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Bonus Content
Master Studies are one of the most effective methods for improving your art. Let’s take a look at a drawing from my instructor, Jeff Watts, and see what we can learn.
Newest

@jorniel
7d
Studied alongside the video. Im still figuring out how to use line weight so I gotta keep practising. Really enjoyed this lesson.
Aiden Yoshida
9d
Master Study of Jeff Watts before watching demo. Most of the time was spent trying to get all of the proportions correct which I realize needs much more work. Looking at Jeff's work, I felt the lines were loose and sketchy, yet precise and confident at the same time; a true sign of a master. I had lots of fun doing this project!
Yury
10d
Some practice with charcoal after watching the demo. I did not follow Stan and only looked at the reference. I made the skull a little stretched vertically. I was aware of that during drawing but went on practicing to focus on the hand movement for good lines.

@igamble
12d
Honestly the most valuable part of this course is Stan teaching ("babbling" lol) about how to learn. Having been one of those students that excelled in school, I never actually learned how to study on my own. So what I've been focusing on recently is learning how to study and learn new things, and hone the skills that got me through college but I've let atrophy in the now decade and a half since.

Scott N
1mo
Joe Shuster -Superman
This was my first drawing where I predominately used the overhand grip. I really like the lines that you can draw but I struggled with control. Has anyone got any warmup exercises that they do to make this grip more familiar?
The guy from BluishDot
1mo
Hi there!
I think you did a really nice job with the study.
Regarding the warmup exercises for the overhand grip, I think doing the ones Stan showed earlier in the course:
Page Skating
Light, Medium, Dark Lines
Straight Taper
Trace the Ruler
Connect the Dots
And simply using the overhand grip, should help you become more comfortable with it over time.

Reamon van der Horst
2mo
Bret parson aka blitzcadet is a huge inspiration for me.
I really like his absurd characters and line quality. To study his art in this way was a great challenge and really fun. Learned a lot about his drawing style and what it is that makes it stand out. So helpful!
Eruera Hohaia-Turuwhenua
2mo
Frank Frazetta is my MS.
This time I am trying to capture more of his loose curve lines and less straights. Trying to feel his flow and his confidence able to let loose with his strokes. I also like the way he uses darks in small tiny areas to give the viewer the eyes and face as the focus but some darks scattered around other areas to give balance. The Face hair flicks were extremely hard. Just recently bought Charcoal getting shipped here in a few days hopefully that would ease my flicks and taper lines better. The pencil is great too but i always hold it on the side when I draw most lines if you wanted to know Critics. Thanks guys

grant van zevern
2mo
This was daunting, but fun. I stressed about it for a while, but then I told myself that I didn't have to finish in one go, broke it down into parts, and just dove in. The artist is Peter De Seve,
2mo
nice work!
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Divya Kumar
2mo
Master studies are something that I've thought about multiple times but have never had the courage to execute. I usually give up before even starting. I procrastinate it for days and then i begin to think why am I wasting so much time on this. So, i end up switching to another reference.
How do you get over the initial fear of starting a sketch? With a reference as complicated as this one, it gets very daunting. My mind says, how can 'I' approach something which is this masterfully executed with the extremely limited skill set i have. I just don't understand where to begin. Even if i think about simplifying, there are too many things to be thinking about. Like with this one, i would have been confused with either to put down a circle for the cranium or simplify the contour using straight lines like Stan did. I understand that there could be multiple ways of approaching it but there's constantly a fear if what I'm doing is correct or not or why am i even trying to attempt something that is wayy out of my league.
I'm sure i can't be the only one. Can someone help?
Eruera Hohaia-Turuwhenua
2mo
I'm glad I'm not the only one having this problem I too am fearful and confused of this master study. I too have said the same thing I haven't got the skill set at all to approach this Frank Frazetta style. I have done a few attempts with massive fails. But Tonight I manage to do a Frank Frazetta life drawing character(doesn't look great). I did have a sneak peak at the beginning of the Demo only to figure out my problems. And wallah! Boom. Stan said practice Lines. Take the lines from the master study and just replicate the lines. That should be doable. Because the master study is actually just C curves, S curves and Straight you can just copy the lines randomly drawn on your page no need to do the master study yet. This builds confidence before you approach your actual study. Also Patrick Bosworth was helpful too. Thats how I did it! I'll be posting mine in 3 days since Im going to try a different Masters.
2mo
You're not the only one. This happens to everyone! One way to get over the initial fear of starting a sketch is to remember it's just a sketch! If it doesn't come out the way you planned, try it again using the knowledge you gained from the first attempt. It's just a study, the more you study the more you learn, and the more you learn the more confidence you'll have jumping into a blank page! Lower the stakes by allowing yourself to be in learning mode, you're allowed to make mistakes! Iteration is your friend, it will help you grow as an artist. Another way to get over the initial fear of starting a sketch is to start small with thumbnails, plan out and break down your composition before jumping into the full piece. Even something as simple as just beginning a new piece by marking an estimate of where you want the top and bottom of your composition to be on the page will help you get started making marks and adjustments. You're putting in a lot of hard work, and it shows in your posts! Don't forget to take breaks, and enjoy the process! Hope this helps!

