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Why are architects underpaid? I recently had a conversation with a recruiter and I was told I’m asking for way more than industry standards (US market) and that I’m delusional and should probably settle for less. In my opinion AIA compensation calculator is outdated. Is to too much to ask for a little more than industry standard because of inflation, unreasonable rents and student debts? This feels like a rant but why are we ok with getting paid less in spite of having sufficient years of experience. I cannot draw comparisons to tech jobs but this is ridiculous. If anyone has a way to justify this nonsensical salary or has a way to help sell yourself better in an interview to get paid what you deserve please let me know. Thank you in advance. PS: Sometimes working in this industry feels like a waste of time.

Architects are forced to bid against each other for many projects, something doctors and lawyers as professionals do not have to do. On top of that, the people who finance projects look to cut costs, including fees to architects. Our firm could charge more and still be a great deal, but we'd lose out on work as we would be undercut fee-wise by numerous other architects. In short, to be paid what they are really worth, architects need to convince the people who pay for our services that we are worth far more, and convince everyone that bidding for architectural services is destroying the profession.

So why did you guys become an architect or why didn't you? I know it's a broad question but it's something I'm tossing in my head. Recently I was offered a graduate architect at a medium sized firm. Whilst that happened a large firm offered me a job as a developer. To aid them to build software add-ons and tools for the architecture team. I know that if I stayed with them I wouldn't be an architect. At the same time if I go with the other guys, I'll deffo be an architect eventually. I have some knowledge of the practice. I'm not a bright eye kiddo who wanna design the next BIG thing. I just wanna shed some thoughts to shed some light into my inner subconscious.

Low pay and long hours, combined with crazy licensure requirements compared to engineering, made me become an engineer instead. I also didn't have big ideas of designing the next big thing, so it didn't bother me.

Hey dudes! I'm 14 and have grown an interest for architecture, where can I learn more about it. Any documentaries/videos/books that you would recommend. Thanks

A professor once told me, "Look at beautiful architecture every day." Best advice I ever got. Go on ArchDaily every day and look at projects. Follow architecture-related groups on Facebook and Instagram. Study floor plans and sections. Learn what looks good to you and what doesn't. I'll be honest, I haven't found that many books on architecture that teach me much. They are better for referencing. The one book I do love is Peter Zumthor's "Thinking Architecture." He's my favorite.

[ask] Architects of Reddit, have any of you worked in construction? If so, how has it changed your views on architecture?

I've worked as an in-house architect at a construction company and as a site manager. Things I learned: The construction business is stressful and depressing. Nobody cares about your vision; they just want to make as much money as possible and go home. Time is money—a construction site at a standstill practically leaks money. Everything you draw is much harder to get built than you ever imagined. There are logistical considerations to almost everything. Even small demolitions lead to dust everywhere. Get an air filter. The average construction worker won't give your drawings more than a passing glance—if he or she even knows how to read them. If you want things done right, your drawings need to be pedagogical to the extreme. Construction workers start at 6 in the morning. Every foreman's secret is that they're doing three other projects in addition to yours. Nobody is going to be on time to the meeting you scheduled. Renovations are arguably more difficult than new builds.

[ask] Architects: What is the one thing you wish you knew about Architecture before pursuing it? I am considering a change in direction and pursuing Architecture, so i thought I'd ask from people currently in the field: What is the one thing you wish you knew about Architecture before you started pursuing it? Side note- I'm from Australia so anything relevant to this part of the world would be great. Thanks!

Hey mate! I'm Australian too and am currently going into my last year of undergraduate studies. The workload at university can be pretty rough, especially when studio assignments are due. If you live out of home and are working to support yourself, you'll probably need to work a lot less so that you're able to complete assignments on time and to a good standard. You really need to put in your best work constantly if you want to be happy with it. When you end up spending nearly a whole semester on a project and you've had to rush it, and it hasn't come out how you wanted it to, it can be pretty soul-crushing. This is just for university, though; I can't speak on anything outside of that. Good luck!

I love design and architecture, but I hate the high-stress environment and culture that seems to be the norm. What are some low-stress jobs for architects? Obviously there's an intersection of stress and income that needs to be found otherwise the lack of income just feeds the stress. So what are some of the lower-stress but decent-paying jobs out there for people who hold a degree in architecture?

I think there are places out there that aren't that high-stress, norm. My firm is an excellent example of that. We are a 40-hour-a-week firm. Is there occasional overtime? Sure. Sometimes we have big projects with deadlines that we stay a little past our time. But it's not every project, and it's not even every month. This is a somewhat small firm, under 50 people, I believe. But they value us as people and encourage us to use our vacation time as well. We also do four 9-hour days, and our Fridays are a half day, which is really nice. It may take some digging, but they're out there.

A lot of people seem to hate Brutalism. If its your case, why so? Can you give me some reasons why you hate brutalism as a style ?

When placed in a vacuum to judge only its aesthetic and grandeur, it's not a bad style. Unfortunately, architecture cannot live in that state, and Brutalism fails to meaningfully engage with the urbanite or the dweller. Imperiousness destroys an urban fabric, and it merely survives when surrounded by better and more inviting spaces.

thinking of pursuing architecture but everyone in the profession seems unhappy. what’re your thoughts on the job outlook and overall experience? also advice is appreciated :)

I think the biggest negative is money; you don't make as much as other STEM fields or even working in a trade. Though I would say most architects I've met are generally happy. Architecture students I would say are generally happy too, but also very tired and stressed, haha.

[ask] Does it seem problematic that so many become disenchanted with architecture school and leave, when school so little reflects practice? I can’t help but feel sorry, watching students lose interest in increasingly abstract studio projects. Who knows, they might have flourished in the field, but they get so frustrated by the strange requirements and dogma of academia that they drop out even in their 3rd and 4th years. It seems like an unintentional and discouraging form of gate keeping. Some people just don’t jive with abstract ideas, and leave before they ever get a taste of the more realistic side of the profession. Sad so see so many give up and fail just because they can’t think like Frank Gehry, is how I’m feeling right now.

My biggest issue was with the blatant disregard for our health and sanity. Constant bullshit deadlines, no respect for our other classes, and the culture of sleep deprivation were horrible. Every one of my classmates ended up developing either anxiety or depression, which only further increased the difficulty in keeping up. And then when I got to the real world, it’s just constant CAD linework. I spent 5 years learning how to make perfect models, how to sketch and render, how to create stupid “meaningful” concepts to drive my design. And then in the real world, it’s just 9-10 hour days of updating CAD drawings to reflect whatever minuscule change the client demands because it might gain him an extra $3 per square foot in rent. The entire field is maddening. And then the principals never learned any business sense; who has time to get an MBA when you have so much to do? So they run the company into the ground and can’t figure out how to fix it.

What are some of your unpopular opinions about Architecture? Care to share?

That way too much emphasis is placed on aesthetics/architecture (especially the entirety of the building in urban areas with taller buildings, especially those 10+ stories, and even more so with skyscrapers) at the expense of what matters far more to daily life and the enjoyment of a place—that being street-level form and the relationship between the building and the public realm (and other buildings). In terms of improving lives and enjoyment, spurring greater economic activity, and promoting greater opportunity, equality, and equity, urbanism and the urban planner are far more important than architecture. Sadly, starchitects get paid huge sums for pretty buildings that look great from afar, but actually damage the urbanism and experience of place for those at the location and in the immediate vicinity. As a developer, I’d much prefer to invest in greater urbanism than starchitecture (though they are hardly mutually exclusive).

I've decimated my professional career . pls help me out. What do I do, ? \[TLDR\] : I (34) have nothing to show for the last 16 years I've spent in this profession spent studying, struggling to manage, trying to hold down jobs, burning out frequently and now too tired of myself, lost any & all will, kicking the life's bucket seems too enticing. Hardest part is, I don't even know where to begin rebuilding back up from this pit of despair. Please bear my long plea as i don't know where else to post this. **My Career's Illustrious failures so far.** ● started B.Arch in a new country in **2006** (*took 7yrs instead of 5, struggled with archaic third world curriculum, self pacing, resources, moved from a second World country..* ) ● Hardly worked 6 months after my 6 month internship. Quit/ let go due to lack of challenging work and low pay. 1 hospitality project, that later shutdown. ● started M.Arch in a new western country in **2014**, funded on partial debt, liked the curriculum, but too poor to focus on academics, had to 12hr work days as a CAD monkey just to meet the High Cost of living. Took three years to complete instead of two. Burnt to a crisp. Quit cad monkey job due to lack of work satisfaction, (too long to get to completion). 0 built projects to show for. ●2018, moved back to parent's basement (third world) after messing up and failing to lodge right work visas, any and all plans to contribute to family's small business rejected almost evicted from my own home. Living locked up as a recluse, haven't professionally worked a day since 2017. Survived initially of saving and now on scraps and handouts. On the verge of homelessness. ● **Major underlying cause seems to be my Undiagnosed Untreated ADHD / ADD, procrastination, anxiety, toxic perfectionism, being an economic refugee from a dysfunctional family made it even worse.** Had no friends ever to fallback on. No one ever want to be my friend / mentor not even my dad. *yay! daddy issues*. ●Compensate dark grim thoughts with distractions online that i am addicted to / sick of, dreaming diverse grandiose plans but do nothing much or burnout asap and spiral back into depression and back to cheap distractions. ●**Overqualified for the local job market, hate the type of work being done locally, harder as a minority and social outcast in the society, lack of native language skills other than English is an barrier as well**. ○**Would it be too unreal for me to dream of a stable job with a decent work life balance and some semblance of job satisfaction. I've wanted to help ppl but no one ever wants my help.** ○What it would be better for me to leave the profession and get into UX for shorter project turnarounds alone, the learning curve seems daunting and have no time i feel, given my situation. ○Do I strive to relocate to where my M.Arch is valid or worth it? immigration is hard and takes forever. or (easier to migrate) do I look at PhD positions and live off a stipend. I like research aspect but hate the idea of teaching others into this drudgery of high effort low reward profession. °Losing my mind, losing my time, please help me get out of this rut and shine. \[PS\]: Mods please remove of its inappropriate here. but please tell me why. \[PS\] Also. If I have doxed myself and you think you know me , i am sorry to be an embarrassment.

I’m just here to say, you are only 34, time is completely on your side. You have some great experience, some great education, and some great self-knowledge. Take a deep breath, you can totally turn this around. I didn’t begin studying architecture until I was 39, and I didn’t begin working until I was 45.

Are there any successful architects here? I always only see people posting about how little money they make and how much time they put in. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone really talk about how they’re thriving and all the interesting projects they get to work on. Would love to hear this side of the story from any of you, if it exists. Who’s living the best-case scenario as an architect and what does that look like? Is it possible to enjoy what you do and be handsomely rewarded as well in this field?

I work in Japan for a big firm. I enjoy almost every second of my job; I get amazing opportunities, participate in international competitions, and bring home enough to live comfortably and save some. I miss Europe, but my job is making it almost impossible for me to find the will to look elsewhere. I just love it too much.

[Ask] Architects of Reddit, What was your worst experience with a client?

I had a gun pulled on me by a client. I also had a client who was arrested for murder, among other things; he was a good client up to that point, though.

Colleges for architecture with a stronger math and science bass I am a junior in high schools looking at schools with a 5 year program. I have visited university of Oregon and Oklahoma state university and I noticed a major lack of classes like statics and material strength in Oregon whale osu had a lot more of the math and science related to the construction of a building. So I am wondering what other schools have those heavier courses?

Statics and material strength are most likely covered in your structures classes. Most colleges do not have separate classes for those. If you want separate classes, structural engineering or architecture engineering might be degrees you should look into.

What are some of the exercises that were given to you in architecture school to stimulate problem solving? I’m an architecture professor and I’m trying to make my students think outside the box and stimulate design thinking and problem based learning. What are some of the dynamics your architecture professors implemented when you were still in school?

Every semester during university, we are tasked to design and plan around two to three building typologies. We usually start with residential buildings during our freshman year, and each semester and year, it becomes progressively more difficult. Our Building Laws subject topic also usually syncs with the laws concerning each building typology, which is a plus.

My Girlfriend is an architect. I want to learn a bit about architecture to talk to her about. Where do I start? My gf is an architect currently working as an interior designer. I just wanted to read a bit about architecture so that I can talk to her about her work. Is there any readings/books/articles to give me a faint idea about what architects/interior designers work on at a technical level?

