The first project of the Drawing Basics course is to challenge yourself to simplify the shapes, edges, and values of a pear or portrait from observation. I provide you two photo options over in the downloads tab. Being able to simplify is a very useful skill to be able to communicate clearly in your drawings.

Alright guys, this is going to be a fun one! In this project, we’ll be constructing animal portraits using basic shapes.

Now that you know about the tapered stroke and simple CSI lines, it's time to learn how to sketch! Here's your next project.

A wrap-up of the module with an assignment to apply everything you learned about facial features.

Hi everyone, I’m completely new to drawing, hoping this course will help build a good foundation, anyway this is my first attempt of assignment 1 and 2(I found level 2 deceptively difficult!) I’d love some helpful feedback!

Now that you’ve all had some time to try the first project on your own, you can watch how I do it and figure out what areas you are exceeding and struggling with. Here is my step-by-step demo on how to properly execute the first project for level 1 students.

Here’s a project to help you avoid chicken scratch. We’re going to simplify our drawings to C curves, S curves, and straight lines.

Hello out there, I am very new to drawing, currently doing the beginners course, and I am a little unsure about the paper I use. I bought this online and was a bit surprised by the roughness of the paper, but I got used to it, and kind of like it as well (It is acid-free, 100g/sm). In the attached drawing you can see that especially the thicker, heavier lines are very rough and coarse, and I don't know if that helps or not. For comparison I added an image of the regular paper I use for other stuff. I guess it ultimately just depends on what I like most, but I would still be interested if there are any suggestions for paper, or what kind of paper is used by other artists, beginners and professionals? Thanks.

Learn how to construct and place facial features, starting with the eye. Focusing on their structure, surrounding fat, and key features like the canthal ligament and tarsus plates. Considering the eye's asymmetry and how fat distribution affects its appearance, especially with age.

Gesture Tracing.

Let's make drawing boxes fun by imagining constructing mannequin hands. This method is great for practicing perspective, breaking down hands and fingers into 16 boxy segments. The goal is to improve perspective skills, not perfect anatomy. Level 2 will take it a few steps further and draw the same hands from different angles.

Let's breakdown how squinting can be used in different ways! In this lesson we're covering how to use it to find shapes.

Your next project is to shade a sphere like I did in the last lesson.

Learn to measure exact proportions using techniques like X finds the center and diagonal transfers. You will perfectly divide any foreshortened plane into accurate segments.

This project will take the doghouse demo from the last lesson and push it to the next level. We’ll be designing a more complex structure, such as an apartment building, motel, cottage, house with a granny flat, or garage. This will be the first of two gestural perspective projects, check back next week for part two!

Learn how to Draw the Head from Any Angle!

Learn how to set clear goals, track progress, and stay motivated using simple methods proven to help artists improve faster.

Alright level two-ers...Since you've already got some experience with sketching, I want to give you a bit more of a challenge to start practicing sketching from Imagination!

In this project, we'll practice measuring accurate proportions with a portrait. Using our measuring toolkit we'll break down the face into basic shapes, starting with the biggest shapes and working towards smaller details.

Philip Dimitriadis shares the "Melted Pancakes" drawing technique to explore perspective and depth using organic shapes, contour lines, and overlaps. A great exercise for practicing perspective and form.