Drawabox Lesson 0, Part 4: Getting the Most out of Drawabox

Corrections:
12:09 As of late September 2022, Patreon released the ability to switch a campaign to a more standard subscription model where you are charged on the same day of the month you signed up. You no longer need to worry about the warning in this section of the video.
13:46 As of July 2023, we closed our subreddit. We didn't agree with how Reddit was engaging with a legitimate concern raised by many of its subreddit moderators over a change they were making, and it caused us to reflect on how necessary the subreddit was - turns out it wasn't actually providing anything we did not provide elsewhere, and we were really just keeping it around as a nod to our beginnings.
Everyone wants to know how they can get the most out of the time they spend, and the resources they use. We're prone to thinking that there are always secrets being hidden from us - things we have to earn by doing more than instructed, or by asking tons of questions before we make any attempts at the work. Lots of things work that way... but Drawabox is not one of them.
The reading for this video is available at drawabox.com/lesson/0/3. You can find all the free lessons at drawabox.com
00:00 Intro
00:05 How do I get the most out of Drawabox?
00:46 Min-maxers and their baggage
1:32 There are no tips and tricks
01:57 Going through a lesson
02:30 Don't want to read? Listen instead
03:02 Homework
03:43 2 = 2
04:00 Your job
04:46 Taking your work too personally
06:02 Do not work in a vacuum
06:32 How to get feedback on your work
07:00 Community feedback
07:30 Official critique
08:00 The requirements for official critique
10:27 The credit system
12:42 Revisions
13:56 How to submit your work for critique
15:11 How to use Imgur to host your homework
16:44 Warmups
17:43 Grinding
New Masters Academy: drawabox.com/nma
Use the code DRAWABOX_1STONLY to get a substantial discount off your first billing cycle on New Masters Academy. Check the banner at the top of drawabox.com for the most accurate information on what the coupon does and does not cover.
Other Links:
Drawabox Discord Server: / discord
Patreon: / uncomfortable

[@Uncomfortable]

Heads up - we still have a coupon with NMA, but the one in the video no longer works. You can use the new code DRAWABOX_1STONLY for 25% off your first billing cycle on either the Library or Library+ plans. For the most current coupon/terms, check the banner at the top of the drawabox.com website.

[@Schemerel]

The amount of effort you put in these recourses for free is unbelievable. Words cannot express how gratefull I am. You're officially one of my heroes.

[@Uncomfortable]

Thank you very much for your kind words! And hopefully we'll have a new set of videos out soon - we're currently working on editing the lectures for the Lesson 1 boxes section.

[@VideoPerfection]

Don't scratch out your mistakes because one day you will look back on them and see how far you have come

[@rxa_xna9370]

this! i went through my old sketchbook, and i have come SO FAR! im grateful i got into art so, so young because now im only 15 and i think im doing GREAT for my age!

[@ProMan-bs1sw]

I see ty

[@blueberrytakis]

i know.. i think im doing great for my age, i just turned 14 but drawing something that others think looks great but i think looks bad i just rip it up. it makes me guilty- ik i gotta stop, but it's a bad habit

[@AmbiCahira]

​@blueberrytakis put them in a bad art folder, that way you can look at them one day. Someday you will want to encourage someone saying "look I learned by working really hard, and you can too!" So save them and look back on them later. :)

[@ElDanteDelAnte]

I'm a 27-year-old, virtually day-one artist, and I have what is technically a learning disorder. I've found myself afraid of practicing drawing but not because I fear the drawing won't come out well. I'm a programmer and I'm used to finding bugs in the code. Failure isn't new to me. But I find myself tweaking the same doodles endlessly, or trying to engineer clunky measurement systems to help me draw from references better. I'm afraid that without some kind of guidance, I'm going to beat my head against the wall endlessly. I'm not afraid of doing 2 pages of sloppy lines. But I'm terrified of doing 20 pages of sloppy lines and not getting any better because I missed the point of what I was supposed to be learning. Drawabox sounds made for me. I can't wait to learn.

[@paradox9551]

how's it going so far

[@mana20]

I'm in the same boat as you, Enterprise programmer by day, solo game dev by night, ADHD 24/7. Learning to draw for my game and facing similar challenges. I'm taking it one day at a time, and have to check my ego, and accept it will take me time to get better.

[@assassinsbleedacwalkthroug9947]

I was the same way as you with not feeling like I am learning. I am dooing doodle warriors but also draw a box for the second time this time for digital art, since I only started drawing daily digital this year.

