no matter how useful it might be :/
I sucked at making proper ellipses. This insect study is helping me getting used to making near perfect ellipses. They flow and connect in one try (two tries max), they don't look scratchy, bend however I want. Its all with ghosting method.
I'm glad you're seeing clear improvement in your skills!
25:43 we knew what you were about to say 🤣
(Also thank you for this video, I learnt a lot)
I don't understand how did you define the exact position of legs(21:10, 29:40), shell(17:56) on the opposite side? I was thinking and trying it all day, and still don't get it. Is there some exact method to define it? Are there any technical ways to do so? I looked at lesson 6 and found subdividing and stuff like that. Maybe it can help?
Knowing myself and my fear of insects and arachnids, I already know it won't be a pleasant time searching for reference pictures, but that won't keep me from learning more.
Feel free to look at crustaceans as well - crabs, shrimps, lobsters, crayfish, etc. are all great subjects to study that share the characteristics that make insects especially effective study material at this stage. I definitely want to expand the demos available to include more of them in the future, so those with aversions to insects aren't alienated without good cause.
For now though, you'll find a couple good demos of crustaceans on the informal demos page here: drawabox.com/lesson/4/7
May I please ask you how you did the thorax of the ladybug at 16:49? Which part did you draw first to make it look like the form is intersecting? I did a regular ellipse, then an axis line and domed it a bit, but I was wondering if there is a better way. Shapes like that where one side (e.g. connected to the thorax) has a smaller ellipse degree while the other side bulges out more like a circle confuse my brain a little which part to put down first. Thank you!
It's been a very long time, but I'm fairly certain that's precisely how I went about it. Ellipse for the mass, then contour line to help describe it. Just keep in mind that the drawings we do throughout this course are puzzles that your brain is solving - so it makes sense that your brain is being taxed by the process, you're being made to consider the relationships between these forms in 3D space, based on shapes on a flat page. Ultimately that's what we're after - it's not about the end result, or how we tackle specific problems, but rather to rewire how our brain thinks about these spatial problems across many constructions and many different categories of subject matter, so as to expose our brain to the same problem in different contexts.
@@Uncomfortable Thank you. Yeah, I've noticed that. There have been moments of lucidity following grappling and straining, when I've switched to thinking in 3D space (which have been amazing), but they're sporadic and it's definitely not an On thing yet. But it feels like a whole new experience when it happens.
i've been meaning to ask, what is the software that you use for drawing? is it for windows? thanks!
I use Adobe Photoshop, which works on both Windows and MacOS.
Hey, Uncomfortable, just regarding the point you made about tangents being distracting; I've heard that point made a lot but I don't fully understand how it works. How do you avoid them in inorganic blocky forms like robots, buildings etc? Is there a need to or does it only apply to protrusions?
So tangents don't actually have anything to do with 3D space. It all comes down to the shapes in your flat image (all forms flatten down into 2D silhouettes). If you're got silhouettes of two forms that are just *barely* touching one another, that's when you get a tangent. It's that tension of two things just touching - you can think of it as the visual version of someone holding their finger *just* in front of your nose. It's stressful.
So the solution is simple - you either draw the forms such that their silhouettes have space between them, or such that they overlap.
@@Uncomfortable This, along with looking at some images, helped me to finally get it. Thanks!
Hey Uncomfortable, had a question about the homework exercises in this lesson. When you say "4 pages of insect drawings", do you mean 1 page = 1 insect, or 1 page filled with many drawings of insects, then 4 such pages?
I leave that largely up to the student, with an important bit of advice: make sure you take full advantage of the space available to you on the page. Sometimes you may feel inclined to cram a single drawing into a fraction of the page. Sometimes it's out of a lack of confidence, sometimes it's because you want to make sure you fill the page up with as many drawings as possible.
Giving yourself less space to think through spatial problems is a common cause for drawings coming out more clumsily than they otherwise could. So, always focus first and foremost on claiming the space a drawing requires, don't limit yourself. Then if you have more room for another drawing, go ahead and add it to the same page. If however you end up with a page that only ends up with a single drawing, that's okay too.
@@Uncomfortable Yes, I did notice that when doing the plant exercises. I ended up using a small portion of the page, which actually restricted the shoulder movement, resulting in clumsy linework. Thanks for the advice!
hi! great lesson video :) what tablet do you use?
