Draw a Box Review - A look back at my 2020

 Hello everyone!

Welcome to my 3rd review! This one is going to be a bit longer as it is going to dive a bit into my thought process on drawing and my year in review (the TLDR will still be short!).

TLDR: Draw a box is a great way for new artists to build construction drawing skills and expand their understanding of communicating 3D space on paper. The course realistically takes around a year or more to complete, but will set you up for success. If you are looking for more information, check out ‘Dynamic Sketching’ and Peter Han.

Full Course Name: Draw A Box

Link: https://drawabox.com 

Cost: Free (or $5 a credit for official critiques through Patreon)

Instructor: Uncomfortable

YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/Uncomfortable 

Subreddit: https://reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals 

Longer Review

“Go to Draw a Box” is a standard response you will see provided to folks all across the internet to any question similar to “where do I go to learn to draw for free?”. I’ll say up front it is a fantastic resource for those that are looking to learn how to draw and are also interested in a taste of the artistic journey. The second point, the glimpse of the artistic journey, is what I think is a more important part of Draw a Box than the “learning to draw” part.

To dive into the “learning to draw” part of the course first, going through each lesson will do just that! The course takes a while, I know initially I thought I would be able to blow through each section and grind it out (despite what they say in the video). I wanted to be an awesome artist as quick as possible, how would I not be able to do this? Well it turns out that some of the lessons take way more time than others, and if you try and power through all of it, then you will likely burn out. Ultimately it took me around 8 months to go through all of the lessons. I was a Patreon subscriber so I was able to receive official critiques for the submitted lessons from Uncomfortable, which I felt were very beneficial. 

I would highly suggest that when you are moving from lesson to lesson, go read through the critiques that have been provided to people that have already completed the lesson (or were told to do a few more drawings). The prior critiques will tell you what other students may not have focused on enough, and can give you an opportunity to concentrate on those items while doing your own drawings.

Below are a few of my thoughts on some specific lessons and words of encouragement to go with them:

• 250 Box Challenge: This is tough, and although it may not seem like it at first, after the first 40 it can really seem like there is no end. Be okay with imperfections, and the key here is to keep moving. This may take you weeks or months to do, but pushing through it is what is important. Once you have done this, you will have completed more than the majority of people who sign up for the site.
• Lesson 2 - Textures: It’s unfortunate that this comes right after the 250 box challenge, because doing all of the textures on the sausage forms is a bit of a grind again. And I’ll provide similar words as before, keep pushing through it and remember you are doing something you probably haven’t had to think about before.

Those were the two hardest lessons for me to get through.

• Lesson 3-5: Focus on building out the forms in the way that Uncomfortable goes over in the videos/lessons. It is not about having a perfect looking insect, plant, or animal, but about changing how you look at each of those subjects.
• 250 Cylinder Challenge: Another tough one but you’ve been through worse!
• Lessons 6-7: These are topics that you won’t even close to master, even completing draw a box. This is exposing you to a way of thinking and constructing accurately, treat it as the first step in a longer journey.

I’ll add some supplemental material that I recommend checking out to assist with Draw A Box concepts at the end of the post, and also some paid versions of the course if you want a more formal structure (and faster paced).

Next I am going to dive into the artistic journey that Draw A Box provides, and how its not all bad.

You can easily see the artistic journey “lesson” by browsing through the non-image submissions in the subreddit channel. It is often filled with people posting about frustrations with certain lessons, declarations of quitting, or “why Draw a Box isn’t for me”. This is also reflected if you join the Discord (which I highly recommend!). You can look at the role counts and see the folks associated with each lesson. Lesson 1 starts off with 800+ people, then as you keep moving on in the lessons you see massive drop offs in numbers. When I was on lesson 7, there were under 20 people working on it at the time. I talked to a few folks on the server, and massive drop off points are the 250 box challenge, and after lesson 5. The 250 box challenge is the second lesson in the course. Lots of people get frustrated with being bad at something new, or feel that drawing boxes won’t help them achieve their goal of being an artist and stop at the very beginning.

This brings me to my big point that you may have heard before: art, whether drawing/painting/etc.. takes most people a lot of time and effort to do well. Most artists that folks see on instagram or other venues, even young artists, have been most likely creating art for over a decade. It is never too late to start, but patience is extremely important at the beginning. You are most likely still going to be a beginner artist for several years, and that is completely normal! 

Learn to enjoy the process, and follow lesson 0 that Uncomfortable lays out, about spending 50% of your time drawing what you want! As another beginner on the path, I know how frustrating that advice can be when you may not feel that your drawings are any good, so “why bother until I am better?”. The challenge with this is, as you progress and your knowledge expands of the art world, the more you will know what you don’t know. Even after making drawings that you like, you still have to learn about all sorts of other topics (composition, lighting, etc..). Learn to enjoy the journey! It will take time, and I can honestly say it took me 7+ months to truly internalize that message. What kept me going through that time was KNOWING I wanted to be someone that could draw well. Internalizing the journey is what made my 2020 art journey a success in my mind and I hope to pass that along.

Draw a Box is a course that is tough, but if you make it through it you will be well equipped to move forward with your artistic journey.

Supplemental Material:

• Dynamic Sketching Bible by Peter Han (highly recommend): https://superanius.com/products/peter-han
• Foundation Group: Dynamic Sketching Basics: https://gumroad.com/foundation_patreon?query=Dynamic%20sketching%20basics&sort=newest

Paid Courses:

• Peter Han Dynamic Sketching https://peterhanstyle.myshopify.com/collections/all 
• CGMA Dynamic Sketching https://2d.cgmasteracademy.com/courses/66-dynamic-sketching-1 
• Brainstorm School: Foundation 1 (Dynamic Sketching) https://www.brainstormschool.com/fnd1