[@sidneyrobinson18]

It's been 8 months, how you holding up

[@art2design514]

Dude I love your comment it uplift me to do this. I'm 30 and I am about to start this too

[@vagabond_x8014]

I am truly grateful of drawabox.. i am following drawabox lectures and assignments..and i am surely seeing improvement in my drawing skill.. thank you..

[@jobedakhatun4771]

Ngmbdb

[@WilliamAngell]

Thank you for being transparent about the financial aspects of the program

[@jftt42]

God bless you for spreading this knowledge for free to the extent that you can. Others try to monetize every bit of knowledge and skill they have to the max (as they should in a world that only seems to reward that kind of success), but people like you prove that there is more to life than the soulless race to the top of the food chain, and I wish you all the happiness in the world.

[@Uncomfortable]

I appreciate the kind words! Although whenever people say things like this, I do feel it's my responsibility to remind folks that Drawabox is a business, and I ensure that everyone on the team (myself included) are well compensated for the work we do. It's just that we're able to do this without keeping the lesson material behind pay walls, and while doing what we can to keep the feedback cheap and accessible, due to the particular business model we employ.

[@terrydockery3690]

This is my second time but going to try again

[@omarmagdy2238]

Why?

[@terrydockery3690]

@@omarmagdy2238 why not it’s changed a little

[@BossSkittles]

HELL YEAH TERRY THATS WHAT WE LIKE TO HEAR

[@teriyaki_chicken]

How are you coming along?

[@terrydockery3690]

@@teriyaki_chicken I had a ruptured disc so not able to sit long but before it was good until I drawed the ball out of boxes that is where I stopped

[@touf48]

thanks for this, 3:19 i was spending some time doing a few "practice" pages before some of the homework. i'll just go ahead and draw ugly homework lol. i'm a bit of a min-maxer and wanted to get the most out of the assignment to try and git gud as efficiently/quickly as possible. glad to know it's a waste of time though, knowing this aligns with my desire to get good quickly since i don't want to continue doing something that's inefficient for my learning. ty

[@Uncomfortable]

It's definitely something I felt many students were missing, so I felt it was important to convey this in video form. Glad it helped give you some perspective on how to approach your work going forward!

[@jasnoorsaini8763]

This course is really helpful. It covers almost everything. I have recently started this course. Feels like it's reading my mind and suggest method to improve. Really helpful!

[@Iwanttodrawachicken]

The text to speech feature is wonderful. Thank you so much!

[@MusicalJellyfish]

The dedication to accessibility is amazing! Thank you!!

[@polymniaskate]

This is probably the single most useful video I’ve seen about drawing - I was finally at a time of my life where I could save some time to learn properly at last, I signed up to draw a box account and I had lined up a couple of other courses with completely different approaches to mix things up, I had even started thinking about what I could draw about freely in my “other 50%” time….and then I listen to this video and all of a sudden something that I had been trying to figure out for a long time just clicks. It made me understand that all that would have been a prodigious waste of time and that I will never be suited to learn how to draw (or how to do anything creative most likely). Not that I believe in needing talent or anything like that, but because certain aspects of the process of learning that you described (precise things like only attempting an exercise once and then submit *that* to critique, or general considerations about not working in a vacuum) almost made me cry of anxiety just projecting myself doing them. But they also made a lot of sense and I understand why they are important - but those are things I have too much of an ingrained fear about, and that fear is too powerful for me to just “get over it” And so drawing is a skill that will remain out of reach not because of a lack of talent or time, but because of a lack of *courage* - but I am so thankful that this video exists and that you lay things out in a very honest, yet still gentle, way: right now I feel like I’ve received a punch to the gut, had to come to terms with things about myself that I would rather not think about - but I would much rather take the blow now than waste dozens if not hundreds of hours only to be frustrated that I can’t seem to get closer to what I want to achieve because I am not equipped to take the risks required for it

[@Uncomfortable]