My wife has a master's in history with a focus on historical architecture and preservation. I joined this sub mostly to share things with her. You don't have to know much; just show an interest. Also, if you really want to make her mad, ask if a big old house is Victorian.

How do I learn architecture without paying for classes? I’ve had an appreciation for architecture since I was very young and at this point I figure I might as well learn about it.

Watch architecture lectures and software tutorials on YouTube and Vimeo. Read as much as you can (you can probably get some old reading lists or syllabi from members of this subreddit). Draw as much as you can and try to get experience working in construction. More than half of what you learn in school, you end up Googling or teaching yourself.

Can anyone suggest me a book about psychological effect of architecture on human being? Or sensory effect of architecture

"The Architecture of Happiness" by Alain de Botton might interest you. The author is a philosopher, and not a psychologist or an architect, but I think he has some interesting insights.

Please disabuse my career change inkling...Architecture degree in your late 30's? Hey All, quick background: I'm a 37 year old product designer with a BS in Industrial Design. I've been working in soft goods/apparel my entire career and I think having a crisis of identity and purpose at the moment. I've always loved Architecture and have been a casual observer/learner of the field for years. In recent years (the past two or so) I've been taking in a large amount of information around net-zero, passive, green, etc Architecture and have become mildly obsessed with a potential missed career opportunity. Perhaps it's my maturation and desire to have a greater impact on the world (a long-lasting, net-beneficial object such as a house vs a piece of clothing that is largely disposable in our modern society), or just a natural winding-down of this chapter of my professional career that has me seeking something new. I understand the career trajectory of an Architect is more rigid and regimented than say my career path as a product designer (understandably) which is my primary hesitation to go much further than a mild obsession/hobby to the next step of actually going through a BS in Architecture and effectively restarting my career at a lower paying, inexperienced place. I guess what I'm asking of this large hive-mind is: it's a terrible idea to pursue a degree/career shift into Architecture at my age, right? Of course money isn't everything, but seems an imprudent and difficult row to hoe at my age. Thanks in advance for your thoughts! Cheers Ryan

I am 34 and in my third year of a BArch degree. It’s exhausting. It is way more work than you expect, even if you expect a lot. There is something about architecture school. No matter how smart or talented you are, you will be busy. There is no "good enough" or meeting expectations. Nothing you do is ever as good as it could be. That being said, it is rewarding. The moments of success and positive discovery are incredibly compelling and help push you to develop and improve. You definitely get back what you put into it. It’s a hard choice, but I don’t regret it at all—until the night before final review.

Does anybody know how the concrete panels on the left are constructed? Its impossible for it to be just naked concrete right? The project is called **Lone Tree Wellness center** and its in the middle of colorado. archdaily page here https://preview.redd.it/05kw2foo7hu81.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=a84eff471a32c5afcedca81e2e877b70058ba2c7

Precast concrete producer here. Those are likely insulated sandwich wall panels. They would likely be a 3-4-3 configuration if we produced them (3" of concrete, 4" of insulation, and 3" of concrete), which is a 10" total thickness, structural/architectural wall.

Blue collar Ironworker looking to become an architect? Is it possible? Ask/r/Architecture Blue collar union ironworker for over 16 years in the field, I’m wondering how difficult would it be to transition into being an architect? Are there internships or Apprenticeships? Is it worth the career change? Dealing with a back injury and trying to find alternatives besides physical demanding work. Sorry I’m advance for my improper way of ask questions not too savvy on Reddit

It’s tough but not impossible. The main problem is the field is flooded with students and new graduates from architecture degree programs. You have to ask yourself: in what situation might they choose someone like yourself over a younger, more architecturally trained/skilled person? My suggestion is to look into design-build offices. They typically produce their own designs, drawings, and build them. From what I’ve seen, they veer towards craftspeople more than a traditional architecture office. So spend time getting into BIM/CAD (Revit and Rhino, if you can) and study as much as you can about how buildings are drawn and built. If school is a possible route, look into that with design-build in mind.

What does it mean when an architect uses the word "poetic" to describe the form of a building? I often noticed some architects using the word "poetic" to describe the motive behind their design but oftentimes I find it exaggerating and sometimes just pure nonsense. It would be nice to hear your thoughts about this (or maybe an example where there is a succesful attempt in emanating such word).

"It looks nice this way." In all seriousness, though, it's a bit like music. Sometimes you know something works, but the client can't see it (no offense, but some people have zero spatial perception), and it's another word to describe what would be akin to rhythm in music.

The cultural differences in architecture and their origins I've been studying the various styles of tend to look kinda similar (round-ish huts with thatched roofs), but later buildings take different forms. A lot of questions sprung up about where the cultural distinctions began to appear, and their reason for existing. I'm aware that weather, materials, religion and general function play an important role, but I haven't found much on the specifics. There are questions like: - Why did east asians ended up building curved roofs and quite orderly cities? - Why were pyramids not built for anything other than important religious and political buildings. - What's the deal with the "bulbous arches" you see in India and parts of the middle east? - Why are a lot of mediterranean buildings, like in Iberian architecture not "jettyed" (?), while most northern european buildings were? I'm pretty sure there's no direct answer to this, but if you guys can point me in the right direction for further research it would be great.

My chance to shine as a lurker on this subreddit: I can answer all four of them! The curved roofs in East Asia are not because of culture initially, but because of the environment and building materials. The most plentiful building material in those areas is wood. However, because these areas are exposed to a large amount of rain during the monsoon seasons, they are more susceptible to rotting, because, duh, wood! So the best thing that solves that is to find a way to get the wood to dry as fast as possible when the sun is shining. The upturning of the roofs increases the surface area so that the roof gets as much exposure to the sun as possible. It also had the effect of being better at water drainage than a traditionally sloped roof, as well as a better snow load. Pyramids were built for only important religious and political functions because a pyramid is a terrible building to live in. The higher you go, the more stone is needed. Looking at the Egyptian and Mayan pyramids for example, that stone is heavy. Having a larger base means that the center of gravity is not likely to shift and make the whole thing tip over. The weight is more evenly distributed than, say, a skyscraper built during the 1920s-1950s, because most of the weight is at the bottom. They are also bad to live in because the very top has little to no room. They were built to last forever and not to live in. The bulbous arches in India and the Middle East can support up to three times the load of normal arches. Aside from the obvious display of who has the bigger building, a la Lord Farquaad, this allowed for bigger and more ornate buildings to be erected. There is an environmental advantage to this because these areas are, to put it bluntly, hot. Having bigger buildings allowed for higher ceilings which increases the stack effect in cooling, as these high ceilings can have vents in them to allow for hot air to rise up and leave, creating a negative pressure at the bottom and allowing cooler air to rush in to replace it. Finally, Mediterranean buildings have their style because of the Romans, but they made their buildings the way they did to improve the flow of air in a place. Villas in Spain have this influence compounded by influence from the Umayyad Muslims, who also built houses for the same purpose (see my aforementioned "hot" note). Cool air always comes from the sea during the day, so having that flow of air ensures that heat is constantly dispelled. Hope that helps!

[ask] I'm not sure if i'm in the right sub for this, but for all you architects, what is the best way for a general contractor or developer to go about trying to create a symbiotic relationship with you? do you guys like or dislike if they call you up out of the blue to talk about that/set up a meeting?

I am an architect with over 25 years of experience and a high-quality design portfolio. I am currently working for a large commercial general contractor as a design manager. I am in an interesting position because daily I straddle both worlds. There are so many differences in terms of values and priorities. While architects can complain about general contractors who don’t read the drawings, care only about money, make mistakes, and don’t care about design, there are equally many architects who draw ridiculous things that are unbuildable, poorly detailed or documented, and don’t really serve the owner’s needs. I truly hope that in this age of better partnering, both sides will take more time to educate each other and learn about what makes both sides successful and respect these differing priorities and needs. That is my advice on how to build better relationships in both directions. My mantra over the past year is that builders need to better channel their inner designer, and architects need to channel their inner builder.

When I look for a architectural design jobs I end up only finding software architecture jobs instead. I'm so frustrated that when I search for architecture jobs are usually end up on software architecture job posts. Is there a way to combat that? and in your opinion what are good architecture job websites?

Omg, I remember this so well from job hunting. It goes beyond software positions as well; so many companies just throw in "architect" to make a job sound cooler or whatever. Sandwich architect, for instance.

At this moment, which is the best 3D software to use in architecture and interior design? From a very undecided student View Poll

It depends what you're looking for. Beautiful renders? I'd say Blender. Full BIM capabilities and an easily workable, proper model with details, drawings, etc.? Revit. Funky parametrics and 3D shapes? Rhino. A simple, pretty rubbish software that's massively overused? SketchUp 😆

why people dislike modernist architecture ? I understand not liking it, but a lot of people hate on it. I just want a wider perspective on modern architecture, many times I see people expressing discontent with it, while I am being taught about it and all the different takes on it thorough out the different countries and their particular applications in college. I just want to understand.

Modernist architecture, the true original Modernism coming out of Europe in the 1910s, had noble intentions: democratizing architecture, improving living environments, and using technology to better our lives. The Bauhaus movement used mass-produced parts to produce architecture. The world was changing rapidly at the time: new technology, modern transportation, and a changing political environment in Europe signaled a need for new optimism or iconoclasm. Loos believed ornamentation was excessive and removed it, Gropius embraced industrial parts, and Corbusier found ways to make life more efficient through careful design. The destruction of the 1940s led to the large-scale adoption of Modernism to rebuild ruined cities. Social housing took off, and Socialist countries used Modernist processes to build mass housing, minus the context or refinement. As everyone tried to be different and modern, everyone started to look alike. Diluted Modernism is now the new hegemony of architecture. In the 2020s, architecture seems like a bastardized Modernism, using "modern" as an excuse for lazy and cheap architecture. The conditions which birthed Modernism are gone. Today, people no longer relate to it, nor do they believe in Modernism. People may relate more to new timber architecture now because they actually believe in it.

I’m planning on studying architecture but literally all the stories are so depressing I was looking at people's experiences with arch on YouTube and the internet in general, and more than half were on why they quit it or why you should never study it. I still really want to at least try it out though, do you guys have any positive encouraging stories on your experiences? Pleassseeee

Not an architect, but an engineer. My $0.02 is that people are more likely to voice complaints than compliments (especially on the internet). If you have a passion for it, go for it. Good luck.

For you who is the most overrated architect? I just want to know the opinion of the community

Frank Gehry. He is like the star of our century, but his architecture screams a lot without saying anything. It lacks coherence and expression; he often doesn't care about the interiors he creates. They are tacky, futurist kitsch, and rather clumsy. Some of his works are better than others, though most seem like slightly different variants of the Guggenheim Bilbao. But there are other strange architects that interest me much more, like Zaha Hadid, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Rem Koolhaas, or Bernard Tschumi.

Tips on gift for architecture student? My husband’s doing his masters in architecture right now and loves it. He works very hard and I was hoping to get some tips. What would be an awesome gift to get an architecture student?

Please, something not related to architecture. It’s a consuming profession, and it’s important to cultivate other hobbies and habits. Personally, I love gifts that are experience-related or replace something I didn’t realize needed replacing. Replacing things is very personal and requires your observation, so I can’t respond. Regarding experiences, here are a few ideas: A camping trip or scuba diving baptism are adventure-related. A weekend getaway to the countryside or an adjacent culture-filled city. A staycation where you do a really nice restaurant and see a show, or get a couples massage.

US Architects of Reddit, how is that possible that a windowless dorm is legal? I am surfing the internet on a lazy Sunday morning and find this article: https://www.independent.com/2021/10/28/architect-resigns-in-protest-over-ucsb-mega-dorm/ It is crazy to me that somebody can seriously propose a crime against humanity like this and meet building codes and actually being approved by all competent autorities? Looking at the architectural plan, it looks like something not even the worst of the Politburo architects during the 1960's URSS would dream of: https://twitter.com/spokanerising/status/1453927747277840388/photo/1

Munger maintains that the small living quarters would coax residents out of their rooms and into larger common areas, where they could interact and collaborate. What an incredibly stupid way of thinking.

