Hi Proko People! If you want to develop your composing skills with me this summer, spend twelve weeks (June, July & August) in a rigorous schedule of exercises, prompts, and projects to build your creativity and design strengths. You can read more at the "Composition Bootcamp" link on my home page: https://www.marshallart.com/HOME We just finished a three-month round and it went well enough for several students to take it a second time. I hope for this summer to be the best of all, and to see you there! Marshall

Hi, I'm doing an exercise where I try to finish an illustration in 4 hours. Last year I started working on a drawing ( https://www.proko.com/s/H4dr ), that I never finished... hence the time limit. Any feedback appreciated :) I expect to be modifying the exercise as I go. At the moment my goal is to do a Tarzan drawing in a realistic style. Tarzan 1: 5 hours Graphite pencil (2h,hb,2b) on A4 paper Narrative: Tarzan chasing the gorilla who has kidnapped Jane. When I showed it to my family, they had trouble reading it. So in my next drawing my focus was to have a clear narrative. I realized graphite pencil was a slow medium for filling in tone (I hadn't covered the piece in tone by 4 hours, despite doing it in a rush), so I also switched to conté for the next piece. Tarzan 2: 4 hours Conté (B and 2B) on A2 printer paper Narrative: Tarzan preparing his spear before returning to the fight with the leopard. To summarize these 2 weeks: I feel confident in my skills, but struggle with bringing a finished drawing together. I'm happy about where the drawings were headed, but not really the final product. This might be about giving myself more time, the creation is very rushed, but I want to play around a bit more with the 4 hours to see what I can do. Up next: - Simplify more to reach a more controlled result and to have time to focus on value composition. - Mimic the style of another artist --> clear goal + learning from a pro - Use materials more efficiently Cheers!

Hello Fellow Creators. I heard something in one of Marshall’s 1994 Perspective course lectures that caught my attention, and made me curious what you all are doing in the early stages of your projects. He warned of two hazards of perspective, and the solution to one of them is to do compositional study first where you don’t think about perspective at all. That sounded great, and then in a follow up he said something along the lines of doing a compositional study - “a good abstract that carries feeling.” Yes! Magnificent!...only, what exactly does that mean? What if it doesn’t mean what I think it means, and I’m just making assumptions that won’t get me anywhere? How do you go about doing a compositional study? What is a good abstract that carries feeling? So how do you study (visual) composition? How do you do a good compositional study? Where do you recommend going to learn how to create good compositional studies? (I already have Molly Bang’s PICTURE THIS and Gabriele Rico’s WRITING THE NATURAL WAY) Thank you in advance for your suggestions and for sharing your knowledge!

Hello everyone! I made some pretty quick b/w only comps, i always find it difficult to work only with 2 values and hard brushes. Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestion for improving my comps!

Hi all first post. I am concerned the leaves guide you eyes away from the main image. I am thick skinned so any suggestions are welcome.

Hello guys! I've made some underwater compositions for a project and i'd like to know what you think about those and what's your favourite one! All the images are made pretty quickly and it's not really my confort zone (i'm more a portrait artist). Thanks and have a great day!

Hello! This is my first time posting a topic here. I made this fantasy illustration, but there is something about it that doesń´t feel right and I can’t figure out what it is. Any feedback would be appreciated!

Hey Guys! I just completed SVS learn's Creative Composition 2.0. The final assignment was to compose a scene based on this description " Quickly the little salamander scampered down to the forest floor and hid from the squirrel!" I also had to include as many elements as possible so it may feel a little chaotic but I wanted to create a pleasing composition. What do you guys think about it and what could I have done better. Please help me with it. Thank you!

Hey there, fellow artists! How r u doing? I've been studying a lot recently to level up my skills. These are some of my most recent studies. I would be extremely thankful if u could spare some insight and knowledge so I could improve my next pieces! Thanks in advance

Did anyone listen to the Draftsmen episode where Marshall introduces the book Picture This by Molly Bang? He talks about metaphor as composition... a gown is a waterfall, the stage design is like garbage, etc. I found it very inspiring. I'll attach an image that I made for a Proko challenge, where I was using metaphor prior to hearing it described that way. In the image I was going for a pleasant, mid century, Disney feeling. Everything harmonious, agreeable shapes and movements, easy, flowing. Feel free to add images in the comments where you tried to carry a consistent visual, emotional metaphor through a piece of work.

Hey guys, i've still got alot of problems to solve in this piece, but before i do, i wanted to make sure the composition and perspective elements are all working at this current stage. Does anyone have some critique for me in that regard? Thanks in advance!

Hi! My name is Pasi and I'm looking for C&C / general feedback of my work. These are just for personal use and I'm looking for to make a transition to illustrator/2d art freelancing jobs for the next year. Currently working in graphic design. - Feel free to C&C /to comment on anything - is there something, that pops out in my drawings? - do you see something (like a fundamental skill) that would really boost my art, if I learned more about? (If so, maybe you can recommend a online tutorial/education) - my style varies, do you see this as a problem? Should I be concentrating more in one style or way of drawing? I'm looking forward to dive in to this Proko community, because I know that one BIG thing what I'm really missing is network/art friends/community! I'm really alone in the north :D ps. I have been drawing more seriously about 10 years for my personal joy. I do like animation/Disney/Ghibli/books/scifi/fantasy/Tolkien/Witcher/ etc. and because I'm a father of to boys, I also like to draw children's stuff. Thanks, Pasi

I find that I am constantly creating images only to have them "short circuit" half way through. This is the latest example of this kind of problem. I work traditionally and when I get to a point like this I start to really struggle with where to go with the image. I like the moon but it's not working with the rest of the image. I know planning and underdrawings would probably help but that often feels constricting. Any ideas on keep things spontaneous without crashing so much?

Hi guys!! I never dared to integrate character and background but that day has arrived !! And this was the result. I'm quite happy but I know there are many things to improve! I accept criticism ♥ by the way, there are always ducks hiding in my work haha ♥

I did a preliminary sketch which I thought worked, but the painting does not feel appealing to me. It could be going to color or something else, I just can't put my finger on why it does not work. I know it lacks storytelling, the idea was just to be decorative. Maybe that's the problem...any suggestions appreciated.

Hey, I’ve been needing a website like this for some time. I live on an island and have no one to get feedback. I struggle with composition. I’ve just finished this painting but am curious to see what people think and how they would’ve laid it out differently. it’s of a small battle between a plantation owner and a french pirate that happened in the late 18th century. I struggled with the perspective too but I think it’s there. Anyway, please let me know.

Hi everyone! I took Marshall's composition course earlier this year and have been trying to incorporate a lot of what I've learned into recent projects. This is a piece of fan art I did based off of the lofi girl on youtube. I feel like this particular one was difficult to balance because of how many small objects are on the desk. My goal was to make it look like she was being distracted by receiving a notification on her phone. However I don't really think that "story" came across. How do you feel this piece can be improved composition-wise? Thanks!

This was my first go at drawing a big scenery with a lot of characters and without a lot of reference (I used some for poses, you might see some that I stole from Kim Jung Gi's drawings :D). I used an artist sign brush pen from Pentel. Tell me what you like about it and where I should improve. Thanks for the feedback!!

Hey all i posted the work in progress earlier. Ive taken some notes and tried to applied them. I’m currently happy with the foreground but finding it hard to place and design assets for the background. The right background is particularly hard. Let me know if you have any ideas for assets.

Hi! This is my first landscape piece in a while ,so I'm nervous to post this . This is a landscape from my graphic novel project ,which is still a work in progress. Please tell me if you see anything I could do to make it better..thanks! :)