On one hand, I can respect and appreciate that you recognize the role mental health plays in this, and that those anxieties will make this particular path a lot more challenging and difficult to undertake - to the point that it is indeed up to the individual to weigh whether it is as a pursuit worth the time and energy that will be required by that particular route. I do however want to stress that the approach we use here is not the only approach out there. It has certain goals it prioritizes, but it is not that those goals are inherently "more correct" or "better" than the things another course may prioritize. It's simply one approach - specifically one that is more geared towards the rigors of establishing drawing as a skillset upon which one might develop a career (though we certainly welcome hobbyists with open arms, even if we do not factor them in when deciding our priorities). There are a lot of other approaches out there however, many of which taking a more hands-on, direct approach to ensuring that the training is entertaining and enjoyable, and allow for the absolutely natural human tendency to feel badly when something doesn't come out as one may have intended or hoped. One such course that comes to mind is New Master Academy's "Beginner's Guide to Drawing" course (although I am of course sponsored by NMA so take that recommendation with a grain of salt). There's also Brent Eviston's courses which similarly may be more aligned to your specific needs. Now, there is nothing wrong with deciding a particular pursuit is not for you, but as much as I appreciate the kind words you lavished upon my video here, it would be irresponsible of me to allow even a suggestion that what I've said in this video applies to everything out there. Some certainly do - like the tendency of students to preemptively defend themselves against critique, and the negative impact it has on what they get out of that feedback - but even that is not an absolute. At the end of the day, we do what we can to learn more effectively and efficiently, and we don't do what we cannot. In this course we are indeed strict, but a big reason for that is the fact that we have to streamline our own paid critiquing process - and so it falls on the students to do the bulk of the work, to put in the bulk of the effort, so that we can get away with charging very little when providing critique. If knowing all that you still feel it's best not to pursue drawing (or at least not to do so at this time), then I wish you the best with whatever else it is you pursue.

[@Vesta_the_Lesser]

I remember finding draw a box like...5 or 6 years ago? I'm glad it's still around and the creator has developed it so much, looks amazing. I have been trying to find someone who can sit down w/ me in person. When I tried to work with someone via vid it just wasn't helpful (partly due to technical issues) and the idea of submitting to an online forum felt like throwing into a void, but now that the product seems so much more structured/robust I might give it another try.

[@abasket9536]

ugh you guys are so considerate for adding that reading feature to the site

[@Uncomfortable]

I'm glad to hear they're being put to good use! We certainly have plenty of room to improve in terms of accessibility, but we're certainly pushing in that direction - with the audioreader, the subtitles, etc.

[@Soco_oh]

Awesome video guys

[@lewisconroy6225]

I really really want to think you for putting in so much effort into your resources. You didn't have to do the audio reader, but my dyslexic ass is so greatfull for it, and it makes it so much easier for me

[@Uncomfortable]

I'm glad to hear that you were able to put the feature to good use!

[@dyldev50]

2:18 😳 glad you said this, I was going through the playlist here because I assumed it was basically the same as the articles 😅

[@user-oy6ho2jl8o]

the literal future of textbooks

[@bovinleephann6210]

Minor thing, but I love the Ikea reference at 1:53

[@Uncomfortable]

Hahaha, I was quite pleased with it too. What better visual metaphor for following instructions?

[@spireos255]

Ive wanted to draw for so long now, but was afraid of my own skill, that it would like crap. But you changed my mindset and now I am going to try and improve, hoping one day I can laugh at my horrible artworks haha

[@GravityPullsDown]

every thankful of the text reading feature in drawabox

[@sikawatthanaviratananich496]

Thanks

[@Agiranto]

Based and boxpilled

[@casesnow]

Just had a question, after completing a lesson and my homework sent, if it takes near to 2 weeks for it to be critiqued as said in the video, what do I do till then?

[@Uncomfortable]

As I mention in the video, sounds like a good opportunity to work off some of that 50% rule debt. Although if you're asking in regards to official critique (where there's a cooldown of 2 weeks in between submissions), then I should point out that official critique generally comes back within a few days.

[@jasondads9509]

5:30 I feel too called out…

[@iceypino1086]

Is there any chance of adding a speed feature such as WPM or just a slider to the drawabox reader? i feel it to be on the range of boringly slow sometimes

[@Uncomfortable]

While the better option of actually having different audio readings at different speeds would be preferable (since it'd sound more natural), that would definitely increase the costs of running the audio system altogether. The easier option would be to simply allow the playback speed to be changeable (which would no doubt mess with the tone/frequency of the audio), but it is doable. I'll add it to my to-do list, but given how many things I have on my plate right now, it's unlikely I'd get to it any time soon.

[@meganslater5421]

When it comes to the size of a page...if the homework asks for 1 page, is one A5 size page alright? Or should I do two in order to get closer to the traditional 8.5x11 size?