I’m thinking about ditching architecture... [ask] I have been working in small architecture firms since I graduated 4 years ago . I have gained a ton of skills and have come a long way as a designer and project lead - however I am starting to notice what seems to be an ever present financial ceiling that doesn’t seem justified. We all bust our asses day after day only to get flak from clients and contractors alike just so we can go home at the end of the week making far less than Zack who works at that fancy new startup that hasn’t even finalized a product yet. It just doesn’t seem worth it. Am I doing it wrong? Should I move to a larger company where benefits and pay increase is more common or would I get lost in the sea of people and just become a grinding cog in the machine? I’ve been thinking about transitioning to another field all together. I’ve developed enough skills that I think are transferable - I’m just not exactly sure what the best fit would be. Have any of you transitioned careers from architecture? What did you end up doing? All in all I love being a designer, but I feel like I am putting more in to my architecture career than I am getting out of it. Thank you for your thoughts.

My cousin, who is a bricklayer, makes close to $1,500 weekly, after taxes, union dues, in NYC. That's close to $100,000 if he worked year-round, but I think it sometimes gets slower in the winter. He ends at 4:30 on the dot, with rare overtime, which is rewarded greatly if it does occur. Let that sink in while we go through college, countless skills learned that are necessary, many overtime hours put in which are not even rewarded with a thank you because it's normal in this profession. All that is trumped by the skills of bricklaying and pointing.

I am 13 years old and wanna be an architect. What CAD software should I learn? Ive heard that Fusion 360, blender , maia and sketchup are some good options but im not sure about what I should pick. Some context : I like architecture/design and I have a month of holidays . Thought it would be a good idea to spend some money on a course so Im asking to know what I should spend my money on. Since im 13 i cant do anything and everything yet, so I want to do what I can (with regard to my age)

At 13, I suggest you start by hand sketching your neighborhood and buildings. Learn to observe and pay attention to details and patterns. Read books on architecture. You will pick up computer skills in school. No need to kill simple creativity with software technicalities.

[ask] Do you think architects are sometimes too... pretentious? It seems to me that sometimes we feel we are superior to others and other professions. I have to admit, I feel that way sometimes too, but I'm wondering how it developed and whether its universal. I think we pity ourselves too much and romanticize the poor artist life while complaining about it at the same time (I do this) and look down on other people. what do you think? and how do deal with feeling this way sometimes?

The thing about architects is that we're literally paid to be opinionated and to tell other professionals what they need to do to manifest our opinions. When you hire a structural engineer, you don't want their opinion; you want the facts and reality of how to keep the building from collapsing. But architects have to interpret what a "good-looking" building needs to look like; there are no absolutes, only opinions and consensus. And contractors can't plan anything unless we first tell them what needs to be done, and they want us to be confident in the information we provide. It's easy for that to be interpreted as pretentious, but clients need to feel confident that their money is being well spent, and pretentiousness, bold opinions, and high self-confidence go a long way to making a client feel secure.

[Ask] is architecture as philosophical as school makes it seem? In my 2nd year of studio and we're designing a museum. We've spent the past 4 weeks analyzing the site using our senses or any other way that excludes analytical or empirical data. We don't look at anything "practical" on the site.

You learn design thinking in architecture school, and you learn the practice of architecture during your first few jobs. The design thinking you’re learning now (through these seemingly philosophical assignments) will drive your decision-making ability throughout your design career. You’ll understand why things are done; you will learn the how part later. That’s why architecture is so much more than drafting. It’s a profession, not just a trade.

What's the building which had the highest impact on architecture? I was thinking with a friend about this topic. We came to the conclusion it may the the Parthenon as it's the most famous greek building and may be one of the reasons why these distinct columns have been so popular in many other buildings even 2500 years later. However, were not architects and we have a very western view of the world. We would love to hear, what you think may be the building, that had worldwide the highest impact on Architecture :)

Highest impact (rather than "best" or "greatest") building would arguably be the Colosseum—with the Pantheon coming in a close second. Given the global influence of (Neo-)Classical architecture, I don't think it's particularly controversial that an ancient Roman building takes the prize. The reason I rank the Colosseum and Pantheon ahead of the Parthenon is that the Renaissance started in Italy, and Italian architects like Brunelleschi and Alberti were studying Roman ruins. The Colosseum is the best example of what became known as the superposed order (the stacking of different styles of columns), and it was the comparative critical analysis of the orders that really kicked off modern architectural theory. The Pantheon deserves a mention because it was extremely well-preserved and so provided an excellent opportunity for the study of ancient Roman structures and proportions. Roman architecture was, of course, highly influenced by Greek architecture, but Athens was under Ottoman occupation during the Renaissance, and Western Europeans weren't able to study the ruins directly or produce measured drawings until the middle of the 18th century. As a result, the Parthenon only became so important later on.

As an archutect, am I doomed to explotation, overtime, weekend work, etc.? I mean, I have been working for about half a year since I graduate school, and the whole architecture industry seems to have very bad woeking conditions.

Do you work for a very large firm? They are basically famous for this crap. I worked for a large firm that you've almost definitely heard of, and it almost made me leave the industry for good. They would hire batches of like 10 new employees with the intention of firing 8-9 of them before a year. They had a billion excuses for this behavior—like, "Oh, the job you're working on is done, bye bye." I made it for 18 months, did better than most, then my boss went off on me one day in a late-night email because the client liked me better than him. I quit the next morning. Carrying my box out as the sun was coming up was the best damn feeling in my life. (I had no backup plan and a three-month-old at home, for the record.) I did some other stuff for a year and then went to work at a five-man shop. I'll have been here five years in June. We don't work overtime; we don't work weekends. We don't take on work we can't do efficiently, and we all make pretty good money. Look for something else, friend. There's better stuff out there.

[Ask] What do you think it takes to be a master architect? Great architects like Le Corbusier, Zaha Hadid, Mies van der rohe, B.v Doshi, A.P Kanvinde, Frank Gehry and other world acclaimed 'Master Architects'. What do you think are the traits or qualities that made them them stand out from the rest. Is there a pattern to it? So far the only thing I've been able to think about are that all of them established a set of design ideologies and philosophies around which their projects revolved.

I spent a few years working with a "starchitect" on a joint venture project. At first, I thought it was just that he was incredibly charming. In general, whenever he was around, everyone in the room was having a good time. He could convince the client and contractor of any part of the building that was important to him. I've never seen anything like it. He was a blast to be with, whether we were working or partying, both of which we did a lot of. Eventually, I also realized that he was incredibly good at making decisions. Faced with a choice between two bad fixes, he would always find a better third option that made perfect design sense. In the almost twenty years of my career, I have come across less than a handful of architects who could consistently and quickly make the best decision. It is definitely the mixture of these two abilities, a whole lot of hard work, and a significant amount of luck that brought him to the top. I have a lot of respect for him now. I came in expecting him to be a headache, but ended up with a completely different perspective.

What's it like being an architect? Would you recommend your job to other people? I'm trying to choose a career, and I consider becoming an architect. Should I become one? I know it all depends on a person, but, generally, would you recommend it?

I just graduated, so I have some angst. I love architecture; I love designing, and I love the artistic side mixed with the logical, analytical side. I really do love everything I've learned. That being said, school was fucking hell. And I don't mean the typical "college is hard" bullshit. I mean, I took 18-22 credits EVERY semester until my last year, and that was with 32 prerequisite credits I graduated high school with. Deadlines, quizzes, and at least 5 hours of homework pretty much every day. Sleep schedule? Fucked. I used to joke that if I had a newborn right out of architecture school, I'd be fine because it's almost always running on less than 5 hours of sleep a night and slamming the most caffeinated coffee you can find. I had class with the rest of the people in my year, 8-5 with a one-hour break in between Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (for 4 years), and 9-5 on the other days. Grades are mostly based on opinions, so studying really just means constantly working and creating. My only social life was when other architecture people threw parties at the end of big deadlines (best parties ever, btw). Other than that, I did intramurals so I'd have an excuse to get exercise. It's a grueling workload, and it's not for the weak. But if you absolutely love architecture, you'll do what you have to do to get it done. :)

Why aren't more buildings/structures made from traditional materials? Not sure if this is the right sub, but was the first one I thought of. By traditional materials I mean cobb, mud bricks etc. So, is it due to the cost of labor, economical reasons, building codes/planning laws or a combination? Seems like they're durable enough and stand the test of time (and cheap?), so is it just because they're difficult to work with? Sorry for silly question but I don't have a community of architects I can ask irl so here I am, thank you internet.

Cost, durability, and stability are important considerations, but a material's suitability also depends on whether it meets the specific requirements of a building. For example, you cannot build a brick skyscraper without the walls being meters and meters thick at the bottom to support it.

If I wanna build a house that would last for a century with minimal maintenance, and if possible eco friendly, What would be your recommendations ? I am just an amateur. I always saw historical buildings that lasts for a very very long time (100+ years) and more or less seems to require low maintenance and I was fascinated by them. I was thinking building with stone, with passive air conditioning ?

Longevity in buildings is mostly about the joints between the materials and pieces. Materials for walls can be maintained, but if water gets into a joint, there will be problems, even with stone. Making your materials from what is on site will be the least carbon-intensive. Passivehaus is a great way to deal with the environment inside the building and will allow the inhabitant to be more in tune with the weather. You could also use solar panels and have actual HVAC systems. Historic homes are nice, but rather than romanticizing them and building the past, why not use advances in building technology to our advantage? There are many ways to have a sustainable, long-lasting building.

I’m thinking of moving away from architecture as a profession. What else can we do with our high level of education and skills. I have tried to work in the profession for almost 5 years and have found that the environment is extremely toxic and exploitative. I have become very disillusioned with the prospect of doing anything creative or socially positive in this job. I feel like it’s a race to the bottom and it drives the best of us out of the profession. What other lines of work can we do with our high levels of education and skill? Myself and my friends have worked in props, set design, theatre design where there is more creativity and respect for what we do but it can be an unstable line of work so I believe diversification is in order. so I wanted to ask as one architect to another what else we can do out there to keep ourselves creative respected and less dependent on the toxic nature of architecture. Disclaimer: this is not to bash on our profession and I’m sure there are plenty of good and ethical studios out there but I want to see what else we can do as I imagine a lot of people feel trapped and obligated to continue with this because they have already committed so much to this profession.

Please try working at a different firm first. They are not all the same. If you can get into a smaller one, the better. I’ve found that working in larger firms might be the worst thing for you unless all you want is to work in a large firm. They usually pay better and have nice perks. But there are usually no real architects, only dissected architects. The designers are just really renderers with a vague idea of design and constructability. The project managers will just know how to keep a project on track. The project architects will be stuck trying to make sense of what the designers have drawn. If any of these people went out on their own, they would have a tough time bringing a small project from completion to end. Five years is very little time in this profession. I know you are probably stuck in the grinding stage right now. You can make this a profession you love that lets you be creative and practical, but you have to figure out how to do it on your own. Your company is only interested in how you can benefit them, not your personal growth.

How would you design a courtyard style home for a climate that gets hot summers and cold winters? I see people in the US becoming interested in these. Think Spanish haciendas, Syrian courtyards, Indian courtyards, etc. very traditional and ornate ones. A lot of the US experiences hot summers and cold winters, and it made me wonder how you’d pull it off in that sort of climate. So, what would you do to make it comfortable in both seasons? Would the Lay out of the house be changed so the courtyard wouldn’t have to be used in winter/there isn’t so much open traffic space (many of these homes use balconies as open air hallways)? Or would you use some sort of seasonal modification?

Here's a simulation of thermal performance for different courtyard configurations in different climates. Also potentially of interest: an Israeli study for a hot/cold desert environment (down to 8°C or so). Roman domus were often designed for cooler temperate winters, too.

Deciding if i should continue studying architecture.. I just started uni and i picked architecture. I chose it because it is the course that is kinda related to art. But im starting to realize that i have no passion for this. I can't do math and i enjoy illustration more tbh. Choosing art as a career is unrealistic for me. Im hoping that maybe ill learn to love architecture somehow. Is architecture worth it?

Architecture is not worth it if you can barely stand it at the beginning; it only gets worse. A degree in architecture doesn't guarantee a good career. Something to consider would be graphic design, illustration, or maybe interior design, as it's not as intense as a full course of architecture. Multimedia artist is also a possibility; there are a lot of options.

