Before and after demo. I found the information about differentiatiating between high contrast areas as opposed to areas of low contrast in shadow very useful. I noticed how freely Stan varied his line width, as well as pressure and realised that I would have found this exercise easier (or at least, made more fluid lines) if I had used a wooden pencil rather than a mechanical one. Working at an angle rather than on a flat table would also have helped me to vary my pencil strokes. Lots of food for thought, as always.

Before and after demo

First attempt at sketching these images before watching the tutorial. There are lighter, more confident areas and darker, re-worked areas where I had to keep correcting my proportions. I had to remind myself to trust my eyes and not to make assumptions when drawing the hand (by far the most challenging for me). This led to substantial corrections. The VR girl was really enjoyable to sketch. I made her torso disproportionately short compared to her legs. This occurred mainly because I didn't know where to start with the sketch, then referenced the position of the hanging screen (which could easily have been altered), rather than the legs, when drawing the torso. Conclusion........that was a ridiculous decision and I don't know what I was thinking! Will reference body proportions to other body proportions rather than random objects in the future! 🤣

Penguin. Before and after demo

One camel

Completed before watching demo- took me ages!! 🥴

Some of my daily drawings. I've tried considered and careful, and fast and loose. I've drawn most from life and some from a ridiculous perspective. I'm largely happy with most of them, save the hairdryer plug, which I would have gladly thrown through the window!! My favourite was the etching press (drawn from life), although all those ellipses drove me crazy too! More to follow.....

2/14 A chilly morning sketch waiting for the museum to open.

Day 1/14

Great little exercise, although some practice required I think. 🙂

This is the pear I attempted after watching the demo video. I like the depth of tone achieved by using the 4B and 6B Mars Lumograph Black pencils but found it much harder to control the tonal variations overall. In an attempt to better differentiate between my mid values I ended up laying on too much graphite in the darker values. I found the Mars Lumograph Black pencils more waxy than I had anticipated compared to graphite alone. This made it more difficult to achieve even shading without burnishing as I layered up. The pencils were messier to work with too. I will attempt the same sketch again but in regular graphite throughout. I expect that my darks won't be quite so dark but it will remove one element so I can concentrate better on the actual exercise.

Wow! I got myself into a real pickle over this assignment!! But, I have learned a few things: If I actually start drawing instead of worrying about all the things I need to do in order to be ready to start drawing, then I increase my odds of finishing significantly! I have spent an entire week battling with the anxiety of drawing a pear - which, as a grown-up, I completely recognise as both wildly disproportionate and ridiculous!!! So, feeling fairly confident that I may have hit upon the entire reason why I have never previously progressed with drawing,......here are some pre-tutorial pears!

My favourite tool. A retro rotary sharpener that sands both (long-leaded) wood pencils and mechanical pencil leads down to a perfect point every time. Open it up and get some gorgeous graphite powder to recycle too! 🧡

This lesson described my drawing anxiety exactly! I have been fantasising about drawing for years but always been so embarrassed and inhibited by my inexperienced efforts that I have given up repeatedly. My greatest hope for this course is that it gives me courage. My passive learning in the last 4 years has already paid dividends - I have learnt how to SEE better- but nothing replaces the sheer graft required to really improve. .....the binge watcher on the sofa....that was me.... In the spirit of bravery....here is a photo of two self portraits. The one on the left was done 4 years ago. I am currently still working on (and experimenting and exploring with) the one on the right..... Having made substantial improvements and changes even since this photo, it feels stressful to post this but while I always feel acutely aware of my deficiencies in drawing, I am also SO PROUD of how much progress I've made so far without instruction. So this is me.....reaching out to fellow (quietly self-disparaging and discouraged) learners.....let's hold fast and trust the process together. XXX

first and second attempts

First anatomy tracing assignment. I had a go without references first (cyan) then repeated the exercise whilst following the video instructions (magenta). This was a tough assignment from a standing start but I was amazed by how many landmarks and features can actually be visualised (on the right model, in the right pose, after staring until you're cross-eyed)!

I don’t know where to find the examples to draw so I have screenshots to copy. Any direction as to “where to find” would be so helpful For this total noob! TIA