Dan Stevens
Dan Stevens
Rockville, Maryland
Podiatrist. Artist.
Dan Stevens
Asked for help
Here is another extension of the eyeballing proportions exercise. It’s just so fun taking it to a more completed stage. This is a portrait of Karen Allen’s Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark, done with HB and 2B graphite Staedtler pencil, on standard 8.5x11 75lb sketchbook paper. Any critiques are welcome. Is using a fixative recommended? Also, what are people generally using to create a more uniform/ dark background? Graphite or charcoal powder? Thanks for any feedback.
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Dan Stevens
Hey guys I did a series of 5 min and 8 min poses. Really challenging. I don’t know if more time helped me or hurt me. I feel like I’m a little heavy with searching lines. When you’re drawing against the clock you start to play mind games. Certainly fun though, I’ll try to do the remaining poses by tomorrow.
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Dan Stevens
Hi guys, I tried to eye ball proportions and take more of a hybrid approach for this portrait of Harrison Ford. I got carried away and decided to render the whole thing. Just wanted to share. Having lots of fun with the class
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Dan Stevens
Fun assignment. It’s really challenging to keep the pose and gesture loose and dynamic when you start adding a few details. It’s amazing how rigid the drawings can start to feel. I hope that some of the movement and dynamism was captured in these.
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Dan Stevens
It’s nice to see the trouble shooting process mid lay-in. I have given up on so many drawings in the past because they felt so off but likely needed a minor adjustment. Super helpful. Also interesting point on how the relative positions of certain features can make the proportions feel warped, too narrow when they’re really not, etc.
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Juice
Here is my assignment. Does someone here know how you can compare proportions like proko does in Photoshop But in procreate instead?
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Dan Stevens
Hi Juice, yea, it’s not exactly how Stan showed it but it works fairly well. Start a file with the reference photo (Layer 1). Then add a second layer by uploading an image of your drawing. Reduce the opacity of your drawing (layer 2). Select the entire layer 2 and resize as closely as possible to the underlying reference image. It’ll be the color of whatever you drew it with. I hope this helps!
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Dan Stevens
Fun assignment! Looking forward to doing more
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Dan Stevens
Hey guys! Another fun project. Love all the submissions. It’s fun to see what everyone is doing. Here are my attempts.
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Dan Stevens
Forgot the ears on the Buffalo 😬
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Anna S
I tried and tried and these are the last pages. It was fun to compare with the first ones and see the improvement. The hippo still does not want to be my friend. though.
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Dan Stevens
These look great. And ughh the hippo. We’re not friends either lol
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Dan Stevens
Hi ni, I like to watch the videos and give them my full attention, usually with a cup of coffee. I treat it like a weekly episode of a show or something. I absorb more that way. Then I'm able to think about it throughout the week/ have it the back of my mind while I'm working on personal projects. I do the assignments and then move on to whatever I want to do. Whenever I'm working on a personal project, I try to take what I've learned and begin to apply it in small areas. I also try to build on what we've already learned and not isolate to the one lesson. The lesson notes tabs are great to reference. Stan and his team take the notes and present them with graphics and everything. So with the notes tab, and the fact that the lesson is a video, I don't find the need to take my own notes. I personally think the time is better spent drawing and experimenting. You could always make small notes around your drawing. I see a lot of people doing that. Ultimately everyone is going to have their own way that works best for them. I commend you for taking notes. It's hard to do but there is certainly a benefit in doing so.
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Dan Stevens
Awesome pearl about the different planes of the pencil. Makes one simple instrument very versatile. Amazing how closely you can replicate an inking brush with one stroke of the pencil. I was sort of building my lines with a Staedtler, and while you can kind of dull the tip down and achieve some cool effects, nothing quite like a regular #2 pencil it seems. Really enjoyed watching you do this. Thank you
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Dan Stevens
Hey guys, I’m submitting 3 master studies, all done with HB Graphite Staedtler mechanical pencil. 1.) Jeff Watts skulls before the demo, 2.) Glen Keane Tarzan, 3.) David Finch Spider-Man. I found these 3 artists offered a nice mix in line variance and style. Lots of fun with this research project.