Is it common for architects to build plans for clients who don’t end up building the house? I often see renderings in architect portfolios but fewer finished products

That's not uncommon. Projects get canceled or can't secure financing, or the project runs out of money. Lots of things can happen. A lot of work is sometimes speculative, too, where a client is trying to get funding or approval. All these things plague residential projects as well.

My professor told me I don‘t have it. Second semester. He hates symmetry. He described me as an artist in one of the first lessions. I know I have an eye for beauty. I love shapes. But also order and fuctionality. I don‘t speak the language of architecture he says. He gave me a really bad grade. He broke me with his words. I don‘t really know what I wan‘t to hear from you guys but I thought maybe you had a similar experience and can give me some words of encouragement.

I had a professor who saw me struggling. He told me I was trying too hard to fit into a preconceived idea of what architecture was “supposed” to be. He told me to abandon that and start thinking of architecture as a communication tool to discuss ideas. Somehow it liberated me. I started enjoying architecture. I’m a licensed architect now, but I rarely work on buildings. I love my job; my primary role is to liaise with architects and introduce them to the “dialect” of my office’s specialty (which is related but adjacent to architecture). You will be able to do so much with your education that you haven’t even considered yet. Maybe that’s building structures. Maybe it’s not. But you get to decide that, not a closed-minded professor who tries to push you out of a wonderful field of study and work. Good luck; you will be fine. Keep at it.

In general, do people actually take our profession seriously? Hi All, just a question reflecting on a recent experience I have had with a friend that ties through with many experiences I have had with being an architect. In this particular situation a friend had asked me for some help with their interior design project. They informed me they found a designer, but that ‘designer’ couldn’t produce drawings and proposed unreasonable timescales. I advised against using them. My friend ignored me. 3 months down the line I’m being begged for drawings, on the same day the project is starting on site. This is clearly a disaster and as a professional I have numerous questions about how this project has been designed and tendered for, but whatever, I agree to help and contact this designer asking for all the design information on the project. This designer then calls my friend in a panic, saying they refuse to give me any drawings and my friend then tells me to back off! Walking away from this makes me think about how there is a consistent thread, that while I have delivered million pound projects on site, the people around me just won’t listen to me when it comes to architectural advice. So architects of reddit, in general, do people actually take our profession seriously? Further examples include my neighbour wanted to build a house in their garden, so I investigated and I wrote him a lengthy feasibility with all the surveys he would require; he refused to read it and kept asking me why he couldn’t just get on with it. He had protected trees in the way. I told him this. I highlighted which ones they were in the report. I referred to the legislation. He kept phoning and just asking me the same question until I stopped answering. (How do you deal with that awkwardness by the way?) My parent’s house is freezing and the walls only measure 200mm thick, but they’re insistent they have an insulated cavity wall. My FIL demanded drawings for a patio, then ignored them, thought he knew better and overruled them, telling the builder to build the slab in line with the door threshold (bye bye any vertical room for the tiles). Does anybody else have this experience or is it just me? It’s driving me mad!

From my personal experience, the problem lies with residential projects where people generally do not understand the value of hiring an experienced architect. There is a huge disconnect where people appreciate good design but do not want to pay for it. After submitting a price or giving advice, if the client doesn’t appreciate it, just wish them well and walk away. Commercial/Retail, Sports & Entertainment, and Mixed-use high-rise clients typically value an architect’s services more than the general population. They take the profession seriously and understand the advantage of an experienced architect leading the consultant team.

Finding ways to earn more as an architect. Considering the years of training, long hours and stresses of the job, I feel that architects should be better financially compensated. I’d like to just open out the question. How can we earn more? What’s everyone’s thoughts on how the profession needs to evolve to today’s world? I stumbled upon a course called architect as a developer by Johnathan Segal and found the concept interesting, does anyone have any thoughts on this.

The AIA needs to work to repeal the Supreme Court ruling that bans architects from discussing fees. That's part of the problem. Also, architects might do well to try and involve themselves in other fields where our skills and knowledge could be helpful and not be so insular. Right now, architecture is very much an elitist club. It's always been that way to a degree, but the profession may find itself the victim of technology and deregulation if we don't keep up or lead. Many in the general public view architecture as being more niche than it really is.

How can an architect earn more than the average salary? Tips and advice how to earn more as an architect? I've read that architects pay lower for the amount of the work they do. Should I do sidelines jobs? Or should I dedicate myself to architecture? Anyways I'm still a student and preparing for the future. Thanks in advance for your answers.

Focus on learning all you can about the firm you work for. Gain an understanding of all that management does right and wrong. Study how they bill and market to clients and develop relationships with the clients you work with. Prepare for your licensing exam and have your firm pay for it and the test. Save money, and then, when you are ready, make the jump and open your own office.

How many architects does it take to change a lightbulb? A: Three. One to specify it, and two to go to Italy to collect it.

One person to place it in the Revit model, a BIM manager to remove it because it was downloaded from Revit City, and another to draw it with model lines so it shows up on every plan, but on the floor plan.

Why is modern architecture so... bland? Whenever I go to the city and see medieval moor architecture or colonial-era french architecture and return to my hometown, a newly built city, I notice how everything kind of gets more blocky and bland. It makes it look worse in my opinion. I'm aware of the technology issue, that you can't make good looking buildings in as much time and cost, but wasn't that the case before too? Why is it such a problem nowadays only?

I don't think there has ever been a period with a pervading sense of ideality around building, at least in the Western world. Go back to the 19th century, there were debates about what historical style was most appropriate to revive. Go back to the 18th century, and the debate was between mannerists and strict historicists (i.e., the prevailing discussions were centered around debating the "correct" way to use the examples of classical antiquity). Go to the early 20th century; there were different competing modes of neoclassicism and an emergent camp of modernists emerging from the European avant-garde, all in tension with one another. Blocky, bland buildings are a result of a drive towards efficiency and standardization; but cheap buildings have always existed, and some of them have become treasured for their historic value. For example, many townhouse London neighborhoods were built cheaply and efficiently. Go to Bedford Square, and you'll see the 18th-century equivalent of today's high-end developer housing: rows of identical buildings made with similar components, made mostly out of what were then the cheapest available materials. Since that time, the world has only become more standardized, and the pressure that capitalism exerts on the built environment has only become greater; so perhaps buildings today are blander than ever before. But history also has a survivor bias. Buildings that survive for longer periods of time tend to be better built or notable. I think many of the "bland" buildings that survive from history take on a certain charm because of their age and older construction. Today, there are similarly many incredible and mid-quality projects being built that will probably stand for hundreds of years. Though anecdotally, on a personal level, I will agree with you that the great mass of non-iconic buildings being built today do exude a kind of cheapness that ends up enveloping entire neighborhoods/cities. We also have to keep in mind that there is more construction happening right now than at any point in history, so any circumstances affecting building and design in the present day are going to feel all the more prevalent and inescapable. tl;dr 1. There's never been a time in history with "ideal" architecture 2. Standardization and globalization 3. Capitalism 4. History has a survivor bias 5. There's just more "stuff" and at a faster pace being built in the present day than ever before

What is wrong with our architecture? [removed]

I think there might be a problem with his insights. He is comparing classical architecture (probably the best examples, or the ones that have stood the test of time, etc.) to borderline average contemporary architecture, completely ignoring the existence of any really great contemporary architecture. Also, he completely forgets that an architect in this case is a super small cog within the system. Contractors, clients, city laws, etc., could be equally blamed. Historically, great buildings took decades to build. Now it is expected to open within a year, while the architect is the one forced to cut corners the most. There is nothing wrong with the architecture; something is wrong with the people.

Is it acceptable to use Legos to make models? I've always seen other materials being used to construct models but would Legos be a legitimate option to use as well? I am a big lego fan and it's a pastime I've had for years

If a big name unveiled a model made of Legos, he would probably be lauded in the journals as a genius. But as a beginner, you will have your ideas pulled and sent for a nap. They might be good for drafting your thoughts so you can follow up with sketches and a real model. They might also hinder your thinking. Does Lego hire architects? Maybe a career path to think of.

I hate (most) of my university projects (advice needed) In a year I will be graduating and my portfolio is empty and/or full of garbage (except for some okay interior design work), all I think about is how can I make creative projects to enrich my portfolio all by myself; should I go to random empty lots around my city or other places and develop some ideas for buildings like houses, schools, clinics, restaurants, stores,etc? What else can I do to enrich my portfolio flex my creative muscles which have been torn down by severe episodes of depression, anxiety and burnout.

Working on potential sites in the city and doing competitions is a good idea, but you can also rework your university projects to improve them. If they are as bad as you say, what feedback did you get from your tutors? Was it because of time that the quality suffered? Did you not like the brief? Did something else happen? If you can find what you don’t like, you can also work on improving it. Edit: To make a note, I also hated all my projects right after submissions. It is a combination of being more knowledgeable by the end of it to understand all that went wrong, and having looked at the project for way too long. So, a break away from it may also help give you some perspective on exactly what is going on. I am sure it is not as bad as you think, but even if it is, there are things you can do about it. :)

Grad school in architecture (life rant) Not really sure if this the right place for this, but heres my issue: I’m currently in my 4th year at a CSU majoring in business (concentrating in accounting) and will graduate spring 2023. I’ve changed my major so many times and I thought accounting would be a good fit for me, but honestly I don’t think I’ll be satisfied being an accountant my whole life and I don’t really like any other business concentrations my school offers. I have been interested in architecture for a while now, but I’m still not 100% sure if I would want to go down this path. I never really considered it because my school doesn’t have an architecture program (closest I think is civil engineering - just way too much math!). I definitely know for sure though that I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in business and I am not attracted to any other majors at all whatsoever. A lot of my friends tell me I should consider real estate, but I think maybe I should just graduate with my bachelors, build a portfolio (side note: there’s a grad prep program in LA that I saw online that helps with this), and apply for a masters in architecture. I would love to here anyone’s thoughts about this situation!

So my thought here would be you could finish your business/accounting degree and then look for work in office management for architecture firms or developers. There you would be able to experience the business side and decide if you'd like to pursue being an architect. A plus would be that you get experience managing a business and winning work/networking, which honestly could get you more opportunities than being a young designer. If you go this route, I would try to build skills in various Adobe programs and take on some self-directed graphic design or marketing type projects.

[Ask] Should we try to challenge the idea that we have to work more than 40 hrs/week just because that has “always” been expected of us? I’ve been working in architecture for about 4 years now. I love architecture and I love what I do. I truly enjoy most of what I do everyday. However, while I willingly put in more than 40 hours if necessary; I despise the fact that our profession seems to think it’s perfectly fine and “normal” to set unrealistic dates that force us into overtime. We work to live, we don’t live to work. I think the perspective that architects should expect to put in more than 40 hours on a regular basis is outdated and is detrimental to our personal lives. Therefore it is something that we need to challenge and excise from the profession. Does anyone else feel this way? Or should those of us who feel this way just look for another profession?

Should we try? I do it every day, unless something is really urgent. Then, and only then, am I willing to stay longer. During the interview, I specifically asked how a regular workweek looks. The response was 40 hours a week. Something obviously smelled fishy, as the interview was at 7 p.m. in the office on a Friday, and everyone was still there. Fast forward six months; I'm still the first one to leave work every day after eight hours, no fucks given. There were a couple of stunned looks early on from other employees that I don't fold to peer pressure and try to "shine," especially as a new coworker. There has to be a healthy balance between work and personal life. Shit, even eight hours in an office in front of a computer is too unhealthy and unnatural.

Is drawabox good for a total beginner? I have seven days of experience. Every time the course mentions beginners it seems like they have far more experience than me. Is this a good first learning course for someone with literally zero experience?

Lesson 1: Don't compare yourself to others, or you'll suffer for no reason ;) And I mean, the course starts literally with drawing a line, so yeah, it's for beginners ;)

hello everyone I need to know if anyone followed draw a box lessons without drawing other stuff along the way and got a good results??

