Drawing Basics
Getting Started
Lines
Shapes
Bonus Content
Pear Critiques are here!
Critique for the portraits coming Thursday, but I recommend level 2 students watch this critique video too. I give advice and demonstrate things that should be useful to both levels.
Newest
Art Stark
22h
Coffee Critique Time: These critique videos a r e l o n g . But I'm finding them valuable. So, every morning I watch a bit of the video until my morning coffee is gone. And then I start my day. Thanks Stan.
Yury
5h
Do you think that watching those should not stop from other later videos? I feel like 4 videos without assigments a tag too many.
Jasmine
3d
Sorry it's no longer a pear. What do you think cause I like it huhu. It's messy. It's something that I struggle with for as long as I remember!! More feedback is helpful. Thank youuuuu
Edo Moya
2d
That's a nice photo to practice. Overall it shows that you understood the assignment. I think you can go bolder with your value simplification, for example the neck on the photo it's already super simple in value and shapes, but in your drawing there is a lot of complexity in that area, if you simplify that area I think you can get a better result since the neck is not the focus of the composition. Another example where you can go bolder with the values is the side of the cheek with the hair in shadows and maybe even the background, they can be the same value, but that is just personal taste I love that kind of stuff, I may be biased haha. Good work.

Tony Sandell
10d
This was great loved all the submissions and also Stan's delivery and humour

leoglt
21d
Here's my attempt After Stan's demo, chose another ref so i'm not tempted to copy his !
I'm not used to use pencils, my strokes look horrible lmao :'(
Any feedback is welcome ! :) Thank you

Jordan A
1mo
My attempt

Justin Schiff
1mo
After watching the critique, I wanted to do a more loose form based approach (on a different pear), to see if I could internalize what Proko was talking about near the end.
I think my darker midtones are still a bit lost, but the form approach seemed to help me think more about flow lines and let me be a bit more interpretive.
Jasmine
3d
This is actually amazing!!! I love how you took time to understand the form and values and stuff. Yes, I feel you could have gone darker with your darkest shadow.

Charles Hoole
1mo
When doing this was anyone else having the issue of making 2B and 4B shading more distinguishable from each other? I was finding that the 6B was significantly darker than the 4B after multiple passes with both, but it seemed like the contrast between them was significantly greater than the contrast of 2B and 4B.
Aishwarya Roy
2mo
Day 2 for simplifying observation. Feedback’s appreciated 🙂
Yury
5h
The only problem with this great drawing is that the closest part of the object and shadow are done without simplification on planes/values (aka soft edge) :-) But maybe you did not want it.

Aasiya
2mo
Critiques appreciated
Aishwarya Roy
2mo
On Day 1 after watching the tutorial.

rodakor09
2mo
Here are my first attempt, made before watching the demo and critique videos, and my second attempt, made after watching both. There are still some things I'd change, but overall I'd say it's way better!

nightfall
2mo
todays attemptt
2mo
Looks beautiful! The thing I would note is that the bounce light area (fourth value counting light to dark) on the pear is much lighter than in the original image--make sure the shadows are still shadows even if they vary in tone. The cast shadow also tapers off as it gets weaker, so you will see some of that 4th value on the edges as well.
Show all replies (1)
Christopher Lebreault
2mo
Hey everyone! Enjoyed doing this. Any crits would be great! Also wondering how to avoide smudging all over the place while drawing?
Tyia!
2mo
Hey there! Something I noticed is that the rendering seems very soft/blended together--aim for more defined edges with distinct differences between your value shapes. Looking closely, I can make out the core shadow (darkest area) on the pear, but it's difficult to differentiate it from the lighter shadow value on the left, so I think your darkest value could use darkening especially.
As for smudging, using a paper towel under your dominant hand can help mitigate it.
Hope this helps! Good work :)
amaising
2mo
Final pear I did on my own after watching the critiques tried to improve my pencil work to make it less messy and I also tried to make sure the values contrasted well, i think the fourth and fifth lightest values might still be too close but I improved a lot off my other attempts and the shape of the pear I think looks much better this time and closer to the photo !

spottcilgrim
3mo
Did a second attempt with the project. Since this was my second one (and I saw some other people doing digital), I thought I'd have fun and do an ink wash for the actual shading instead of graphite. I still am going too tall with my proportions--though this one was not nearly as badly tall as my first one :)
mariabygrove
2mo
Aw, brilliant idea with the ink wash, all the values are clearly delineated.

goldfinch411
3mo
Second try :)
2mo
Hello! The only thing I would say is to remember to keep your values consistent. You have a good value scale going for reference, but when it comes to the pear, the 2nd darkest value appears closer to the 3rd value. I find it helps to squint to compare if the overall masses in value match up between the reference and the drawing. But overall nice job, keep up the good work :)
Yanze Li
3mo
Fourth Attempts (after force me to finish half the video), Don't know whether this one is better or worse, I like this pear I draw. (purple one is the second attempts I draw earlier that I rush through with no patient)
And I realized I used 6 color, and I reupload the 5 color version

Ellie Kemp
3mo
First attempt, any feedback appreciated!
2mo
Good job simplifying the image into distinct shapes with consistent tone and accurate proportions. One thing I would note is that the values skew darker than they appear in the reference image. If you squint at the photo, take note of how most of the light section can be grouped as one consistent mass (the 2nd lightest color), with only some small highlight areas and a darker half-tone as a transition towards the shadow. Hope this helps :)

Jeremy Powers
3mo
Here is my second attempt at simplifying the pear. Any feedback is appreciated.
kara ann aoki
3mo
Drawing Basics - PEAR
• attempt #2 after watching Stan’s demo, I think it looks better than my first one
kara ann aoki
3mo
Drawing Basics - MAN
• attempt #2 after watching Stan’s demo, still had a hard time distinguishing what to simplify
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About instructor
Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.