Yes.

I've written about the infamous 250 box challenge over at Drawabox. I've admittedly started and forfeited the challenge a couple of times. I resisted the 50% rule at my own peril.

And I'm here to say I'm so glad I went back in and saw it to completion.

The challenge is outlined on their site, but for anyone unfamiliar, the gist is to draw boxes. In three point perspective. In ink. And extend your edges to their vanishing points.

It's a bit gnarly, which is why Uncomfortable and the community around the site are very adamant about the 50% percent rule. Even if you don't learn any technique, I think the 50% rule of balancing study with play is a fantastic lesson to carry into any practice, art or otherwise.

It's tempting to assume the reward of completing it is simply to really nail boxes. But here's what all you learn along the way:

• Improved line quality
• Comfort with failure
• Intuitive perspective
• Spacial reasoning
• Balancing play with study
• Persistence for a craft that's not easy to pick up

Best yet, these all culminate in the following lessons on drawing bugs and animals. Those lessons are where things really started to click for me as far as seeing every drawing as a combination of shapes that can be manipulated in 3D space. Even if the ultimate goal is a flat, 2D image, an understanding of 3D underneath all that makes it all the easier to play with those shapes.

I've looked at a few different avenues for getting started with drawing: Proko, Andrew Loomis, Preston Blair. I'd say, though, drawabox is where I'd recommend someone brand new start out. The material can be dense, but uncomfortable does an amazing job of starting right away with the meat of what you really need to invent with your drawings.

At this point, I'm up to the cylinder challenge, getting ready to start lesson 6 — Drawing Everyday objects. I think most folks will get the most mileage out of completing up to about where I am, but I'm excited to see how this last leg of the course builds.