I wonder why you just want to do Drawabox and nothing else; at least do Proko/figuary/etc. also, that way you're getting exposed to more things. For example, I have been doing DAB and started working my way through Proko's videos. Then I found RadioRunner's Curriculum for the Solo Artist and have been following that. I don't feel like drawing my own stuff yet, though, so I have just been watching Kim Jung Gi, Miss Jisu, Karl Capinski, etc., drawing videos and building up a Pinterest of images that inspire me or I want to use as references later (mostly models' heads (for when I try Ahmed's 100 head challenge), skulls and skeletons for reference, old cars and motorcycles, cool stills from movies and TV shows I like). I also started Robert Marzullo's Head Master Class course, and he recommends doing skull studies so you have an understanding of the underlying structure of the face and head, so I have done 1 or 2 a day. I think doing just DAB would burn me out, especially after the dissection lesson. I was pretty beat after that, and then I realized there is the 25 texture challenge, and my heart sank. But I said, "Well, I'll just do one a day, and 25 days later I'll be done." It means I'm doing DAB slower than I could be, but hopefully, by the time I finish, I'll have built up a well-rounded skill set. Eventually, I will draw for fun, but I just haven't felt like it yet.

Are you allowed to submit better homeworks or does that defeat the purpose? I already submitted my homeworks for lesson one so whatever answer I get here, it will be used for the following homeworks onwards as I cannot fix my submission anymore But basically: as we go through these lessons we obviously improve, I myself found that when I first started the ghosted lines I could hardly hit the final point and sometimes not even the starting one But as I finished the last homework, the organic perspective one, I found out that I did indeed manage to develop some sort of muscle memory or skill or whatever the name in english for it is, that allowed me to both be able to almost perfectly hit the two points nearly everytime (with some margin of error of course) My lines are also straighter and I got better at superimposing lines too, being able to superimpose up to 4 lines on top of each other before going to space with the next one So the question is: Are we allowed to go back to an earlier homework and redo it with our new skills before submitting them, or are we supposed to keep the homework done when it was done for the first time to show our level of skill at that very moment in time? Thank you for your answers and as a bonus question, are we allowed to put silly jokes in our submissions? Because I like making things less serious than they should be

Keep that homework as it is, like you said, it can help show the improvement. But also, as you get further into the course, the previous homeworks will actually be used as practice, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to show how far you’ve come. Also, if you redid the course every time you improved, you would never make it to the end of the course as you’d just restart over and over, and not improve as fast as you could.

How do I know when I should move on to the next exercise? Like the title says, how do I know when I should move to the next set of excercises/homework? I might be a little slow because I can't move on to the next exercises I have at least 20 pages of Ghosted Planes and I can't stop, everytime I sit down for another drawing session my "warm ups" take 3 hours because the lines are never "straight enough" or they are a little to wobbly or a little too imprecise so I go back to the beginning for another week I've been doing drawabox since July and I *still* haven't finished the first lesson! I managed to make it to the rough perspective exercise but guess what?? The box was *a little* too wobbly and *a litte* too imprecise, so back to the beginning we go! Am I hesitating? Nop, am I drawing from my shoulder? I think so(?), am I rotating the page? Probably more than necessary, am I holding the pen correctly? I have no idea! I don't know what I'm doing wrong and it feels like I'm losing my mind because I feel so incredibly stupid for failing at a single straight line When should I call it quits and say "well I tried"? I'm sorry this is so long, I'm just very frustrated I would appreciate any advice at this point.

Your question suggests that you may have missed, or perhaps forgotten, what is explained in Lesson 0—so I strongly urge you to go back through Lesson 0 in its entirety, but especially this video, which stresses the fact that you should not be grinding your exercises until you're satisfied. You complete the amount of work that is assigned, get feedback on it, and then once the person or people giving you feedback feel you're demonstrating a good understanding of how to approach the material, then it becomes part of your warmups.

I have all the time in the world, is drawabox for me? Hello, I am unsure where to ask this so I will try asking here. From what I can understand from a few of the introductory and information videos about drawabox, it is somewhat designed for people who aren't able to commit 100% of their time on drawing. I on the other hand am in a period of my life where I am able to do that, and so I am wondering if this course is fit for me. Considering I am able to commit 100% of every day to drawing, what if I "complete" the next lesson before the 14 days have passed since last submitting homework? Should I just keep doing the current lesson over and over again, should I explore other courses until I can submit again, or something else entirely. Thanks for any advice on this issue, and I apologize if I have simply misunderstood the whole course or something lol.

This course is not a race; it is a journey. If you try to finish it as quickly as possible, you will burn out pretty quickly. In the past, I started this course twice with the intention of finishing it as fast as I could, and I abandoned it both times. This time, I went slowly and consistently; I've already gotten much farther than before, and I see improvement in my skills. I would say that this course is for those who want to acquire fundamental skills and understanding of drawing—something that is probably taught in professional art schools, but I don't have the option to go to such a school, and I'd rather learn at my own pace. Probably the most important lesson in this course is called the "50/50 rule." It basically says that for every hour you spend learning and doing assignments, you have to spend an hour drawing just for yourself. Those who fail to finish this course are usually those who did not follow the 50/50 rule. Because you can spend years learning theory and doing exercises, but if you're not using it in practice, you will not get far. This course will not teach you how to make beautiful art; it will teach you how to take a pen and draw anything you want without hesitation.

How boring is drawabox? Should I return back to it, if I already gave up on it. A long time ago I tried to do drawabox, i gave up on it and I went straight to figure drawing. I did make some progress in figure drawing, but i forgot everything after a period of mental blocks and just a lack of motivation. I know how to draw with my shoulder, I know how to draw some basic shapes, i don't know anything other than that. The reason I gave up is the same reason I gave up learning from art books, it's just boring and I don't know what to focus on or study. I can't force my self to learn something, it literally gives me mental blocks. Should i try to do drawabox again, I want to get better at art but I fear I'll just give up again.

It is astonishingly boring. Not even kidding, I'd estimate that the completion rate for this course is below 1%. That being said, I did see improvements in perspective after stuff like the 250 box challenge and the texture analysis exercise. They seemed to help with observation skills, so it's helpful, but really, really, really boring.

help i'm 15 and in high school.i'm interested in drawing but i have a class in technical drawing found drawabox by coincidence a while ago i'm through the lessons quickly and i hate when someone tells me what to learn (no one did but ihave to learn to draw to get good grades ) and i love drawwing can someone help me even though i don't know why i came here. sorry but my english is kinda bad so excuse me for any mistakes. also i finished the lines section but should i continue and i'm also intersted in concept art and drawing mechanical things

You need to stop looking at it as "being told to" and start seeing it as "help being offered." Not just for this, I'm not trying to be a mom or anything, but that attitude will do more damage than good in your life, and I know at 15 it's cool to be arrogant and aloof, but keep it in mind, OP, the faster you grow out of it the better.

Will I be able to start learning Human Anatomy after i finish all lessons in drawbox course? I want to be a self thought 2d animator,right now I'm focusing on Improving my drawing skills ,I was kinda confused on when to start learning human anatomy,should I begin to learn human anatomy right after I finish all the drawbox lessons or should I brush up my basics even more before starting a vast topic such as anatomy,btw I do know a little bit of figure drawing but they lack the anatomy and details.

If you want to animate, you should be following an animation course and animating *right now*. There are no prerequisites; you do not need a baseline drawing skill to animate. You don't need an in-depth knowledge of anatomy to animate a person either. The fundamentals of animation are going to give you a lot more mileage than knowing the insertion points of muscles. Animating a few balls in different ways will get you closer to being an animator than studying an anatomy book. Draw a Box is about learning how to draw with form and with confidence. It is not about drawing appealing pictures; it's not about proportions, anatomy, or animation. Form and confidence will help animation, but it is not animation. Until you start animating, you will not even know how to apply your drawing skills to animation. If you are holding off on animating until your drawings are better, it's going to be really demoralizing when you start. Because you will quickly realize that the skills are not 1 to 1, and the time you spent preparing would be better spent doing. That aside, learn anatomy whenever you want. Like I said, there are no prerequisites. And please, do not wait until you finish all the DAB lessons to do something else. I love DAB and Uncomfortable, but these lessons can take you months to finish. Study other topics in between lessons.

Can ANYONE learn to draw even someone like who has sucks at it and dont have much imaginations ? As far as i can remember i always tried to draw but always everytime i was discouraged because i sucked greatly at it and didnt have much imaginations. Seing some people greatly good at it without doing much practice didnt help either. Are there people here who actually were bad and were able to improve and become somewhat decent ?

Yes. Check out my Instagram at MacGuffDraws and see what a year of dedicated practice will do. It was always my dream to draw '90s-style comic books, and I always thought, "I don't have enough talent to draw those kinds of things," but with tons of practice, I got myself to a point where I can honestly say, "I know how to draw." I started in my late 30s. ANYONE can learn how to draw. Drawing isn't a talent thing; it's a hard work and consistent practice thing.

Finding Inspiration for the 50/50 Rule I started DrawABox ages ago but had trouble keeping up with it due to a busy schedule. I wanted to restart it when I have some time, but I'm having trouble with executing the 50/50 rule properly. I'm a total beginner with drawing, and I actually quite enjoy drawing badly for fun, but only when I have ideas in my head I want to execute (e.g. fanart of characters I like, interesting concepts from a dream, cool things I see in everyday life, etc.). When I do have those ideas, I'll spend hours just drawing. But this inspiration comes fairly infrequently, maybe once or twice a month, especially relative to how often I would want to do the lessons. For instance, if I wanted to do 15-30 minutes of the lessons daily, I would want to also do 15-30 minutes of drawing for fun daily. But I don't necessarily have enticing ideas that I want to draw daily; this makes it hard for me to do the "play/fun" part of the 50/50 rule as equally as the "learning/practice" part. I've tried apps like Sketch a Day to prompt me, but sometimes the prompts don't interest me and it feels like drawing from them is more practice than fun. Any thoughts or suggestions for this problem?

This is called "Ideation" and it's all about lists. Take out a piece of paper and list a bunch of things that you are interested in right off the top of your head. You shouldn't even have to really think about it; it's the things you enjoy thinking about every day. Examples: Horror movies, Sci-fi, Weapons, Space, Ancient Japan, Cavemen, Animals, Dinosaurs, Video Games, Mountains. Then you further specify things in those headings, i.e., Weapons - Sword, katana, rifle, Tonfa, Staff, flamethrower, any kind of weapon you like. Animals - Cat, Dog, Toucan, Hippo, Rhino, Cheetah. Include headings like "Time Periods," "Seasons," and "Time of Day" and list those out too. Once you have a big page full of headings and lists, you literally close your eyes and draw a squiggly line through all of it to see which subjects your line hits. Do that a handful of times, and you'll have a good assortment of randomized drawing scenarios *built out of things you personally like*. It's a practiced skill, so the first ideas you get will likely be lame, but the more you do it, the better they'll become. Then you start drawing those scenarios. Weird juxtapositions are where interesting ideas come from. What would it look like if a T-Rex had a laser rifle and was fighting a giant rooster in snowy mountains? If a caveman had to deal with a zombie, which weapons would he need? What would a toucan need to swim underwater? Draw it.

What should I begin with? Drawabox or Human figure? Recently I bought *Andrew Loomis' Human Figure Drawing* because I wanted to learn how to draw better and more "realistic" things with the basics like perspective, ratios, etc. But then I discovered this sub with all the lessons and everything. Now I don't know what should I do first, should I master the lessons on drawabox before going into human figure or the other way around?

You need the fundamentals, man. Some time ago, I was fooled by Jazza and other people. What you need is the fundamentals. Nothing else. And from there, things will come naturally to you. I recommend you do Drawabox and draw a shitload of boxes. Get one or two three-point perspective deep into your intuition, and watch Moderndayjames on YouTube. Have a nice day!

Is it okay to practice drawing only on the weekends? The reason why I asked this question caused I have a lot of things to do like school, homework, and distraction, so I only draw on the weekends cause I feel tired/bored when practicing drawing and just take a break from drawing for the last week cause I forgot.

You're just a teenage student; you don't need to treat drawing like a daily job. If you force yourself to draw when you're already tired from school and homework, you'll begin to hate it and avoid it. Draw when you want to. See if you can build up a little habit naturally, but don't force it.

How many people actually do the 250 box challenge? I stopped doing drawabox about half way the 250 box challenge because I got burnt out. I plan to restart drawabox from the beginning in summer vacation (im in high school). Just wondering how many people actually do the 250 drawabox challenge?

I recommend that people don’t try to rush through and crush all the boxes within a week. If you think about it, if all you do is 5 boxes a day as a warm-up, you’ll get through the 250 pretty fast without spending so much time on the day-to-day. I think people’s biggest issue is that they try to do 30 boxes one day, 10 the next, etc.