I use a Wacom Cintiq 27QHD, but I spent most of my training and career using a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (and previous versions of that same tablet).
"I don't know, I'm not a scientist."
You and me both Uncomfortable, you and me both.
I am quite bad at the contour lines exercise. So how should self critique my contour lines exercise . What criteria should i use to check weather or not i have made an correct contour lines ?
Based on the way our course works, you wouldn't be gauging that yourself - you'd be relying on feedback from a third party. You can receive that on our discord chat server, here: discord.gg/drawabox
Finaly, after 2 weeks i can draw insects 😭
I also don't like insects/arachnids. But I will power through this lesson so I can get to the animals.
Can you do a video on lesson one and two? Going over shoulder drawing and ghost lining would be a great help. Thanks
Unfortunately I don't really have the hardware to do a proper over-the-shoulder recording, but I'll see if that'll be a possibility in the near future.
+Uncomfortable good idea 💡
@@Uncomfortable This came true!
@@Uncomfortable Hi I'm from the future it happened
I wanted to ask if centipedes or millepedes are an ok subject to draw for this considering they are pretty different compared to the other insects.
They are indeed different in terms of their anatomy and general structure, but I'd say many of the principles (the natural contours created by the exoskeletons) are also very similar. You should be fine to play around with them as well.
Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it.
I'm running into the issue of proportion. You show how to draw all the forms you need, but never touches on how to draw them the correct size compared to the pictures you are using for reference. Any tips?
Sadly in my experience, learning how to approximate proportion from observation is something you develop through repetitive practice and study. As far as tips go, try and consider how the different components in your reference image relate to one another - how many times does the head fit into the thorax/abdomen, etc. It does mostly come down to mileage though, and coming back to your finished work afterwards to identify where your proportions are off.
I've been having this problem too in lesson 3, and as Uncomfortable
said, it just comes with practicing the same plant/insect until you get
a believable proportion that match the reference. I hope you're doing well now btw lol
I'm just as much a beginner as anyone else, but I always try and like turn my reference upside down and then look at the negative space between connecting forms.
Hello, I finished Lesson 3 with the official critique. I started Lesson 4, but unfortunately, I am entomophobia/arachnophobia. I still want to continue with the official critique. What can I draw for the homework to meet the requirement of "4 pages of insect/arachnid drawings that are purely constructional with no texture or detail" and "6 pages of insect/arachnid drawings that can go into texture and detail if you wish." ?
I like how you can't handle spider but the one you can manage to look at is the scariest one of them all.
Black widows are by far the scariest visually
Just finished the lesson3 and i'm wondering when are we supposed to do the cylinder and texture challenges? 😅
So both *can* be started after Lesson 2, but I recommend students do the cylinder challenge between lessons 5 and 6. The texture challenge is optional, and can be started any time after lesson 2, and is recommended to be done in parallel with the other lessons rather than all at once. Spreading it out over a few months is optimal, as it allows you to make use of the time in between working on it to let your brain process what you're learning from the activity.
Finally to the grossest lesson
These lessons quickly become more complex and difficult 😂
You talk about when you want to draw an image, it's good to fully understand the subject before you do. What about the skill of being able to simply copy down what you see, for example, I've not learnt anatomy yet, but I could simply just look at the lines/angles/shapes of a figure and just draw what I see instead without any knowledge.
Do you think both these skills are equally important; being able to do what you're doing, and also being able to simply copy? Does this method work better or rather does this in itself teach being able to simply copy what you see? Thanks for the video!
It's more that it's important to strive towards better understanding how it all fits together - not so much fully understanding it. For example, when I draw a human, I don't worry about being knowledgeable in terms of all the muscles that exist - I focus on the overall forms they can be simplified into, because I want to be able to manipulate those forms in 3D space should I ever need to draw a pose that I cannot find perfect reference for.
Ultimately the observational skills you're describing *are* very important, but they work best in concert with the ability to break things down into simple forms, so you can move them around when necessary.
Those observational skills do require one very important thing - they require you to stop working from memory altogether, which is a big crutch that all beginners have. If you are truly able to copy an image over well, that means that you've moved past this inherent iconization and oversimplification of the things we try to draw, so it should already put you in a position of strength. Build up your skills in terms of constructional drawing, and you'll do great. Just make sure that you fight your natural urge to jump into the super-complex too early.