@drawingdodo
3mo
This was the best exercise for me so far! Really cool to actually study other people's amazing artwork, and try to understand their decisions.
All the original artwork is by Ignatius Tan, if you want you can check him out here! https://www.artstation.com/muju

Bernt Bigton
3mo
I found a beautiful drawing by Andrew Loomis, and in my mind I thought it was a good choice for a study, but clearly it was way to difficult for me at this level. So I really do need this course.
Dre Torres
3mo
You actually did pretty good, you just didn't shade it.
Javi Lozano
3mo
In this case, I am studying the art of Jose Garcia, one of my favorite contemporary illustrators. I chose him because I am very attracted by his use of lines, which I think is perfect for this exercise. I tried to be as clean as possible while keeping everything learned in the rest of this course.
PS - I struggle with taking pictures of my sketchbook. I usually take it under my desk lamp, and I find it challenging to get the correct illumination (sometimes too bright when the light hits directly, or in shadow cast by the phone, etc.) Do you have any advice?

@drawingdodo
3mo
Great artist to follow for this exercise, his line work is awesome!
For advice regarding the drawing itself, I think you should have maybe a bit of a darker range, for example near the upper neck, that helps make the face pop out a bit more in the original, which might be a bit lacking in your piece. Still a great looking piece, hope you had fun!
As for taking pictures, I think you should try to find an angle that gives the biggest amount of even light. Maybe, having a lamp and pointing it upwards to not create too many cast shadows. Then, when you have the photo on the PC, you should give it a pass in an image editing software, and calibrate the curves to increase the contrast to where you feel it should be. You can see Stan actually doing it several times for some of the photos he grabs from here! You don't need Photoshop for this, there are a lot of free options to do this (Krita is a full blown drawing software, but you can also do a great deal of image adjustments there, for example).
Keep it up!
Julian Blake
4mo
I highly doubt anyone will answer this, but @Stan Prokopenko how could one do a study similar to this one you just did, but with a set of pencils sharpened with a regular sharpener and with a regular grip? Is it possible to arrive at a similar line quality without the exact tool or the exact grip? or is it better to study a different artist?
4mo
It's still possible to study aspects of it with a different tool. You just have to be mindful of the differences. Check out the next demo in the playlist. I use a regular pencil to do a study of an ink drawing :)
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@knchesmore
4mo
My study of Heinrich Kley's dancing elephant. He seems to use heavy lines in a combination of important objects as well as those in shadow.
3mo
Wonderful pick for this exercise! Good observation on line weight, it's definitely key to giving the object dimensionality and volume. Something else about Kley that I think adds a lot of the personality and style to his sketches are his searching lines, like you can see around the elephant's right shoulder or its feet. It gives the impression that he is gliding his pen across the page in exploration before tightening the final drawing, which provides great insight into his process. Practicing this can be beneficial in improving flow, line confidence, and imaginative drawing. I would also highly recommend Marshall Vandruff's series exploring Kley if his art is of interest to you: https://youtu.be/NJYnHNCmHFY
Jack
5mo
This is my attempt on the skull. There's a ton of issues with it, but because it's my first master study I'm just happy :)
5mo
Congrats, nice study! Keep up the good work!
@sheldron
6mo

@drawingdodo
3mo
Could you show us the original for reference (as well as credit to the original artist), or is this an original piece?
Martin Dubček
6mo
Ahoi. My go.
T.M. Dusablon
6mo
It definitely feels like a Watts sketch, you captured the line quality-
Tiago Silva
6mo
My study on another Jeff's drawing
Steve Lenze
6mo
Hey Tiago,
Your drawing is pretty good, the proportions are close and the gesture is nice.
As far as the rendering, you were focused on the surface details, but missed out on how Jeff rendered the bigger forms before rendering the smaller forms.
I did a quick sketch to show you what I mean, Hope it helps :)
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Sita Rabeling
6mo
Another skull study. I wanted to copy Jeff’s style, but it’s hard to get some reasonable result with just lines. So it became this after a journey with my pencil. Sorry if it’s ugly, but I learned a lot!
Steve Lenze
6mo
Hey Sita,
I notice you draw pretty well, but I think it's rendering that you need some help.
What I'm seeing is that you are making everything too close in value, creating a flat look to your drawing.
Some times when there is a lot of reflective light, people get confused and lighten the shadow side too much, which is what you did here. It's best to ignore it and just render the shadows. You have to think of the head as a box with a side, front and bottom/top.
I did a quick paintover to show you what I mean, I hope it helps you, because your drawing is pretty good, but you need to think about shading as a way to give a 3 dimensional feel to your drawings. :)
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zan
6mo
Followed along with this and did my own - *seems* like after this and after the critique video I have a better feeling for how to do these studies, but I can't quite be sure yet I'm executing well - obviously I'm off on a lot of these lines, there's still tons to learn, but I dunno does it at least look approached well? - feeling better but also not terribly confident about it and I'd love some critique.
Steve Lenze
6mo
I think you captured the proportions pretty well, good job :)
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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.