[@Uncomfortable]

So I do leave the interpretation of "one page" to the student, but as far as going with A5 goes, there's one thing to keep in mind - as a beginner, drawing bigger helps a great deal in engaging your brain's spatial reasoning skills, while also making it easier to use your whole arm from the shoulder. In situations where we don't quite give ourselves as much room as a given construction may require, we can find ourselves impeded on those fronts. A4 is generally a good size that allows ample room for at least one, and sometimes multiple drawings to a page, but A5 could result in you feeling cramped, and having that cause issues in how well you learn from the exercises throughout this course. For that reason, I'll always recommend A4 (small enough to be portable, big enough to allow for lots of space), but ultimately I leave the final decision to the student.

[@meganslater5421]

@@Uncomfortable alrighty :-) I gotcha. Thanks a bunch.

[@ReblazeGaming]

7:30 Is it possible to go from official critique and then switch to community critique? And then is it possible to switch back to official?

[@Uncomfortable]

You can certainly jump from official critique to community feedback - but if you were to switch back, you'd have to start where you'd left off on the official critique. So if you completed up to Lesson 3 with official critique, then completed Lessons 4 and 5 with community feedback, the 4 and 5 would not count towards your official critique, and you would have to do those over.

[@draelos8570]

God tier human, you've made something really great 👍

[@nexo1359]

So we should not do the warm ups after we do a homework section right? That’s what I did during my first time using Drawabox. After I did the given homework on one section in lesson 1, I made that a warm up everyday and continued that for the other homework. But now that I’m doing this again I realized that we’re supposed to the warm ups after completing the whole lesson with all homework completed right?

[@mohamadparadox2453]

that's the question i have

[@mohamadparadox2453]

you can do the warmups after you finished the lesson

[@Ninethepoet]

not gonna lie, until this video, I was only going through the youtube videos 😂😂

[@Uncomfortable]

It's a common enough thing that I definitely wanted to address it here, so as to correct students' approach to the course early.

[@lunebipolaire5523]

@@Uncomfortable Do I have to read lesson 0 or can I only start at lesson 1 ? (Sorry if the English is bad, it's my second language)

[@Uncomfortable]

@@lunebipolaire5523 Generally speaking the videos in Lesson 0 do a pretty good job of covering all of the written material for those lessons, so you can stick with the videos there - but going forward, you should definitely both watch the videos and read them. That said, it does often help with retaining information to absorb it in different forms, so both watching the videos and reading the written material in Lesson 0 is still beneficial.

[@prim1791]

I'm on my third attempt at dab (finished lesson one last year but will be starting all over again), and I have a huge time issue. I have a baby and will be going back to work next month, so during weekdays, I probably won't have time to work on assignments. I was planning on drawing for 10 to 15 minutes daily for the 50% rule, and then Saturday and Sunday work from an hour and a half to two hours exclusively on dab. Would that be a good use of my time? Drawabox has been my goal for the past three years, but life has gotten in the way every time. I really want to commit to it even if I don't have all the time I want. Hope it works

[@Uncomfortable]

I think that should be just fine. Even if it's just one session of a couple hours a week, that's enough to make progress. Of course, it's important that you keep your expectations for how quickly you'll progress through the material in check, so you don't give into the temptation to rush or cut corners. At the end of the day, you're an adult, and adults have responsibilities. All we can do is identify where we can sneak some time into our schedule, and keep at it on a regular basis. It's that regularity that matters most.

[@prim1791]

@Uncomfortable thank you so much, I will try my best with the little time I have. I know it will take more time to complete dab, but I really prefer slow progress to none, so I will take it slow and finish each homework the best I can.

[@lilynaughton6972]

This course seems really cool! I was wondering about how much it would cost total to do the paid critique version?

[@Uncomfortable]

A rough estimate (based on the minimum number of credits required being 15) and factoring in the cheapest you can reasonably require those credits (not including some events we run where students are able to earn additional credits) would be about $70 USD at minimum. I should reiterate however that as mentioned in this video, we focus on providing a reliable option for feedback as cheaply as possible, and in order to do so the pricing system is not as standardized as one might see from other courses. Those who have tighter budgets generally sign up for the patreon only when they need credits and are ready to submit work, and pause their subscription in between. Those who have more flexibility maintain a continuous subscription and allow some credits to expire, which goes towards subsidizing the first group. This effectively allows us to offer the feedback at an accessible price point, while also paying our teaching assistants fairly for their work. While we take a loss on those who actually submit feedback (we pay our TAs more than the students do for the same labour), it balances out in the end - at least, it does right now. It's a bit of a precarious balance, and one we keep an eye on to ensure we can continue to offer these services as we do into the future.