Thanks a lot for the reply, that makes a lot of sense. I like the construction method you teach to learn the fundamentals, it feels very intuitive.
I just read all this and I totally agree
27:20 F*ck that scared me dude!
1.75x times speed is 😍😍
Hi again, How do I use your lesson?
Like Do the exercise for how many hours/how many times? Then do the homeworks?
After that should I move on to Lesson 2 of part ONE?
play around with the lesson, do the homework, then do the exercises until you feel you've mastered them. (That's how Im doing them)
+Max Bingham I feel ashamed, I could never thank these artist until I learn what they are teaching.
by the way how are you doing? how long you've been doing it?
+CrimsonFox “redJack” Hound I've been doing it for a couple months, its going well, I just moved onto drawing animals. It took me a while because I had to stress the basics to myself, after not drawing for so long.
So each lesson has one (or more, in the case of lessons 1 and 2) homework sections. In these homework sections, you'll find the minimum number of pages of each exercise that you should do, the tools you should use, etc. Once you've completed all of the minimum required work for a given lesson with the recommended tools (so if the lesson has several sections, this means completing all of the work for all of the sections within the lesson), you can submit the work for critique. There's an orange button at the top that'll take you to the thread on reddit where people post their work.
The critiques are free 2 months out of every 3 (on the third month, I limit them to those who support me on patreon in order to give myself a little break).
The goal here, within that limited number of homework pages, is not to attain mastery of each exercise. Instead, it's to have enough of a chance to demonstrate to me that you fully understand the content of the lesson, enough to continue to practice the material on your own while continuing onto the next lesson. With lessons 1 and 2 in particular, you're expected after having the lessons marked as complete to pick two or three of the exercises from that set each day as a 10-15 minute warm-up before moving onto that day's work. This is because these key, basic exercises are the sort that will have a massive impact gradually over time, that will become more visible throughout all of your work.
The important thing is that with every page of work that you do, that you *not* focus on how much time you're taking. There's no recommended number of hours you should spend on any one lesson or any one exercise - but as a rule of thumb, the amount of time it'll take is probably way more than you'd expect. Take enough time to do your absolute best at each exercise. If you find yourself getting tired or sloppy, stop and take a break. Spread the work out over several days, and don't worry if it takes you significantly more than you thought it would. Just ensure that you are confident that what you submit is the best you are capable of *at that moment in time*. If you submit sloppy, rushed work, then the critique will be meaningless because it'll be nearly impossible to discern which mistakes were made because you didn't understand, and which mistakes were made because you just didn't care enough.
I actually made a comic strip explaining the rationale of this way of thinking: drawabox.com/comic/2.
Max Bingham: I would advise you against aiming for mastery of an exercise before moving onto the next exercise or lesson. It's highly unlikely that you'll achieve even a fraction of any such thing in a reasonable amount of time.
There's a considerable difference between understanding a concept and being able to apply it as intended. It's kind of like the disconnect between knowing what you want to draw, but not having the technical skill to manage it yet.
If you focus entirely on one thing until you can do it near-perfectly, you're more likely to burn out long before reaching that point. Instead, it's better to focus on grasping the concepts, and then accepting that you'll have a long way to go with each topic and exercise, but being willing to move forwards while continuing to practice that material.
I was afraid of spiders like hell.. did some nlp video here on youtube... it made me overcome my fear. i didn't progress in drawabox lessons because i didn't wanted to stare at this spider and shit.. but i guess it's time to exit from my comfront zone
Lol, you should listen to me complaining through the whole scorpion demo video. I *hate* scorpions, they're awful little things.
12:30 this is obviously a "Marinenkäfer"
What can I do if I'm terrified of insects, arachnids AND crustaceans? :( I've tried but I can't study them for too long or they make me want to vomit :( I love the lessons but I think I'll have to skip this one at least until I can work on my phobia by itself. Thank you tho, I always recommend drawabox to my friends!
At the end of the day, everyone has their limitations, and so the final decisions of what we're able to push through, and what we're not, falls on us. So make the choice that you feel best suits your situation. Best of luck!
@@Uncomfortable thank you! I'm going to look for something else I can draw that could help me with the same concepts of this lesson :) I'll report back if I find a decent alternative hahaha
Here ladybugs are called Marie-hens. Cause that makes all kinds of sense.
