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.

Challenge yourself to draw every day for 2 weeks! See if you can get into the routine of drawing daily. Set aside a time and put it in your calendar. If you're already drawing every day, then do something to challenge yourself just a little more. Draw a bit longer, but don't go too crazy. Set a manageable goal, because this is in addition to the other project I’ll be giving you later. Everyday fill up one page with linear drawings from life. You can either go outside and draw something when inspiration hits, or find something at home and draw it. Take a photo of your objects if you can. Start by just looking at your subject for 1 minute. Imagine it as a drawing. Draw a few lines, then look, think, execute. Repeat till you're done. Each drawing can take 5-30 minutes, but don’t time them. I'll be drawing along with you guys and posting in the discussion below.

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.

June 2021 Proko Challenge with judge Karla Ortiz is here! This thread is for posting your FINAL SUBMISSIONS ONLY. Remember to upvote your favorites from other participants. We will have a community choice award :) To post your works in progress, and get the challenge details, rules, and prizes go to: https://proko.com/lesson/june-proko-challenge-my-life-movie-poster-with-karla-ortiz/notes *EDIT: This challenge is closed! Congrats to all the winners! See reaction video and winners here - This Movie Poster Art is INSANE - Karla Ortiz Proko Challenge!

It’s time to inherit some power from the masters! In this project, we’re continuing to improve your line quality by choosing a master drawing that excites you and studying the artist's use of lines.

February 2022 Proko Challenge with judge Josh Sunga is here! This thread is for posting your FINAL SUBMISSIONS ONLY. Remember to upvote your favorites from other participants. We will have a community choice award :) To post your works in progress, and get the challenge details, rules, and prizes go to:  https://www.proko.com/lesson/february-proko-challenge-odd-bots-with-josh-sunga/notes *EDIT: This challenge is closed! Congrats to all the winners! See reaction video and winners here - Odd Bots Proko Challenge Results

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!

January 2022 Proko Challenge with judge @Tiffanie Mang is here! This thread is for posting your FINAL SUBMISSIONS ONLY. Remember to upvote your favorites from other participants. We will have a community choice award :) To post your works in progress, and get the challenge details, rules, and prizes go to:  https://www.proko.com/lesson/january-proko-challenge-landscape-thumbnails-with-tiffanie-mang/ *EDIT: This challenge is closed! Congrats to all the winners! See reaction video and winners here - January Proko Challenge Results

August 2021 Proko Challenge with judge Ryan Benjamin is here! This thread is for posting your FINAL SUBMISSIONS ONLY. Remember to upvote your favorites from other participants. We will have a community choice award :) To post your works in progress, and get the challenge details, rules, and prizes go to: https://www.proko.com/lesson/august-proko-challenge-unexpected-superheroes-with-ryan-benjamin/notes *EDIT: This challenge is closed! Congrats to all the winners! See reaction video and winners here - Heroes or Zeroes? Pro Comic Artist Reacts!

April 2022 Proko Challenge with judge Madi Harper is here! This thread is for posting your FINAL SUBMISSIONS ONLY. Remember to upvote your favorites from other participants. We will have a community choice award :) To post your works in progress, and get the challenge details, rules, and prizes go to: https://www.proko.com/lesson/april-proko-challenge-favorite-book-cover-with-madi-harper/notes *EDIT: This challenge is closed! Congrats to all the winners! See written critiques and winners here - Book Cover Proko Challenge Results

Ok, before we can start, you'll need to get some tools. I’ll go into much more detail about these in the next few videos, but right now I’m gonna give you a quick shopping list, which you can also find in the lesson notes. All of these are optional except a pencil with an eraser on it, and some paper... You can get whatever looks fun to you, or all of it if you’re feeling spicy!

September 2021 Proko Challenge with judge Peter Han is here! This thread is for posting your FINAL SUBMISSIONS ONLY.  Remember to upvote your favorites from other participants. We will have a community choice award :)  To post your works in progress, and get the challenge details, rules, and prizes go to: https://www.proko.com/lesson/september-proko-challenge-reference-bash-with-peter-han/notes *EDIT: This challenge is closed! Congrats to all the winners! See reaction video and winners here - Combining Reference and your Imagination - Peter Han Proko Challenge

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.

June 2022 Proko Challenge with judge @Marco Bucci is here! This thread is for posting your FINAL SUBMISSIONS ONLY. Remember to upvote your favorites from other participants. We will have a community choice award :) To post your works in progress, and get the challenge details, rules, and prizes go to: https://www.proko.com/lesson/june-proko-challenge-sketching-light-and-color-with-marco-bucci/ *EDIT: This challenge is closed! Congrats to all the winners! See reaction video and winners here - Light and Color Sketch Tour with Marco Bucci

Proktober starts now! Throughout October if you draw and post your work in the Proko community you'll have a chance to be featured in our IG story and Twitter.  Update: Thank you to everyone who participated!

How to Draw Gesture ... but what is Gesture?

March 2022 Proko Challenge with judge Slew is here! This thread is for posting your FINAL SUBMISSIONS ONLY. Remember to upvote your favorites from other participants. We will have a community choice award :) To post your works in progress, and get the challenge details, rules, and prizes go to:  https://www.proko.com/lesson/march-proko-challenge-stylized-self-portraits-with-slew/notes *EDIT: This challenge is closed! Congrats to all the winners! See reaction video and winners here - Stylized Self-Portraits ft. SLEW (REACTION)

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.

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

In this video, I’ll give you an in depth look at what you’ll learn in my Drawing Basics course.