QUESTION - how long did it take until you saw improvement in perspective while doing the 250 Box Challenge

I can't remember exactly when it was, but I do remember the thing that most helped me in the end. Early on, I found I kept simply zoning out and going through the motions, which meant I wasn't getting good variety or seeing much improvement outside of a few select views. I started making a conscious effort to really visualize the boxes before I began drawing, as well as making sure I was picking varied angles and views. At first, they took longer and looked worse, but then I started to see real, useful improvement.

Is it okay to take these lessons for digital media? I see a lot of lessons done on paper, could I also do this for digital works? I think I do well on paper but not on tablets. Thoughts?

Using this course to make your digital work better? Yes. Doing this course on a digital medium? No. This course teaches you the physical and mental process of mark making. It develops these skills that can be used in any type of media. As someone who wants to *only* do digital once I gain the skills to do so, I can attest that doing it with pen and paper is absolutely the way to do it. There are so many times I make a mistake and want to "undo" it, but the ink is final. It forces me to see the mistake and think about why it happened. I have grown so much more because of pen and paper than I would have with a tablet. I have used my tablet for my non-course fun days, and there is a large difference. As a last thought, remember that we are coming here and taking an uncomfortable class. We are taking his advice and his teaching. When he gives direction in his course, it is because that's how his teachings are going to be best conveyed to the students he is not in the room with. His directions are not arbitrary or random; he cares enormously and thinks every step through. It makes your time and effort more worthwhile if you respect his teaching. You wouldn't walk into a physical classroom and tell the teacher they are wrong and you'll do it your own way. Just because this course is over the internet doesn't change the fact that we are walking into his classroom.

Is it worth it to try or am I a lost cause To explain I commited to Drawabox last week but had delay in starting due to hospital stay. I have been drawing on and off for about two years, but never commited to any sort of real practise, ither than regilar gestures. This is because it is extremely difficult to obtain drawing materials where I live and I do not have access to any courses as I do not have money to spare for it. My question arises because I, well. Commiting to drawabox is easy enough I am moving on to Elipses, but it honestly just feels hopeless at points. Even if i I can grind through drawabox, so far even doing warmups before my pixel art practise, even after two years i am positively awful at other fundamentals, EVEN at gesture. I tried some exercises yday and it was so stiff and bad I burned the paper and the exercises. Even paying attention to the other students progress made me furious cause they can add shading and hatching and I simply can not figure it out no matter what. Yes I know the theory, but it does not matter, I still dont and will probably never know to appky it. Even after a few years I am simply stuck in the same place learning wise. It makes me worried and frankly hopeless about my chances. Drawing used to be fun but now that I am not getting returns at all it just devilved into frustrating place for me. Drawabox feels doable but I am scared that doing it will be pointless in the long run since everything else feels out of reach.

So, you expected to be a good artist with no more than a week's worth of practice? You'll never improve as long as you stick to the "I can't" narrative. You're literally programming that squishy computer in your skull to make sure you self-sabotage. Start again with the knowledge that these are fundamental exercises that aren't going to pay off immediately. Don't let your inner critic win the day. Don't compare your stumbling baby stage to Olympic track stars.

Are there any testimonials to show that Drawabox.com works? Like does anyone have any before and after Drawabox works that shows a noticeable improvement?

Disclaimer: I went to art school and had been drawing since I was 15 when I started Drawabox. Here's a comparison between before lesson 1 and at lesson 4, and here's my lesson 1 submission and then my lesson 7 work. I started my Instagram shortly before I started Drawabox, and I still update it. I took longer than average to complete the course (2.5 years) because I work full time and this is just a hobby. I also did not take any other courses during that time, and I did spend a fair amount of time just drawing for myself (before the 50% rule was formalized). Despite going to university for illustration, there were certain things that I was never taught and that I never managed to intuit on my own. Drawabox helped fill in those gaps for me.

How do you deal with the 50% rule and drawing as a profession? I’ll start off by saying that I think it’s a great idea. It’s obviously very important to not just grind all the time and let your creativity flow. But how do you deal with it when drawing is already part of your occupation? I try to sketch for fun nightly (like 2ish hours) but I am also a tattoo artist and spend a decent amount of time drawing designs, mostly for clients but also just for fun. I feel like if I included the time I spend drawing designs into the 50% rule I would have to do so much drawabox to match it that I wouldn’t even have time for my fun nightly sketching. Should I just not take that into consideration when I’m trying to figure out how much time to put into drawabox? Interested to see people from other drawing professions and how they dealt with this.

Personally, I read the rule mostly as a way to prevent burnout. That is, if you practice for one hour, you make sure to play for one hour. But if you play for two hours, I would think one hour, or even half an hour of practice would still be fine, depending on your goals. As far as I've learned, one of the most important parts of efficient practice is consistency, not necessarily matching practice and fun. Of course, the more time you can spend practicing, the better. I think it all depends on what you want to achieve, but if you feel like you need those two hours to maintain your happiness, then that would be a priority for me. I have no clue if my idea matches the reason for the rule, though.

Is it okay if I do tutorial videos for the 50% rule? Basically the title. Is it okay if I do tutorials like following a tutorial step-by-step for the 50% rule, the "fun" stuff. Would it hurt my progress?

I disagree with many people on this subreddit and possibly with the Drawabox guidelines themselves. In my opinion, just do whatever you find fun, man. I believe the 50% rule is meant to prevent burnout and keep you having fun and exploring in your drawing. If those are some tutorials, go with it; if that's animal drawing at the zoo, go for it; if it's drawing from imagination, don't let it hold you back. Don't try to follow the rules too much. Most of the greats got there through passion and enjoying what they're doing, not through discipline alone.

I quit drawing shortly after starting Draw A Box and I'm wondering what to do next. I got really inspired one day following along with a Bob Ross episode with my iPad and the end result was basically "Wow I really drew that?". Both my sisters are really good artists and I've always been jealous of that so I wanted to really put the effort it and work at it. I followed a bunch of YouTube guides for different art styles and was having a lot of fun with it until I found Draw A Box. And this seemed like what I had to do. So really excited, I got all the supplies and started right away. I don't remember how far I got but I hit this point where I didn't want to draw at all. Not for fun and not for learning. I felt like if I try and draw something, and I haven't finished this course, it's pointless because it's wasted effort. But in contrast, the monotony of the course took the fun / inspiration I had before starting and every time I put pen to paper, it felt like a job. So I stopped drawing and now when I think about it, I can't find the fun in it anymore. I'm not trying to disrespect the course or anything like that. I'm just wondering if anyone else hit this same wall and what they did about it. I really want to like drawing again and get back to learning, but every time I think about it my brain says "Nah I'd rather do something fun instead". When before I was so inspired. Thanks for any input, it's very much appreciated. (I'm also not implying that becoming "good" at drawing isn't hard. Obviously it's an extremely difficult skill, this is more about losing my inspiration to try at all.)

I feel like Draw a Box is not something aimed at beginners (maybe that's just me), and that might be the issue. It might make sense to start with the fundamentals, sure, but there are different ways to go about it for different people. I experienced this with both art and music. I didn't want to drill scales; I wanted to play and get feedback on specific pieces. I wanted to enjoy it and improve. (Lol, I can only really think of Dolores Umbridge atm, and I think what she said, that we all hated, applies here: "Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged.") When it came to art, I didn't care for warm-ups, history, or composition to start. It was something that came with the passion I found for it. If your brain works anything like mine, you might benefit from keeping a separate journal to draw "that thing" you want to be good at. For me, it was eyes, and for my friend, it was forests. Draw it, and then critique it. Write down everything you would change about it, and then start all over and actually do it. As an exercise, maybe on a schedule, and definitely not every time you draw. Other times, just do that. Draw. Paint. Whatever you enjoy. When you get to a point where you are enjoying yourself, think about trying this again. Don't let yourself get burned out over it, though!

how to stop self deprecating whenever a drawing doesn't turn out well? This problem has really been plaguing me for the past 4 years, and it really prevents me from getting better in general. Each drawing has to turn out well else, the longer I go at it the chances of me giving up on it just increases exponentially, i came to the conclusion that it wasn't helpful at all long ago, yet i can't get over this no matter how hard i try. (fyi, i do go see a school counsellor.) This has caused a great deal of stagnation in my progress, and it only gets worse because the more i acknowledge how stagnant i am in my progress and seeing others get better and better, just makes me spiral into self deprecation more and more. not only that i have absolutely no idea how to get out of this rut. i would love to hear how you overcame this problem, thanks :D

Speaking as someone who suffers from the exact same issue, it is important for you to understand that this is less of a drawing problem and more of a broader mental health problem that permeates every single aspect of your life. You love drawing and want nothing else than to be good at it, but you can't help but beat yourself up for it. At a deeper psychological level, it may be that you feel that you lack self-worth, and you've subconsciously designated your drawings as a source of external worth to overcompensate for your difficulty in finding it within yourself. Finding a good therapist with whom you can talk this through is paramount. In the meantime, be kinder to yourself, and dare to piss off your inner critic by being reckless and imperfect.

Are drawing skills like "riding a bike", once you know how to do it you never forget? Or do you have to continue practicing to not lose your skill?

You don't ever really 'lose it', but you do get rusty. Riding a bike might not be the best analogy, as it's a rather simple, instinctive action that doesn't require extreme attention. Whereas I find drawing/practicing drawing to be pretty attention-demanding. If you have a long space from drawing, what I've noticed is the first few attempts after coming back to it are a bit 'shaky'. The lines feel weaker, and you need more warm-ups to feel a flow. But it's not lost—you're not 'worse' than you were permanently. And I don't think you go back to square one. Art is strangely a bit intellectual (although people dumb it down). There's lighting, shadow, perspective, proportions. Even if you're drawing a cartoon, you might be looking at a reference photo. Those parts of your brain that took all that knowledge in were probably bathed in lessons for many, many years. Vs. the simple bike ride tutorial.

About the 50% rule I’m a high school student and aspiring game developer, and I enjoy coming up with ideas for characters, that I’d hope to put into games I make. The problem is, I can’t draw very well (the best I can do are stick figures and emoji faces), so my ideas just end up being milanote pages. I don’t have a friend who can draw the characters and I don’t have the money to commission a good artist, so I want to take matters into my own hands and do it myself. It’ll help me to visualise characters I design, and it’ll also be nice to be able to come up with cool compositions for my characters. I already have the artstyle that I want to replicate, which is Spy X Family’s: https://twitter.com/shonenleaks/status/1533109097624924160?s=20&t=qsUoF46Q6ZM9VYGaH0Jlow https://twitter.com/shonenleaks/status/1534189186823376898?s=20&t=x9IxyyrfpGZOMRgkfhQgHQ Something about this artstyle seems really beginner-friendly for drawing anime style characters, and I also really love the manga and series! I plan on starting Drawabox. Today I’m the Lesson 0 videos and tomorrow I’ll start with Lesson 1. I’m on Part 3 right now and just the thought of the 50% rule scares me 😂. I want to draw characters, and if I were to do the 50% rule it would be drawing my favourite characters, but I have no anatomical knowledge whatsoever, so the premise of it is just daunting. Does anyone have advice for getting over my fear of drawing characters?