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Mon Barker
Always a ton of additional insight from these critique videos! Thanks Stan and team. A question to all - any tips on how you are structuring your practice? We’ve learned a good few fundamentals now and still the course has lots to come. I find I’m sitting down with my limited practice time (young kids, full time job mean probably average 1 hour per day) and struggling with what to do outside of the course assignments…seem to drift into extended warm-ups rather than starting any new e.g., drawings from observation. Already feels like any progress on early learnings is becoming rusty as I focus on new stuff……yes, I have given up TV and try not to spend so much time watching Proko videos on my mobile 😂
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Dan Stevens
Hi Mon, I'm kind of in the same boat. Kids/ full time job etc. Honestly, I've found that waking up at like 5:30-6am, getting that cup of coffee ready and following a long with some live stream or drawing tutorial online has been that best way to keep things moving. 45 minutes to an hour makes all the difference, and I don't feel like I'm clawing desperately for time later in the day and getting frustrated when I can't find it. We've been studying line a lot in this course recently, and I imagine we'll be moving to form, perspective and all that in the near future. Comic artist are an amazing resource to learn from. I've been supplementing this course with David Finch, Ryan Benjamin, and Jim Lee previously recorded live streams on YouTube and just draw along.
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Dan Stevens
Hello, I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but I can't seem to play the video. It loads as "completed" with the blue check with no playback option. Thanks for all that you do!
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Dan Stevens
It’s a Sunday morning in 1996. Pop tarts are in the toaster. You’re gonna stay in your pajamas all day. Life is good. Fun little throwback to show line weight in foreground, middle, and back ground. Line quality seems off and I feel like it could be better. I find it difficult to know when and how to make heavier ‘shadow’ lines without making them seem all bumpy and ugly looking
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Dan Stevens
Hey guys, here are my attempts at the line weight tracing exercise (importance, light source from image reference, and light source directly in front of and beneath the rhino). Currently working on a few sketches from observation, which I’ll try to post later.
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Anna S
I do not know if I am very late or too late, but I just finished Level 1. The hand was the easiest one for me, the pinguin was the hardest. I drew this $%&& bird 5 times because he kept looking stupid. My lines got better with each time and that's what matters.
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Dan Stevens
I agree with Andrey. The arm is great. Nice confident, straight lines with proper angles. The penguin ended up looking very nice. The lines appear a little tight/ maybe slightly hesitant. Maybe not as loose and gestural as it could be, but the lines are clean regardless. Great work!
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Dan Stevens
Here is my attempt at sketching from imagination with various references. Nerd alert. I created a Star Wars inspired Gungan Jedi. I was always fascinated with the Darth JarJar fan theory lol, so I thought I’d give it a go. This character is meant to be a light side Jedi. I wanted to give the character a sense of grace in combat, much Luke from the Mandalorian, while also trying to stay true to the ‘Drunken Boxing’ martial arts style, which gives the illusion of clumsiness and utilization of distraction techniques. The lightsaber is inspired from the various gungan weapons seen in Star Wars episode 1. Designs of the Jedi robe were taken from Boss Nass attire. It was a fun project and I learned a lot!
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Mike Karcz
Attached are my three reference images, and some sketches from my imagination. I just finished listening to one of The Witcher books and drew a scene from there - the one with the Unicorn.
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Dan Stevens
These have a ton of energy in them. The one of the horse galloping is particularly clean and pleasing to look at. Great use of gestural lines. How are The Witcher books btw? I was thinking about starting that series
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Andrey
Had a go at the 3 references provided on my iPad. The arm was a bit tricky and didn’t get the foreshortening right on the fingers. Penguin was alright, and the most fun I had was with the girl character.
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Dan Stevens
It seems like you have really good control with the pressure on the iPad. It looks like sketch on paper
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