The one thing all cultures can agree on: ladybugs do not deserve any sort of a reasonable, sensible name.
@@Uncomfortable We call them "good luck bugs" here, kinda nice name for an insect
As a programmer I have to note that while your art is wonderful, UX on your site is just... something. Even in this video you can see that each time you open a new spoiler you have to scroll the page up and down in the search for the beginning of the segment, opening a segment with a list of homework closes the segment with exercises, you have to click them back and forth and scroll the page back and forth. All external links open in the same tab of the browser instead of a new tab (especially frustrating that the video does not play on the page, but opens the CZcams), and the top menu with the list of lessons is so huge that apparently asks to be a separate page rather than awkward overlay.
Sorry for critique.
Hahaha, yeah, I'm quite well aware of the issues, although it's quite helpful to have them laid out together like that. I've got a lengthy to-do list for drawabox, including new lessons and topics I want to cover - but the next point is rebuilding the website both to be more stable (I made the awful decision of using the website as an opportunity to test out something new on the server side as I never expected drawabox to get so big), and also to improve the UX, especially in regards to its use on mobile platforms.
I'm hoping to carve out some time to work on that in the coming weeks - unfortunately I'm totally harried with my fulltime job and other projects I've got going, but they will be dealt with.
Nice to hear that
@@Exerionius-old it's been updated mate , and now it looks fabulous !
@@Exerionius-old it has been updated :D
"stupid lil toe thingy" lol
lesson 3: 22k views
lesson 4: 44k views
I guess somebody skipped class, gl to the 50% who were impatient lol
edit: maybe because these are older demos lol
So Uncomfortable doesn't like bugs either? At least we're all suffering together...
I hate bugs but I will thug it out (for the most part
Uncomfy: "Don't be sketchy"
Me: * ba dum clash*
Then goes on being sketchy accidentally :
I am creeped out by insects. How to do this lesson. is there an alternative approach? 😒
If you're more comfortable with crustaceans, you can focus on them as well. There's also a couple demonstrations at the top of the informal demos page that use crabs/lobsters, and they're some of the better demos we've got: drawabox.com/lesson/4/7
Our plan is to eventually provide a wider assortment of demo videos covering insects, spiders, and crustaceans to help provide more material for those who may be arachnophobic or entomophobic, but we're currently focusing on updating the earlier lessons and it'll be a bit before we're able to produce them.
Remember guys , don't fill a furry's insides with fur
I think I need to give up lesson 4... pics scare me too much
You may want to draw crustaceans instead. There are a few demos of those on the "Informal Demos" page at the end of the lesson, here: drawabox.com/lesson/4/7
@@Uncomfortable Wow that helps a lot. Thank you!
*cries in fear of insects*
That's perfectly understandable - if you check the informal demos page of lesson 4 on the website, you'll find a couple of demos involving crustaceans at the top. Admittedly these are actually some of the better demos we have, being much more recent than those we have video for. As our overhaul slowly creeps forward through the course, my intention is to add many more demos covering crustaceans as those who are arachnophobic and entomophobic find them easier to work with.
@@Uncomfortable Thank you for answering! I will definitely check those lessons to! But despite of my fear, i will push myself and try to draw some less frightening insects for me.
I may also want to add that Drawabox is an amazing site. It flared up my drawing passion again after years. I am very grateful. Thank you for all the affords!
12:44 we call her God's cow jl;j;lkjl
I... don't really like insects sorry. Can I skip this lesson?
Many of those who are arachnophobic or entomophobic - though not all - find that crustaceans are an effective replacement that do not trigger their discomfort as harshly. You'll find a couple newer demonstrations for that kind of subject matter in the informal demos page here: drawabox.com/lesson/4/7
I wanna skip this for the animals lesson so bad
I hate this im so scared. Couldnt we construct cupcakes or something?
Drawacake! Why didn't I think of it? One thing you may want to try some of for Lesson 4 are crabs, lobsters and other crustaceans. They're similar for all intents and purposes, though not *quite* as horrifying as spiders and scorpions.
@@Uncomfortable u the man! Btw i ve notice that some beatles legs connect on thwat 3rd part
Not even pass Lesson 1 but I think Im gonna skip this one
Fun to draw, but a little creepy :/