Simple things aren't always simple. Simple art styles are actually usually the hardest. Why? Because you still need to know how something is supposed to look to be able to simplify it. For example, an anime might make the face simple by making the eyes a fairly standardized shape and the mouth and nose simple lines, but you still need to know how and where they're placed in relation to each other, and how the shadows will affect its form and how the form will affect the shadows, even if you don't draw the lines. I'm not trying to discourage you, just cautioning you that unfortunately, nothing is simple. As for the 50% rule... Honestly, the biggest help I got in this regard is this: sit down for an hour, and just doodle. It can be anything—random shapes, different colors, goofy little things, even. Doodles work because you go in with zero expectations, but you still get something down on your canvas, and you may surprise yourself. You might not learn anything specific doing it, but you might learn some things. For example, if you plan on drawing digitally, you can use your doodles as an opportunity to play around with opacity, different brushes, color correction, layer modes—all kinds of things. Go in with no expectations and just doodle if you don't have anything in mind to draw or are afraid of the result. It all starts with that first line on the page, and before long you'll find yourself slipping into the zone.

rejection dysphoria, ADHD, and the 50/50 rule Hi, I’m posting here kinda because I feel like this is sort of an unusual question. I’ve been doing the drawabox course for a bit, and like most people, I’ve been struggling with the 50/50 rule. UNLIKE most people who probably have a hard with the thing itself, I’m sort of having a hard time applying the principles to my own (ADHD) brain and work. Part of the issue is that until this point I had developed a specific habit of art- That habit being, sort of just drawing whatever I want in my sketchbook and seeing it as a “success” when I manage to fill up a page. It’s worked pretty well and I’ve done lots of weird and fun things, badly, but still fun. Maybe not the highest effort but I try to just let myself do random stuff. But, for some reason, I get really attached to each sketchbook page. Not like, “oh no I dropped my sketchbook in the sewer now I’m sad” attached, but mostly I just kind of feel fond of it. Now, As part of trying to follow the 50/50 rule, I decided that along with a sketchbook I would do 1 page a day where I would tear it up after to encourage myself to just do whatever on it without pressure. So I did for the first time today, and it went really well, EXCEPT that when I tore it up it really, hurt? For some reason. I didn’t really put much effort into it or draw anything good (in fact it was all very bad) but it really hurt to tear it up. I was still fond of the drawing anyway despite them not being good I’m worried this attachment to my art will hurt me down the line, and I don’t really know what to do, especially since “hurting” myself by trying to deattach myself might turn me off of art altogether I assumed this had something to do with ADHD/rejection dysphoria but I have no idea. Should I just push through it and continue tearing up the pages, or just do the same sort of doodling/random drawing I’ve been doing each day?

You don't have to literally tear up what you draw for the 50% rule. When he says draw as if you'll tear up the paper afterward, he means to draw without any expectation it'll be good, or fear it'll be bad. Often, people struggle with the 50% rule out of fear of making something bad, but since you're already comfortable drawing outside of DaB, I don't think that's an issue you have.

DrawABox and Mental Health Problems I would like to get your opinion on a situation that may be all too common: trying to learn with mental health issues. First of all, before starting to explain my case, I would like to say I'm doing therapy and I take my mental health very seriously as many people do. So, let me begin. Last year, I rediscovered DrawABox and started my journey rediscover my joy for drawing. I know very well that drawing is not a walk in the park in any stretch of the imagination. There is much work to be done before to make real progress and we may never be satisfied with the result. That is the reality of it and we can do little to make it different. I understand it very well. I have a goal with my journey in the world of art (in special digital art) - I have a passion for character design and illustration, because I love the idea of weave intricate stories using visual media (sometimes to add to textual storytelling). Now to the meat of the situation. I have been diagnosed a long time ago with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (not our run of the mill anxiety), Persistent Clinical Depression, ADHD and Asperger - a whole bunch of problems. I don't seek advice on how to solve these problems. I know them very well and they will not go away any time soon. My goal is to seek advice from anyone that, for example, had to deal with sh\*t like this. When I began to make the lesson 0 of DrawABox I saw this piece of advice: >As the 50% rule relates heavily to mental health, I would be remiss not to take a moment to talk about **depression**. A lot of people out there will really struggle with the idea of doing something only to fail. As I've mentioned already, many of us have been taught that our value as an individual is inextricably tied to our ability to succeed, to the point where forcing yourself to fail (as this course will have you do quite a bit) can actively trigger depressive episodes. It gets that much worse when you consider how many people actively try and use art as therapy — not as part of a larger regimen under the guidance of a professional, but as their singular self-prescribed solution, and unfortunately it can make things worse. > >For those of you in that situation, **I strongly urge you to seek whatever professional support you can**. Therapy with a trained professional isn’t about changing who you are, or attempting to *fix* you. Rather, at its core, it’s about giving you the tools you need to better manage and understand your emotions, so that when you’re faced with a bad drawing, you can understand not just on a logical level, but deep within you that this does not in any way suggest that you yourself are bad. So, don’t be afraid to step away from this course, and to seek out that help. We’ll still be here when you’re better equipped. I know this is not a professional advice from a medical expert and It is written from the kindness their heart to protect people from getting worse. But, I felt pretty bad when read this. In my case, I felt like I would have to put my learning process on ice until getting better until getting better. This may never happen or may be sporadic thing. Time is a terrible foe and it won't stop for anyone. I'm not that young anymore and I know very well the value of time. I cannot wait forever for something that may never really be "good" and measure if I'm good to go is a tricky thing do. Should I drop DrawABox? I'm not exactly too anxious about everything in DrawABox. Much more about critique. I know it is unreasonable, but my mind goes places by itself. What other option do I have to continue (even outside DrawABox) my studies. I would like to say it was a very painful paragraph to read and may have caused, in part, my state of mind to shift to something undesirable from the start. Again. I want to be VERY clear that I'm not in any way blaming this piece of text for my failures or even ignoring the good advice. I'm only saying that there is much more on this subject than "go to therapy and come back later". It is very hard for me to write something for public scrutiny (much like submitting a DrawABox exercise :D), but I'll bite the bullet this time and hope for the best. Thank you for your kindness, especially from people with anxiety as myself.

I think you’re thinking too much here. Are you able to drive? If so, can you go to places you’ve never been before? I thought my anxiety and my diagnosis of permanent brain damage would prevent these things for me. To my surprise, I can function fairly well as long as I take the many failures as just data points, or GPS coordinates, rather than a failure to achieve a goal. If I get off track, I just say, “That’s OK. This isn’t my destination, but I know how to go back to the last place I was still on track.” Although I have to say that sometimes I’ll wallow in a little self-pity or self-condemnation. “You idiot! This isn’t where you were supposed to be by now! What’s wrong with you?” I kind of enjoy getting to this part because I know what’s wrong with me. I have permanent brain damage. Then I have a little internal chuckle and remind myself that all I need to do is get back on track, and the path still exists; nobody has erected some massive mountain range to keep me where I am. As long as I can ask and answer, “What’s the next step?” I can calm down and methodically retrace my route. I have to remind myself that the journey isn’t a straight line for anyone. Mine just may have more detours or be a bit more circuitous than most, but when it invariably gets me to where I want to go, it’s fine. I’ve also made a habit of looking around when off course and find that I enjoy what I see. Just continually remind yourself that this is a detour rather than a dead end. It’s only a dead end if you stop there. It works for travel as well as trying to learn something or improve something.

Haven't continued the drawabox course and it's been almost 2 weeks... I've completed lesson 1 since 1.5 - 2 wks ago and I'm kinda scared to continue since my skills might E gone to shit. I didn't have the time to work on my skills in those two weeks. Should I start getting into it by drawing fun stuff first or by trying to go straight into the 250 box challenge?

Get out of your head and just move forward. So you suck a measly two weeks after not drawing? Whatever, why do you gotta be good all the time? Fuck it, just draw some shit and get back on the horse! What's the worst thing that could happen? You do a lesson poorly? Cool, then try it again. Don't sweat the first few boxes, heck, the first 100 boxes being shit. That's why it's 250! You'll get better, no worries. You got this!

Is drawabox useful for Pixel artists? I have tried DrawABox multiple times in the past and have only gotten past lesson 1, cause in pixel art you prioritize packing detail into small spaces rather than creating multi-layered or large compostions cause you have to place pretty much every single pixel and at my skill level ^(the floor.) You ARE placing every single pixel. Nobody who has done pixel art seems to talk about if Draw-a-Box is useful for their learning of fundaementals more so than just straight up drawing alot and learning from strictly pixel-art related tutorials. Is the world of pixel art (I use Aseprite by the way.) that different from digital drawing with smooth strokes and full Anti-aliasing? You still have to use Light and shadows, form and perspective and anatomy to a good degree if you have anything more than a 16x16 pixel canvas. In essence, is at least 80% of draw-a-box useful for beginner pixel artists? Or is more pixel oriented art tutorials more important?

Drawing a box is good for learning to draw. If you’re not worried about being able to freehand lines and textures, drawing a box isn’t necessary for you. For pixel art, your time may be best spent learning about color theory, perspective, and composition. Doing studies of old-school video games would be more helpful.

People who have completed drawabox, what do you think and feel Iwant to know how all of you experienced draw a box in full. I always see people post lesson one and two, but rarely anything further. I want to know if I should get serious about this.

I finished DaB earlier this year around the summer. I think it was a great resource. I had been drawing casually for a couple of years before starting to take art more seriously this spring, and I think DaB was a good resource to start with to strengthen my fundamentals and bring more structure into my art routine. I think the way the course is structured is very good, but as the course itself claims, it's not the end-all, be-all resource for learning about perspective and construction. Rather, it's a really strong foundation to act as a stepping stone in your art journey. I think DaB works best in conjunction with other resources that go into more depth about the science of perspective, such as Marshall Vandruff's perspective lessons (personally my #1 recommendation; Marshall is a very good lecturer) and *How to Draw* by Scott Robertson (basically DaB but more in-depth). I do think it has some "flaws," especially for those who are very much beginners or are more casual artists. The sheer workload and "boring" exercises that rarely lead to a presentable drawing may be discouraging for those looking to just make pretty pictures right away. You really do have to slog through a lot of material if you want to complete the course, and just doing the course isn't enough. You have to actively figure out how to apply what you've learned to personal drawings to see that "level-up" happen. As for absolute beginners, DaB does not teach observational drawing as much. In fact, it disregards things like proportion in lessons 3-6, which is understandable in the context of DaB since it only wants you to focus on construction and not drawing pretty or accurate drawings from reference. But for people very new to drawing, it can be hard to figure out how to correctly observe reference so that you can break it down into basic forms for construction. I think having at least a little experience observing and drawing from reference before starting is incredibly beneficial. Everything said, DaB is great. It teaches you very well if you follow the instructions and think critically about what you're doing. Sorry for the wall of text. Hope my experience/opinion was helpful or at least interesting.

About to begin DrawABox, how much time should i set aside On average whats a reasonable amount of time per day to dedicate to learning the material? I go to college and have a full time job so i need to manage where to work in practice. Thanks

As a tip, please don't binge the lessons, you'll burn out. It's okay, you're learning a whole new skill, take your time. Remember the 50% rule (not only draw to get better), trust me, maybe you won't see the change immediately, but slowly you will. It's a thing that changes how you think about drawing; it's really important.

ADHD/Executive Dysfunction while trying to do draw a box. Help? Title explains it all. Last year, I started draw a box in hopes of getting better, while also taking notes in a notebook to help me remember notes. It's been pretty much a year since I did that though, and while I want to try and get back into it, I suffer from some neat things like adhd, procrastination and executive dysfunction. Anyone have any tips on how to get over those hurdles? Among that, should I start from the beginning again or do I continue where I left off?

I have ADHD and I made it through lesson 1 for the first time recently after multiple tries in the past :) Here's what I found, at least for me: 1) Drawabox can be done in small bites. It isn't very grindy (except for the 250 box challenge) and surprisingly ADHD-friendly as long as you can get started. 2) Drawabox can also be done in long, hyperfocus sessions. I've enjoyed it that way as well. Try and see which works for you, or do both. The key is not to force yourself into a particular strategy and then give up when it doesn't work. Keep experimenting to see what your brain likes. 3) Getting started (i.e., how do you decide to sit down and do a session?): this is a whole other can of worms. This involves using tools to help with executive dysfunction. I've found planning to help a lot; I've been using the Tiimo app recently and it's worked wonders. With planning, again, the key is not to view your plan as a prison, but as a helpful suggestion for what to do at various points throughout the day. For further ideas on tools to assist with executive function, I recommend "Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast". 4) Sometimes the ADHD brain needs novelty. Instead of just stopping with Drawabox when you simply can't muster the energy to start it anymore, maybe try taking a short break with another art curriculum. This tweet has a long list of potential resources for people aspiring to learn art. No pressure, and good luck!

is drawabox good for stylization? i'm learning to draw to start a comic and i found this course, it looks good but i noticed that the course seems to be very focused on realism but i like stylization a lot more, taking this course is still a good idea or i will have to look for another one?

You may want to check out this video from Lesson 0. It focuses on the fundamentals, which fundamentals Drawabox focuses on and why, and most relevant to your question, the latter half of the video talks about how those fundamentals relate to stylization.

