# Learn to Draw: critique rubrics

Source: https://learntodraw.jonathanpincas.com. Read by the drawing-critique skill.

Score each rubric point for the drawing's module:

- 0: missing
- 1: partly there
- 2: clearly there

Each module also lists its "ready to move on" gate and its common mistakes. Use the mistakes to name the priority fix.

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## Module 0: Setup & baseline

Page: https://learntodraw.jonathanpincas.com/m00-setup.html

There's no quality bar. The rubric checks only that a baseline drawing is usable for comparison later. Wobbly lines and symbol-drawing are expected; don't penalise them.

### Rubric

1. Drawn in pen, with no erasing or starting again.
2. Drawn within the stated time, at normal speed.
3. Drawn from life, or the photo source is noted.
4. Photographed square-on, evenly lit, with the whole page visible.

### Ready to move on when

- The four baseline drawings (plant, building, animal, landscape) are dated, labelled and photographed.
- The kit is together and the wash test passed (ink stays crisp under wet paint).
- Seven consecutive days of ten-minute sketches are done.

### Common mistakes

- Making the baseline nice: drawing slowly, restarting or tidying up hides the real starting point.
- Waiting for a good subject instead of drawing whatever is in front of you.

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## Module 1: Line confidence

Page: https://learntodraw.jonathanpincas.com/m01-line.html

Exercises: ghosted lines into ink, blind contour, modified contour, continuous line, restate don't erase, one edge one stroke.

Blind contour drawings are meant to be distorted. For them, judge only the density and specificity of the observed edges (point 3), never likeness or proportion.

### Rubric

1. Line continuity: edges are mostly single strokes, not chains of short feathered ones.
2. Clean ends: no visible blobs or hooks where lines start and stop.
3. Observed specificity: edges show the irregularities of this particular object, not generic shapes.
4. Restatement: mistakes are corrected by restating, not erased, scribbled out or abandoned.
5. Long lines: lines longer than about 5 cm are smooth, not wobbly.

### Ready to move on when

- A page of blind contours shows slow, sustained looking, with dense and specific edge information.
- A modified contour of a plant in pen has mostly single, unhesitating lines.
- The learner is comfortable drawing small subjects straight in ink, with no pencil first.

### Common mistakes

- Hairy lines: many short overlapping strokes along one edge. Fix: ghost the stroke, then commit in one go. (Exercise: ghosted lines into ink.)
- Blobs at line ends from slow starts and stops. Fix: start moving before the pen touches down.
- Missed joins: lines stop short of corners or overshoot them. Fix: look at where the line ends before drawing it.
- Wobbly long lines from drawing with the wrist. Fix: lock the wrist and move from the shoulder.
- Symbol-drawing: lollipop trees, identical leaves, generic houses. Fix: go back to slow contour drawing.

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## Modules 2–13

Not written yet. If a drawing is for one of these modules, say that the rubric isn't available yet. Give general feedback on what's working and one priority fix, without scores.