[@lilynaughton6972]

@@Uncomfortable Thanks for the reply!

[@sleeper6548]

​@@Uncomfortable70$ for critiquing every lesson? If that's so, then that's actually very cheap and affordable than most programs! Tho I still won't be able to pay that (usd are a huge value here) that's still a great value!

[@iuel42]

You mention how this course is very useful for someone who can't spend all of their time on drawing - but what if they can? I am currently in a period of my life where I would be able to dedicate 100% of my time to learning to draw. What do I do when I have done the exercises and am waiting for feedback?

[@Uncomfortable]

The same principles still stand - students should be giving each task as much time as it requires to execute it to the best of their current ability, students should be taking breaks when they start finding themselves losing focus, and students must adhere to the 50% rule - which would make it impossible to dedicate 100% of your time to specifically learning, and would give you plenty to do while waiting for feedback.

[@iuel42]

@@Uncomfortable That makes sense, thank you for your reply. Are there any other courses out there that you recommend that teach some fundamentals or useful skills which are not covered in DaB?

[@Uncomfortable]

@@iuel42 In the written material throughout the course you'll come across little grey sections that reference courses from New Masters Academy. They're our sponsor, so take our recommendations with a grain of salt, but as far as price point, content, and the experience people from our community have had with them, I feel they're quite solid. In particular I'm glad to have found Steve Huston's figure drawing courses there, as they closely match how I was taught at CDA. To that point, given that my most meaningful development was done with in-person classes at Concept Design Academy, I don't have a ton of other kinds of resources to recommend myself out of personal experience.

[@iuel42]

@@Uncomfortable Let me rephrase my question: Are there any particular subjects, either fundamental or advanced, that you recommend taking courses on either during DaB or after? Be they from NMA or not.

[@Uncomfortable]

@@iuel42 ​ Sure, there are plenty of subjects that one would explore - figure drawing, composition, form language, being a few that come to mind. That said, which of these should be prioritized depends heavily on what it is you yourself are pursuing. I find that the use of the 50% rule is especially valuable for determining what next steps one should be exploring (either after or alongside Drawabox, or whatever else one might be doing to sure up their fundamentals). In indulging in drawing for its own sake, we reveal more about what particularly interests us, as well as what weaknesses hold us back from achieving them as we wish we could. So for example one might find (more likely from receiving third party feedback rather than self-critique towards the beginning) that their work is disjointed and incohesive, suggesting that composition might be something to explore. Or that one's figures feel off in a manner that throws off the narrative of a piece, suggesting that figure drawing may be worth exploring further. Or, if one's designs simply don't feel interesting or diverse, form and shape language may be worth looking into. What I find to be less useful - though not useless - are the strict curriculum style, formulaic structures that attempt to carve out a path for a student from start to finish. They have value - they can give us a path to follow from the beginning until our own awareness of what we're striving to achieve can develop further. But they can also cause us to shut our eyes to what our own work is telling us, or more worryingly, make us feel as though we can have our hand held from start to finish, causing us to hold off on exploring our own work until we feel "ready". If you're just getting started, then what I would recommend for the time being is to simply indulge in the 50% rule as much as you reasonably can. If you've got enough time to study art full-time, then for some time - a month perhaps - focus on splitting up your time between your core fundamentals and drawing whatever it is that you one day hope to be able to draw, accepting that for now it's gonna come out badly. At this point it'll probably be more than 50% of your time, and that's perfectly okay. Great, even. After that period of time is over, reflect on what you've produced (ideally with the help of someone else) and pick *something* to explore further based on what you've found there, and based on the feedback you get from others. With that, you can ask a more pointed, purposeful question - "can you recommend any courses that will help me improve my _______".

[@Kav2990]

So should I time myself while doing lessons, to know for how long time to do the 50% rule?

[@Uncomfortable]

I don't think there's much benefit in being hyper-strict about how much time you're spending where. The 50% rule is at its core about not avoiding pursuing the things you want to long term, and feeling that you're not "ready". It's less important exactly how much you're committing to that, and more that you are making a good faith effort to do it regularly.

[@Kav2990]

@@Uncomfortable Thank you. Starting the course today!