Should I redo homework if it was done badly? I was doing rough perspective exercise and it was far more tiring and difficult than I anticipated. Mostly because my 3D ability is extremely weak and I got confused and my hand slipped a few time due to tiredness (this is reocurring in my homeworks however). The result was quite embarrasing - not really because of missing the mark on VP even though I am ashamed of that but because the boxes barely look like boxes at some point. Should I redo it? I already scrapped half of a page due to this issue and I am not sure if this is still under the "only finish specific number of pages" thing or no.

Don't worry; it's all part of learning. If you worry about this now, textures will be hell. Just don't let it get to you. This is for fun and learning, not a professional portfolio that others will be judging you on. I don't remember where Uncomfortable mentioned it, but he does mention somewhere that, give or take (and it's become my mantra with this): "The goal is to learn the basics of drawing, not to have a pretty picture to hang on your wall at the end of each lesson."

How to make it more exciting for an ADHD artist? Debating giving it a third try but the past two times my dopamine starved brain just gave up. And it's not just art in general, I've been drawing consistently for over a year. It's drawabox boring me. I've tried toughing through it and failed twice. I'm medicated but my stimulants wear off by the time of day I have time to draw by. But I want to go pro some day so I need the skills it could teach me. So, any tips on making drawabox more exciting so I can stick with it? Please be kind, I really want to make this work but the format of the course doesn't seem natural to my brain chemistry

Get a toothpick. Lick it. Dip it in sugar or salt. Maybe both if it tastes good. Everything you draw, take a taste. Try sitting absolutely still with no thoughts for 15 minutes before drawing. By absolutely still, I mean zero body movement, pretend you're dead. And because you're dead, your thoughts are also dead. Keep your eyes open while you do this. Why? The goal is to accumulate as much boredom as you can, and to give your brain a break from stimulation, making the next activity more stimulating. Like starving yourself and then eating a cracker. It's a delicious cracker because you were starving. Next, if you want a more active ritual, realize expectation is the root of all behavior. All of it. Thoughts, actions, emotions, etc. Why? Because expectation is the true name for the chemical dopamine. How do we build expectation? We fantasize. Dream. Think about. We expect when we do these things. And so, build your expectation in this way. Like a kid excited about Disneyland. Do a limited number. 50% draw a box, 50% fun. If it's only 10 minutes, draw a box for 10 minutes and then 10 minutes of fun drawing. That's all the tools I have for you. Well, I have more, but I think those are good for now. Ah, and remember, emotion is connected to motivation and hyperfixation. Get emotional over it, in the Disneyland kind of way. Heavily attach the kinds of emotions that cause you to obsess over something. If you can.

Is Drawabox good if my end-goal is to draw anime? I used to do the drawabox challenge many years ago when I wanted to learn, but I quickly got tired of drawing lines and curves, I didn't even really get to complex boxes yet. I got tired with the mind-numbing lines and soon busy with college, and gave up. I am thinking of starting again, and I know that in the end, if I want to draw for the sake of it I should doodle whatever I want from time to time; Art Fundamentals is that, the training of the fundamentals. What do you think? Is this challenge applicable or helpful for aspiring anime-type artists too? If so, how should I frame my view on all this? My (suspected) ADHD and busy lifestyle doesn't make this very easy, on top of never having been into art or anything creative besides a little music.

Yes. Drawabox teaches you some basic concepts that will help you become a better artist. The fundamentals aren’t supposed to be fun. Manga is just stylized art, but all those artists studied the fundamentals and/or practice them routinely. You honestly won’t get anywhere if you don’t practice consistently. Even if you’re busy, try your best to squeeze in some drawing time.

Is drawabox right for me? I want to start a structured drawing program, but im not sure drawabox is what I need. Ive linked my first 3 drawings as an adult, I havnt drawn since elementary school until recently. I feel like I've got a pretty steady hand and that my construction skills are maybe half as good as an actually skilled artist. Im having a hard time convincing myself to commit such an enormous amount of time into learning what appears to basically be just construction. I see a lot of people swear by Drawabox, but maybe its not what I need? http://imgur.com/gallery/pxVzcWe

Let me preface this by saying you're better than me. However, your skull drawing appears very flat despite the shading. Drawabox focuses heavily on "tricking" your audience into believing they're looking at something 3D. It focuses on perspective and things like line weight in a manner conducive to this. With that said, I think you could really benefit from it and also make insanely fast progress since you already seem to have a good eye and control, something I lack as I fumble through the lessons.

Opinion on Drawabox for a beginning artist? I know this sub may be somewhat biased, but I'm wondering what the overall opinion is of Drawabox.

I had my kids do it and they ended up hating drawing. They later came back to drawing and did more doodling and free-form drawing, as opposed to following these lessons. I think if you are mature and skill-oriented, it's fantastic for beginners. This basically means you are probably a young adult, though. For kids who enjoy novelty and exploration, it kills the fun of drawing. It's better to let them draw and trace things that excite them, and then later fix the bad habits they developed by learning these fundamentals so that they can reach the next level.

Help, feeling super lost with the 250 box challenge Here's some of my last boxes I watched the video and read the instructions many times, and I'm on box 86 now. But I feel so lost. I've tried ghosting towards the vanishing point and trying to visualize the lines, but it feels like I'm just guessing each time. It takes me about 5-10 min to do each box. At one point I started drawing 3 boxes per page (I'm using A3 divided in half) because I really needed to see the full extension of the lines. Then I find the mistakes and correct them, I even started "grading" my boxes, seeing how many lines were correct, how many with minor mistakes and how many lines were flat out wrong. Am I overthinking this? Also, my lines are terrible, I think I destroyed the only two fine liners I have so they're not a consistent weight. Then I go over them to fix, but it ends up fraying and becoming a hot mess. Did you also feel like you were just going by instinct or were you super careful? What were your "techniques"? How good is good enough? Any tips on making the lines look less messy? Help please.

You are already far beyond what's required for the exercise. Stuff like grading your own boxes and seeing which lines were wrong has helped you tons. It's really impressive you're already this far only by box #86. Just keep going until the end of the challenge. Also, remember that even with minor mistakes, a box can still look pretty darn accurate. No one will take a drawing you make and extend the lines from any box-like object to find out if you were off the vanishing point by a few degrees. They will just look at a building or desk you drew and say, "Yup, that looks 3D, alright."

For those of you who have finished this course or are half way through, what would you tell past you who was at the beginning? I’m curious what ‘mistakes’ you made or what you would change if you were to start the course again? I’m just about to start (the free one for now) and I’m super excited. Just ordering supplies today. When do the ellipses come in? Wondering if I need to order them now… Thank you!

1. You get out what you put in. Be honest with yourself about your level of effort and what you can sustain for months. Don't try to do too much at once and burn out. 2. Take what works for you and leave what doesn't. I didn't do 250 boxes all at once; I did them spaced out over several months/lessons. I found the exercise as a whole very valuable, but if I had had to sit for weeks doing nothing but boxes, I might have quit. On the other hand, don't skip over something entirely just because it's awkward or uncomfortable. I *hated* the rotated boxes exercise; it was so challenging for me. (Honestly, at the time, I didn't fully finish it.) BUT, I realized that that kind of spatial awareness was a weak point for me, and I worked on it during the 250-box challenge. Then I went back to the rotated boxes exercise and found it easier.

How long does it take to build drawing into a habit? When I first started drawing I grinded hard. I tried using drawabox and figure drawing Design and Invention and several other books to make up for time that I lost since stopped drawing for so long. I tried so hard I got burnt out. So now I'm back to using drawabox and now I'm making sure to do some exercises every day. The duration varies but I'm trying to stick with it no matter what. Build the habit and then try going in for hours at a time. I usually go between 10-30 minutes a day. I try to stick between that time frame. Am I going about this the right way? How many days of consistent practice does it take to really build this into a habit?

Draw every day. Any time is better than no time. Don't worry about when a habit "sticks"; just focus on the present and do your time for the day. Even if it's only one minute. When tomorrow comes, do your time for that day too. Take it one day at a time.

How fast should I be moving my arm when I draw lines? Just starting out with Drawabox and I'm unsure about one thing, which is the speed at which I should be moving when I draw a line. In the videos, Uncomfortable seems to move pretty quickly. But when I do that, I end up not getting a good amount of ink from the pen. It's very faded and scratchy. I also have a harder time getting the right trajectory and am more likely to have an arcing line. I seem to get the most success with lines (in terms of smoothness, trajectory, a good amount of ink, etc.) when I'm moving relatively slowly. Does the speed matter in that case? I'm pretty sure I'm using my arm correctly based on where it's getting tired. I'm a total newb, by the way. Aside from high school art classes (which were full of chicken scratch, as I'm now learning). I've never used a fine liner either.

If your best results come when you take 2 minutes to draw a single line, then that's your best. Your best results are your best results. Slow tends to be wobbly, though, and fast tends to arc. Practice at both extremes and find your happy place somewhere in between.

I want to finish. So I have been trying draw a box for like 3 years now. It seems like every time I get to boxes i lose all steam. Anything that will help with motivation.

Why are you drawing? If you're doing lesson one, it's either to strengthen fundamentals or because you're newer, right? Motivation gets people started, and dedication keeps them going. That being said, learning something new or putting in the work is hard. Your brain will fight it because it's not in your comfort zone. No one says you have to draw 250 boxes or whatever to be a good artist. Spend some time with a focused effort on learning, and spend other times doing something fun. Being consistent is more important because it keeps the pen and the art flowing. You can't get better if you stop. And if doing the box challenge makes you stop, don't do it. Do what will keep you going. You're going to end up drawing 250 boxes and more eventually anyway. I completed mine by drawing a bunch of rooms in one and two-point perspective because I felt like I had a finished product when I was done. It was more fun that way for me.

How do you stay consistent and build discipline? I hope this is the right place for this question! I’ve attempted Draw A Box a few times and always have trouble staying consistent. I can go for a good period of time but often end up falling off at some point, only to pick it up again after time has passed. I’ve been more consistent in learning other skills (writing/3D modeling) but drawing feels so touch and go. I aim to be a creature of habit and not motivation What has helped you all remain disciplined and keep working at it?

So, this one guy wanted to lose weight. He started by going to the gym. The first couple of times, he stayed for like 10 minutes, or maybe even less, and left. He kept showing up every day, and eventually, he got to doing one set and leaving. He had to teach himself to at least show up consistently. So, I'd say just do that: get all your stuff out and draw a line or a box. You don't need a guided education; you just gotta figure it out every day. Even if it's ten minutes, even if it's just lines. There's so much to learn; you're going to be taking some sort of information back from each session, so just make it a point to give yourself five minutes.

How horrible idea is to take a year for building a solid fundamentals base before joining a design (with some illustration & animation) university degree? xd That's it, I'm thinking so hard into joining this degree, however, my level doesn't go further than fundamentals of conic perspective and really basic figure drawing :P Heard that a good amount of the people that apply for the degree tend to be pretty decent at drawing so... Maybe... I won't be able to make good use of the career contents? (Maybe its not obvious but I'm particularly interested in the illustration part :c )

I actually disagree with most of the people here. I went to a design school and I don't think it was worth it, even with a scholarship. But here's the thing—the school's top three fields ARE excellent, but my major was new, and the curriculum/teachers were all over the place. If you're in doubt, DO MORE RESEARCH! DO NOT just jump into $100k+ debt. You absolutely should do a period of low-cost study before dedicating to school. I'm actually doing something similar right now in quarantine downtime—I did an Adobe Illustrator trial and a month's subscription to learn vector illustration, to see if I like it. So far...eh? But I've only spent $30 instead of $40,000 for a semester.

Can't I just start with figure drawing? Hi, I've started doing drawabox a long long time ago and it's really great! I just got really overwhelmed. I stopped doing it 7 months ago because the lesson got way too frustrating so I stopped drawing overall for those 7 months. I started with Drawabox because Uncomfortable said that it is meant to be a starting point to not get confused in subjects like figure drawing. I did expect the Drawabox course to be a lot and frustrating at times. I continued it this time but I really couldn't enjoy it and I questioned a few times if doing this course was actually necessary. This course is filled with knowledge and I recommend it to everyone! but I'd like to ask: Do I really need to do all this before I can do other things?

While Drawabox is designed to help students develop the underlying skills that make learning more advanced concepts easier, I do say upfront and center (specifically in this video from Lesson 0) that you should feel free to jump into whatever other topics interest you, as long as you accept that it will be more difficult as your spatial reasoning skills catch up. The focus is simply on not having crazy expectations and disappointing yourself by not meeting them.