level 2: box torsos from observation I tried adding some overlap lines on some of these to better show the bend/twist, but I'm not sure if I added them correctly.

level 2 tree house assignment, tried out a more elaborate design with the help of references.

level 2 seal assignment, third one is from imagination. Done in 0.5mm micron pens.

Level 2 assignments, took my time with designing the shapes and making sure the line weight is informative. I feel like the latter ones look better as I got the hang of it.

As luck would have it, I was already finishing up a line-art master study when Stan posted this assignment, so I get to be the first one to post a submission :D This is a study of one of Carles Dalmau's illustrations, who also did art for Cult of the Lamb. The under-sketch is done in ballpoint pen (because I had not planned on sharing it until this assignment was revealed) and it was drawn on top with a pilot fine-liner (about 0.5mm). Definitely learned a lot, not just about line work, but also about patience and persevering through a long drawing (granted this only took a couple of hours). Original illustration here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZxOmdIKwrp/?hl=en

My assignment for level 2, didn't have a printer so I manually copied the first one and traced the next two on top. Also drew a figurine of Dva's mech from Overwatch for the observation part.

re-did the assignment based on the feedback, tried going looser with the lines and focused on exaggerating the shapes. (I'm critique #1 btw) interestingly a lot of the searching lines don't show up that much in these photos because I did them pretty lightly.

I think a lot of people's problem with drawing from imagination is that, in order to get good looking results, you really have to understand your subject well. You need to understand the 3D structure (form) as well as how it moves and distorts. When drawing from observation, you could get away with "copying" the photo without fully understanding why it looks that way. This way you get good results even if you didn't fully understand what you were drawing. But when drawing from imagination, there's nothing to copy, so your drawings will expose all of your shortcomings and the gaps in your knowledge. This is frustrating for a lot of people (including myself), but I think as Stan said, it's an important hurdle to get past. Because you can only improve if you know what your shortcomings are and face them head on. Drawing from observation all the time (especially from photos) allows you to hide those problems away, and I think it really hinders your growth.

My character based on a blue penguin (one of the reference images can't be attached). This project made me realize creating your own poses is HARD.

Thank you so much for the feedback! I always put cross-contours in as a sort of after-thought, but as you said, they are important in describing the form accurately, so it's not good to just draw sloppy indications of the wrapping lines. I often have trouble fully-understanding the form of something I'm drawing and I think this is a big reason why! I will definitely be more careful and deliberate with my line placements now! No more rushing through a drawing and just hatching in c-curves!