[@allyssaswain2394]

are you going to upload more videos?

[@Uncomfortable]

Yes, I am gradually overhauling the video content to improve the clarity of my explanations, provide more demonstrations, and so on. The next video is going to be about what tools we use in this course and why, and will round out this lesson before I jump back into redoing the videos for the boxes section of Lesson 1.

[@ryanclemons1]

Well it's been years since i started trying to learn to draw (Sadly on and off since my life just loves to get in the way) and truth be told i use drawabox but not in the way they want me to like i don't use pen since i hate pen it adds a stress that makes me screw up however that is to say i don't never use pen i do use it sometimes to try and get use to useing it but another reason is and i don't know if it's just me but pens will often have broken lines with fast marks were you have to reapply the ink maybe it's just do to useing cheap pens but got no idea what ones make great marks. I also and this one is more a confidence issue i don't really do lessons till i understand how to do some of the past lessons yes i know this goes against what they want but my mind is slow and has issues with learning more then one thing at once. Also i have found tips from other places that have helped with the lessons so i would urge people to not just use drawabox since there are tips out there that help with things in the lessons. truth be told i wish there was a place i could post non pen lessons but i will respect the rules of not posting it's just a shame.

[@Uncomfortable]

I won't comment on most of the things you said, simply because the material is available for free and it is entirely your prerogative to use it in whatever way you feel fits you best. The explanations as to why we do things certain ways are available, and I'm sure you've gone through them, and have ultimately come to your own conclusions. That said, about the last thing - you are allowed to submit work that hasn't been done in ink for the free community feedback. There ink is a recommendation, but not a requirement. The only case in which ink is a firm requirement is for the paid official critique, because a student choosing to do something that might make them more prone to mistakes would then put lots of stress on our system, and would require us to raise the prices in order to contend with that, and our focus is on keeping it as low as we can. Since the free feedback is subject primarily to whether another student *wants* to give feedback to a specific submission, we don't need to put down firm rules on that front, beyond ensuring that the website/reddit is limited to complete lesson submissions (whereas as mentioned in the video, Discord is okay for partial work).

[@ryanclemons1]

@@Uncomfortable oh i wish i would have noticed that years ago I may start posting to reddit and discord then.

[@AlaaBouramdane]

does following the 50% rule means you should draw for fun the same time u spent using the drawabox site. For exemple, if i spent 1 hour using the site, should i draw 1 hour for fun?

[@Uncomfortable]

When it comes to being as granular as that, I leave the decision up to the student. The important part is striving to balance the time you spend intentionally studying with time spent intentionally playing - it doesn't have to be a perfect match, you just need to be aware of the need to be doing both and not just focus on studying.

[@AlaaBouramdane]

@@Uncomfortable okay thank you for the fast reply

[@Caro-jp6jq]

I am confused. On the website it says drawabox is free. But here we pay for critique? I’m not criticising but i genuinely don’t understand if you have to pay or not. Thank you!

[@Uncomfortable]

The paid "official" critique is the option that provides guaranteed feedback from myself and from my paid teaching assistants under my supervision. There are free options available, through the website, subreddit, and discord chat server, but as explained at the 7:00 mark of this video, it's not guaranteed. It relies on other members of the community to take time to provide feedback, and while there are some efforts to improve the reliability of community feedback (mainly the Critique Exchange program Elodin, one of my TAs, runs through our discord chat server to help those submitting for community feedback on the website to receive some manner of feedback), it is ultimately not guaranteed. So the official critique track provides an alternative option that is simply going to be more reliable. It is not mandatory in order to use the course, and there is no actual content that is kept behind a paywall.

[@alexsony277]

I want to know if the nma course link in the drawabox lessons is free

[@Uncomfortable]

New Masters Academy's courses are not free, they are accessed through a subscription service.

[@asherfriedman877]

Is the 15 minutes meant to be spread over the three exercises or should it be 15 minutes per exercise when doing the warm up?

[@Uncomfortable]

2-3 exercises, done over a period of 10-15 minutes - so the 15 minutes would be spread over the 3 exercises.

[@asherfriedman877]

@@Uncomfortable Ok, Thanks.

[@velvetlovingtrash4862]

I still stand by my statement.

