I agree! They look pretty good! but practicing ovals is something I also need to get better at, Sometimes I feel like the brush i'm using just isn't what feels right, but i know it's probably just me.

Also just to follow up, if this is really challenging, perhaps take a look at the drawing basics course! I have been drawing for years and it has helped me MASSIVELY!

I had a SUPER hard time at the beginning. I think the most important parts of getting started with the robo bean are... 1. Understanding gesture. (That main line that follows the path of the head, ribcage and pelvis) This will be the starting point. 2. Seeing the left and right shift of the forms. * *So for the ribcage: Can you see more of the left or the right side of it? If yes, draw the box with the side you can see more of in perspective. This is the main thing we are training to see. Left, right or straight on. 3. Is the rib cage tilting away from us or towards us? Same idea as #2, but a little harder in my opinion. This is where you have to imagine the top and the bottom of that box and make a judgement of whether the tilt is toward/away from you. Helpful to know, if you can see the TOPs of the shoulders, thats a good indication that the tilt is towards you. To me, making sure these boxes that represent the rib cage and pelvis are accurately drawn in proportion is the most important part of this exercise, but adding the understanding of overlaps (squash and stretch) make this an even more valuable tool to understanding how to draw 3d forms on a 2d surface. It ain't easy! Hope that helps! Good luck

I don't think you are taking on "too much" by placing the boxes in here. There are a lot of great reasons to find the box. But to give a little bit of my personal experience with boxes, they are only helpful when placed in the correct position. So for example, the top corners of the box representing the hips should perfectly align with the PSIS and ASIS. this can be challenging to do from a photograph, but not impossible, We can often see at least some indication of the PSIS points or ASIS points, but usually not both so we have to go on the tip and tilt of the trochanter to accurately assess the side we can not see. The bottom of the box for the hips will align with the pubis and the triangle of the sacrum can point us in the right direction. This can be challenging but a really great exercise in seeing beneath the skin and accurately finding those landmarks so that you can place those boxes in the right place. For the ribcage, you can find the 10th rib with pokes out on the left of the model on the second photograph in your reference, and you can use the manubrium (if seeing the front of the model) to judge the tilt. I don't know of an accurate way to judge the top of the box on a model from the back. potentially at the 7th cervical vertebrae? I find these boxes super difficult to place in accurately, but what they can do is help you understand what planes of the body we are seeing.

I would say some of the things in this drawing are working well, you are clearly looking at the forms and trying to assess where the landmarks are, but also the work is a little messy. For example the head is not a perfect circle like you've indicated here, the scapula and soulders are a bit off. Try to watch the video again and really understand what bumps and indicators on the photograph are leading Stan to seeing the underlying structure of the scapula. Your overall proportions and gesture are not bad! I would just try to focus a little bit more on mark making, line quality and accuracy! Keep it up!

You have got an excellent eye for proportion! As for the critique, since the assignment was landmarks, I would make sure you are locating all of the landmarks on the front of the body in your study! Specifically, the ones I would make sure you indicate are: The manubrium, the ASIS points, and the greater Trochanter. These are really important points to see the relationships between points on the body. Great work!

well done!

great work!

i have to agree with @jverme2r , also a different tool like a pencil will allow you to make more soft forms of the ovals and then darken the are for the pinching, which will help you and the viewer understand the shape and form better! Good luck

there's no way around it, figure drawing is one of the hardest types of drawing there is. I think you honestly have a lot of great stuff here! Great job doing a lot of these. I enjoy your line work. To your point of the drawings feeling lackluster, there is a point where Stan and Marshall talk about rhythm. Rhythm is an aspect of figure drawing that takes time to learn, but it is the connection point between two seemingly disconnected things. This can be a hidden connection such as anatomy (under the skin), a curve that is behind an arm or an obstruction. We must always be thinking about the form as a composition. Where can we see these connections and rhythms? If you don't know anatomy, just try to find beautiful lines within the body positioning. maybe the chin tilts towards the left thigh, draw a swooping C curve that connets the two and see what the result is! If you do know anatomy, use it to inform where certain points have a relationship! Gesture is the action of the pose, the weight, and feeling of a pose. It often looks best with confident mark-making and emotion rather than analytical and measured marks. Take a look at Force: dynamic life drawing by Michael Mattesi. Exaggerating the pose is helpful, even the most stiff poses typically have a lean or tilt somewhere, if you can see it, push it further to exemplify it on the page! The last thing I'll say about gesture is that it can't be accomplished with the stick figure style drawings that you are bending around. The linework MUST connect exterior with interior parts of the body and can not only stick to the center line or the contour. it is a careful combination of both! Keep it up!

I really love the dedication to these studies, not just the attention to detail, but also the ability to play and have fun with exaggeration! Love the work, I hope to see more! FYI these have made it to my inspirational board!

You are doing great!!!! Things can feel difficult at the beginning, but keep going, you will learn from Stan to build confidence in pulling lines in this first section. It's okay to build up the lines with multiples strokes. To me, you are seeing quite well, the proportions are really close! I think you could spend some more time slowing down and trying to lay down clean lines that match the previous stroke. That will help clean up those scratchy lines. You can also keep a kneaded eraser close by. Line weight will also become your friend. Things will start to really crisp up when you add a little line weight here and there in your drawings to add importance and firm up the outline in certain places! But this is a great start, keep it up!

wow, proportions aside, i think your mark making is very clean and you can tell you tried to stay true to the direction of the lines of the original. as far as a critique goes, the only think i would recommend is try to create more variety in the marks, there are some really thick lines in the hair that are not as clear in your copies. This variety will make the overall piece have better contrast. Maybe experiment with the tools that you are using to see how to make a variety of different thicknesses of line before you begin the next mastercopy! but overall, great work, I think you captured the expression on the one on the right!

I would say you did a fantastic job studying the line work and the types of marks, especially in the hair!! awesome job

dang dude! you can tell your practice is really paying off!!!

this looks great!

I definitely would not agree with you! I think you were quite successful at simplifying the boots into the three line types! Great tapering strokes and as I zoom in on your drawing I can see a variety of mark making from straights to s and c curves, maybe it is just your fundamentals that were the driving force behind these decisions, but Stan admits the boots were pretty advanced for lvl 1 and I think for a lot of people they found themselves focusing on proportion more than the exercise of simplification, but I also think it’s a great lesson in letting our mind make decisions. Let yourself skew the proportion in favor of making more distinct and interesting shapes! Just my two cents! Looks amazing, keep it up I’m looking forward to seeing your future drawings