Side by side reference (now with kleenex box)

[MatthewHD]

I didn't realize how off it was until I pasted the pictures in juxtaposition. Dang.

Should I stick to simpler shapes then?

[manlybrian]

Maybe draw the basic 3D shapes (boxes) in perspective and get them all lined up properly, and then draw the fancy contour and design over that.

[dpaint]

I didn't realize how off it was until I pasted the pictures in juxtaposition. Dang.

Should I stick to simpler shapes then?

Or draw it again and again until you get it right. I mean paper is cheap.
Thats what I would do. I would redraw it, at the end I would compare and write down everywhere I went wrong that I am capable of seeing, then draw it again paying closer attention to those problem areas. Repeat until satisfied.

[Otaku42]

One trick I use to keep life drawings proportional is to judge the distance of each section. I'll look at a corner and think to myself, "It's about this far from this other corner, which is about this far away from the lid, which is roughly this wide..." I start with very messy sketches and refine them until the basic structure is there. Fail fast, fail early, fail often- those are great words to live by, and art is no exception.

Your shapes actually aren't terribly off- it should be a bit more foreshortened, but its a decent start. Keep practicing, that's the most important thing!

[wooblood]

Do you have a strong grasp on perspective? The subject in the photo ref looks not quite perfectly orthogonal/parallel relative it itself, which makes it look ALMOST wrong. In your drawing, it seems like you took the almost wrong angles and made them fully wrong, particularly how the upper lines and lower lines are not converging to the same vanishing point. Extend your lines to compare the angles (easy to do digitally) and you should easily see where it went wrong.
The other big thing I see is that you drew too much of the furthest edge (top of the drawing) which makes it feel more like we're looking down on the thing than we should be.

[JeffX99]

Yes - simpler would be better - also objects with a matte surface. Do a killer drawing of a tissue box with a handful of tissues strewn around it - things like that - not simple but will be a better subject.

For this particular piece a vertical axis line would have been the first thing I would have laid in. It looks like you did each area/piece as you went along, losing the relationships. Work from large accurate shapes to smaller accurate shapes, all in light construction line. In other words, lay in the big boxes, make sure they are accurate to what you see and perspective, then keep working into them - tighten up at the end and define with interesting, appropriate line quality.

[MatthewHD]

Thanks all. I'll try again until I get it looking as best I can.

@wooblood - "do you have a strong grasp on perspective?" Hell no, I'm freeballing this thing. You know, I noticed the angles between the top and the base were going off at different angles too. I didn't want to do this because then people would've thought that I had messed up. Looks like it didn't matter . I tried to rectify that whole deal by trying to keep the lines all parallel. I've have to spend more time on it.

@Jeff - Good point about the axis line, I'll remember to do that. I was trying to lay in the foundation at first, but then everything else sort of distracted me and I got off track. Worrying too much of how to portray it all and about the end product, rather than taking it in steps. I'll do your tissue box study.

[abone114]

practice perspective a lot. 1 and 2 point to start, once you get good you can go on to 3 point (the third point being a vertical vanishing point)

just draw a horizon line on a page, place your vanishing point and draw about 50 -100 cubes at varying locations both above and below the horizon line. Practice makes perfect.

[Jetpack]

One technique you can try is like Jeffs technique, where you visualize some sort of marker to keep the objects you see in proportion. Basically visualize a rectangle, draw it down. Use your pencil as a way to measure things from a distance (like those stereotypical painters in cartoons using their brushes to measure things lol). So I would see a long line from the tip of the jar to the bottom, then see a line from the very left corner of the lid to the right corner of the lid.

You can use this method for a variety of life-drawing.

[MatthewHD]

I took Jeff's advice and did a Kleenex still life. I've included a straight on view, and a close-up of the still-life. I guess I'm getting confused as to what I perceive are simple horizontal lines...

[JeffX99]

That's good - just push your values a bit more. Make sure you light this stuff in an interesting way to bring out value and form. And GET A BOARD BEHIND THAT PAD!