[@Nesmaa694]

So i want just ask something bec i'm not actually good at English so i understand what i can understand from translate My question is , when i send my h.w and waiting for respond, in this time , should i repeat the lesson again? Or just waiting? Second question is i shouldn't send the second trying or not spend another an hour for trying, i just send my first trying or what ? Because I'm confusing on those part

[@Uncomfortable]

When you've completed the number of pages assigned and are waiting for feedback, you should not be going back and redoing the lesson. Instead, that's a great opportunity to spend time on the "play" half of the 50% rule (which since you're here at Part 4 of Lesson 0, I assume you're familiar with). As to your second question, you should not redo the work if you feel like you did it poorly, as that would be grinding. Instead, you do your best to apply the instructions as well as you can right now, for the number of pages that are assigned. If that means you make mistakes, that's fine. Keep in mind that the homework that is assigned is meant to produce a collection of work that will allow the person giving you feedback to see what you do understand, and what you don't understand and may need more advice on. Don't think of it as one would the homework we're assigned in school, where we're graded and where we can potentially fail. It's just there so the person giving you feedback knows what advice you need, and so they can tell you what your next steps should be.

[@amelss11]

I would like to know the reason for not doing more than the request? For example I have 6 hours a day to study, I finish Lesson 1 and Lesson 1 exercises in 3 hours, so I go to Lesson 2 without practicing Lesson 1 anymore?

[@Uncomfortable]

This is addressed towards the end of the video at 16:44, and here in the written material: drawabox.com/lesson/0/3/warmups

[@amelss11]

​@@UncomfortableThank you!❤

[@90sprivateer26]

Is it worth me doing the lessons and homework even though I can't pay for drawabox?

[@Uncomfortable]

Certainly. As explained in the video, plenty of people make use of the free feedback offered by our community. While it's not as consistent and reliable as the paid official critique, it's still a ton better than nothing. When it comes to our audience, only a very small percentage of the total actually pursue paid critique (under 10%).

[@fazethatkid3659]

Me doing lines and circles for 2 weeks releasing that I have to do it again😢

[@samichaibainou4082]

if I am in community critique do you guys mark my work as complete and tell me that I can move to what's next? if not how do I know that my work is complete?

[@Uncomfortable]

If you're pursuing free community feedback, then you're relying on getting those next steps from the people critiquing your work. Which of course is not guaranteed, as it depends on other people taking the time to give you that feedback. That said, the "critique exchange" program run on our discord, which I mention briefly in the video, helps with that to a point.

[@samichaibainou4082]

@@Uncomfortable if I don't think I am ready to move to the next step after getting a critique can I repeat the homework or challenge and submit it again and receive more critique and again if needed or am I allowed to submit my work only once

[@Uncomfortable]

@@samichaibainou4082 Ultimately that's for you to decide - although we highly discourage students from making that call for themselves (as noted throughout this video). If you feel the feedback you received was inaccurate, I would recommend seeking a second opinion from someone else (again, your best bet at this is on the discord chat server). Relying on your own judgment for this is likely to lead to unnecessary grinding, as you are not in a position to appropriately judge your work against the course's expectations. It's very common for students to think that they aren't ready to move forwards, for no reason other than their own self-doubts.

[@ovuokeaghwotu2389]

Patreon is banned in my country. How can I sign up for the official critique? I am starting lesson 1 as soon as I get an ink pen. I have a ballpoint pen and printer paper.

[@Uncomfortable]

Unfortunately at this time we are only able to accept payment for official critique is via Patreon. While we intend to expand into other options (either paypal or stripe) in the future, that is not something we currently have the time to implement, and I don't have any estimates as to when that'll be available.

[@ovuokeaghwotu2389]

@@Uncomfortable Okay, thank you for your prompt and kind response.

[@dukeweza6812]

I am just starting this course but I can't seem to access the discord server, any help?

[@Uncomfortable]

Can you be more specific? Are you getting an error message, or what do you see when you try to use the invite link? Have you tried going to Discord itself, clicking the "add server" button and pasting the invite link in there? Some folks have run into trouble with clicking on the link (for some people it shows up as invalid despite the invite still very much being valid - this can be due to a browser caching issue perhaps), but going straight to discord and using the invitation code there may have better chances of success.

[@dukeweza6812]

@@Uncomfortable Thank you for your reply, I don't know the specifics but once I created an account on the website and clicked on the discord icon there it somehow worked. This problem happened when I tried to join from the link in the youtube videos description, but it is all good now :)

[@harshaskumar9257]

is it necessary to be a official critical crique subscriber to complete the course?

