Self-Critique and thoughts so far

Seems like a good time to evaluate this system and my work so far and to record some important thoughts.

Start with ovals rather than boxes

When I start by drawing boxes I don't know how to attach arms and legs. They just sort of float next to the body or drift right inside of it. I definitely need to start with ovals, which can then be placed in directional terms with centerlines and the rest of the guidelines. Then square u as I go in order to help find the plane breaks.

Plane breaks make all the difference

I went through a bunch of peoples' sketchbooks on Conceptart yesterday and noticed most people don't seem aware of the plane breaks, and those who do have much stronger drawings because of it. It really does impart a sense of solidity that's lacking in most amateur work.

Presentation

I also noticed that some artists who don't use plane breaks still have fantastic looking art because they pay particular attention to presentation - they just have a way of making even a simple scribble look fantastic. I need to work on my presentation - most of my work looks kind of rough and raw and crude, even though the figure drawing and anatomy are pretty good usually.

My consistent proportioni problems

I tend to make the ribcage too small. I see it even in my older drawings. Remember it's supposed to be 2 full head lengths highm with the 5th rib and base of the pectorals falling at the halfway mark. On the Anatomytools ecorche the pecs are about as tall as from just above the eyebrow ridge to the end of the chin. Hogarth shows one full head height from top of acromion process to 5th rib. Oh, oops! Ribcage isn't 2 heads high, it's one and a half! It's 2 heads from top of ribcage to navel. I've been making most of my ribcages only about 1 head high, and not deep enough. 

I really need to start measuring off the figure every time.