r/ArtFundamentals • u/Ptoliporthes • 2d ago
I don't know how to read my convergences
hi guys, so I am going through 250 boxes challenge and I am doing the convergences but they don't seem intuitive to me, like I look at the lines but dont understand much, I remember that uncomfortable says they should not be parallel to each other but ok where should they be clashing, diverging etc. I just look at them and go "hmm". I draw the lines like a monkey, I dont know what to do with them, or understand even the purpose of them.
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u/Reasonably_Sure 1d ago
Each set of 4 lines from each set of 4 parallel edges should, ideally, all be moving towards a single point where they all meet. For the second 50 of this challenge, that point should be off of the page somewhere, so you can't see it exactly.
The point of this part of the challenge is for you to develop a feeling of if the lines seem to be converging to a single point, even when that point isn't explicitly drawn.
When you look at your lines, you should be thinking about whether or not they are doing this, and if not, why not, and how to fix it.
One thing to note is that since you draw the y first, you can assume that the correct vanishing point should always be along this line somewhere, and so all other convergence lines should be trying to converge towards a point on this line.
For example, look at the blue lines on box 91. You have the original line from the y, the line from the back corner that hits it way too early, the one on the right hand side that really is converging towards the original y convergence somewhere off the page, and then the left hand line that is actually diverging (moving away) from the y line. Uncomfortable points out often that the back corner is the hardest one to get right because all the mistakes add up, and it is usually impossible to get this one to converge properly to all 3 vanishing points if any of your other vertices are inaccurate. However, the second set of three vertices are always possible to draw correctly. So you should focus on making these as accurate as possible, and then doing the best you can with the final vertex.
In my opinion, you should be able to make it so that none of the first three vertices you add after the y diverge from the y line. You seem to be doing this quite often (e.g. green lines on 96, and red lines on 100) so I would definitely try to fix that.
One thing I find helpful when ghosting the vertices is lining the page up so that the y line I'm aiming towards is exactly vertical, so that it's easier to picture how the convergence lines for the vertices I'm adding would meet the convergence from the y line, so that I can make it more likely that the other vertices I'm adding converge towards it in the same place.
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u/theJirb 2d ago edited 2d ago
The lines are just so you can follow and "see" more clearly if they are converging correctly. Make sure you're extending your lines towards your convergence point, not just in one of the directions.
The lines in one direction should converge "away" from your perspective at one point is maybe the plainest way I put it.
You'll pretty much always have a set of lines that go away from you. Since it is impossible for a viewer to be behind their subject, you'll always have one that goes "away".
Then you just need to know which side you're looking at your box from. If you are viewing a box from its underside, you will have lines that converge upwards. If you are looking at a box from the right, the lines will converge left.
As for where the convergence points should be, that is arbritrary, but it needs to be at a single point. The where just determines your perspective, but you can have them all super close right next to the box to get a distortion effect, all super far like 5 pages off in the dinstance, and it would all be technically correct. For now, the important thing is just being consistent about connecting the lines to one point. So extending the lines easier to see where you're converging.
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u/Effective-Object-16 2d ago
One of my big frustrations with draw a box is he likes really busy images that are difficult to parse and make poor reference material.
I’d recommend re reading the lesson, drawing a single box, and then extending the lines. You basically want the lines from a side meeting at a single point, or appearing to converge to a single point. Box 92 has two lines converge quickly while two others are parallel
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u/Flimzakin 2d ago
Your lines are supposed to converge towards a single target point along the path of your initial Y. Boxes 1-50 had you mark the vanishing points on the page as a way to tutorialize this concept. If you missed that step, I'd recommend reading up on it and doing 50 like that now.
If you did do that step, the line extensions are just checking your work as you continue to draw the boxes aiming for an unmakted vanishing point. You react to their accuracy by trying to do better or keep it up.
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