[@Uncomfortable]

All of the course material is freely available, so technically there is nothing stopping you from completing the course via community feedback. The only thing to be aware of is that the further into the course you get, the fewer people there are who give feedback on those later lessons. This can certainly be a hindrance. That said, it's still manageable if you're willing to make full use of all the scattered resources we make available - very much including the discord chat server, where there are channels dedicated to each lesson as well as a #critique-exchange program. Ultimately the official critique program does far outshine the feedback students get for free (for obvious reasons - it's provided by myself and those I've trained specifically to that purpose, it's reliable and you're guaranteed to receive the feedback) but it is not the only option. Drawabox's goal is to make the information accessible first and foremost (by making all of the content free), and then to provide accessible feedback either for free (community feedback) or for cheap (official critique). If we were in a position to offer the official critique for free, we would (and I actually did between 2014 and 2016 before the workload became too great).

[@doncare8]

is it ironic that I'm am doing the 50/50 rule while listening to this?

[@Niancat2366]

6:55

[@likeadragonessence2024]

I finished draw a box a year ago bro! are you proud of me?? I cheated in the last few sections lol, I decided to jump to scott robertson after that. Lets go!

[@Uncomfortable]

Congratulations!

[@tea_leaf5826]

So....did drawabox help you improve in anyway???

[@grqfes]

17:10 doesnt he look like the mothership gunner from one punch man

[@WakeUpMaggie]

Critique! Noooo, it's my worst nightmare! But in all seriousness, I will do my best to submit to critique without shielding myself. Even if that terrifies me.

[@DevTheRay]

He sounds so different than he did three years ago

[@Uncomfortable]

Hahaha. A better mic (and also it's facing towards me this time...), some foam on the walls, and a better idea of how to edit my audio to lower the muffly bass definitely helps a lot.

[@TealComet]

I'm glad Imgur doesn't require me to make an account to post my future exercises ; my password list is already that much long !

[@ThatPash]

How does one convince my sibling, that works on these completely in a bubble, to not do so anymore and share instead?

[@Uncomfortable]

One thing I've seen over the last many years is that some people simply aren't at a point in their life where they're ready and willing to break down certain barriers they've put up. That doesn't mean they won't get there eventually, but that *now* is not the right time for it. So, gently encourage, but ultimately accept that they're going to do what they're willing to and able to bring themselves to do for the time being - but that people are constantly changing, and we are rarely the same person we were five years ago. So while your sibling may not be willing to take full advantage of the resources available to them now, for whatever reasons that may be, take solace in the fact that they may well be in the future. Be patient with them, and try not to take the responsibility of convincing one to make one choice over another onto yourself.

[@ThatPash]

@@Uncomfortable Woah. Actually helpful advice, thanks Comfy! :0

[@TiesBesselJonker]

This video claims there are no hidden costs and no hidden knowledge whatsoever, and i totally understand credits are for pay and assistants need to be payed. But this does mean this course is not free. The content is allegedly free, but you should not do it without feedback, and feedback is behind a paywall. Is the content free and accessible without feedback?

[@Uncomfortable]

All of the content is freely available from start to finish without paywall, without having to register or login. Our community also provides feedback to each other, and have also set up an unofficial "critique exchange" program through our discord chat server to help increase the reliability of receiving that free community feedback. There is absolutely nothing forcing students to pursue official (paid) critique, and the vast majority of our students do not pay a dime at any point.

[@TiesBesselJonker]

@@Uncomfortable I'm sorry I will remove my comment soon!

[@Uncomfortable]

@@TiesBesselJonker No worries, and feel free to leave it up.

[@cagdastopcu659]

so far too much motivational s.

[@chadrichard1485]

I did dab to lesson 6 but man am i redoing it, i kind of skipped through it, but now im serious. Dab helped me A LOT but now its gonna make me even better and get accepted to art school, see you in one year guys im gonna get accepted for sure

[@Humiliated1234]

1 months update questions 1. How are you doing mentally 2. If you're doing bad mentally have you done anything to make yourself feel better? 3.how are you dealing with days you don't feel like drawing and you just wake be lazy? 4.Good luck with everything man I hope I can see your art one day whether or not you get into some school

[@ChatLeFait]

we need update, it's almost a year !

[@rickyfatty363]

i drank way too much alcohol tonight

[@rickyfatty363]

[@rickyfatty363]

im just getting dizzier and dizzer im off da perc 4 real 4 real

[@rickyfatty363]

plz don't shadowban me