Project - Get Your Tools and Start Playing
Project - Get Your Tools and Start Playing
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Drawing Basics

Getting Started

Project - Get Your Tools and Start Playing

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Course In Progress

Project - Get Your Tools and Start Playing

10K
Course In Progress

Your assignment is to get your tools. Once you have your stuff, start doodling. Make random marks on the page. If that gets boring, find something nearby and draw that. Or doodle things from your imagination. Just start drawing. Obviously, you have very little information right now to make these drawings look good, but we’ll get there. Right now a big wall that we need to start climbing over is the awkward feeling of not having control of the pencil. The way to get over that is mileage. Draw a lot!

Use the tip to draw thin lines. Can you control how light and dark the line is? Does the pencil feel different when it's freshly sharpened vs after you’ve used it for a few minutes? Use the side to draw thick lines and shade large areas. Can you make a gradation from dark to light? Is the texture of the paper showing too much? Or do you kinda like that? Try your eraser. Shade an area and erase it. Make a darker area and try erasing that. What’s the limit of your eraser? Start to play and get a feel for your tools.

If you make anything you'd like to share with your classmates, post it below. Or if you have questions about your tools, ask the community here. There are too many of you for me to help individually, so please help each other when you can :)

Submit your assignments here
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Newest
@trenton_flores
I have a bunch of materials around, so I wanted to take this opportunity to grab them all and compare them. I wanted to get a sense of the kind of marks I can get from each as well as how it feels to draw with them. I typically work digitally, but I think I want to try jumping between traditional and digital during this course. Looking forward to learning alongside you all!
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@guywhodraws
Excited to be doing this course! Didn't want to get too ambitious with this project because I still have trouble not getting intimidated with just getting something on the page. So I just took some inspiration from this lesson and other people's assignments and just doodled some random strokes and shapes!
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@trenton_flores
These are some nice shapes and forms! I can relate to feeling intimidated by getting something on the page, so great work!
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William Mclean
all i have is digital so thats what im using
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@trenton_flores
The nice thing about art is that you have so many options available to make it! Hope you're enjoying digital.
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Ryan
Been poking around Proko and other videos for a while now, mostly on iPad. Decided to borrow my partner's pencils and get a sketch pad, give it a "serious" go. I really enjoy the high H pencils...who knew you could put down so many lines without committing! I was surprised how much I enjoyed the 2B graphite stick. Looking forward to experimenting more.
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@trenton_flores
I can have a bit of a heavy hand, so I love good HB or 2H for lines that are easy to erase without leaving too much graphite behind!
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@asamusam
I’ve always been interested in drawing, since the childhood, but unfortunately never really pursued it. Now it’s the time:) i have three graphite pencils — 2H, B, 8B, and also a bunch of simple colored ones of unknown hardness. I kind of like the 8B pencil the most, at least for now.
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@trenton_flores
Hope you learn a lot in this course! Keep at it!
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Art Stark
Looks like you're all set for some fun!
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Tamir Bahar
Wasn't sure what to draw, so I tried drawing my hand.
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@trenton_flores
Nice work! One thing that's nice about drawing hands is that there's usually always a good reference close at..hand. ;)
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Bracken Hall
Trying this digitally on Procreate! Already noticed it’s very difficult to judge pencil pressure without paper texture feedback.
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Gannon Beck
Drawing on glass felt weird for me at first, too. The more you do it, the more natural it will feel.
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@asamusam
Looks nice! I didn't realize it was a digital drawing until I read the description:)
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@purplejaguar
I just did a bunch of scribbles and a few shapes here and there
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Stan Prokopenko
Nice! Looks like the tools are working :)
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Ahmed Salahuddine
Ready to roll, excited for the journey of polishing my skills and walking this path.
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Brando Gould
Great stuff! Excited to see the pear/portrait lesson when you get to it!
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Yury
29d
Let your path be full of excitement and discovers.
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Art Stark
Looking good!
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Brando Gould
Alright! Let's get into it! I've been wanting to take a basics drawing course for SUCH a long time. I have been drawing my whole life, but never got formally trained. I have a degree in graphic design, but they never placed any particular focus specifically on drawing and it has always been my dream to improve my art by becoming able to draw. We have A LOT of tools now (not just digital tablets), cameras, canva, photoshop, etc. and I know that being able to draft with precision will really up my game! Thanks to the Proko team for making these videos available! Let's get into it!
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Martha Muniz
Welcome! :D
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Nate
29d
That's awesome! I never got a degree but the Proko experience feels like art school to me. You have lessons, assignments and critiques that provide a map of tools you'll need to improve. However, the biggest advantage in my opinion is the community here at Proko and the joy of submitting artwork for your fellow students to see. I feel feedback to improve your artwork is the final piece to completing the experience of a fine art school, so I think you're gonna have a great time. Your figure sketches are really impressive and we all look forward to your future submissions.
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Yury
29d
Welcome! I wish you tons of fun!
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@igamble
Ok, I'm very excited that I found this resource. Feeling ready to get back into making art after years of not drawing and saying "I should draw" but not really knowing how to go about it anymore.
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Kevin Riedel
I feel your words, my friend! That's exactly ME :) Feels always good, to know, someone's on the same path as you are.
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Liandro
Best of luck in your adventure!
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Colin Dunphy
Hi everyone! Just getting back into learning to draw after a long period of burnout, but really excited to do this course. I've mostly worked with a mechanical pencil before, so it was great to put some time in with other pencils.
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@delightedmuse
Hello all! Here's my random mark making doodles. I've been making art for a while, but off and on. I've been feeling pretty rusty, and I'm hoping this course is motivating to be more focused. Still figuring out how to photograph shiny graphite 😅.
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Sean
2mo
I was mostly practicing lines with the overhand hold.
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Yury
2mo
I wanted to do this course for a long time. I have a fear of drawing but at the same time I want to learn. I hope it is not too late to start this course.
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Art Stark
I've got my tools and here's me playing around.
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He Li
I bought some pencils I can get in my region and tested them with lines and gradation. I also tried to draw a cube with shading (I have no idea on how to shade).
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@vdoxon
Hello everyone I tested m'y sketch Book with some pencils I have. I liké the sanguine, thé conté 1710 is difficult to tame on this paper because if thé texture, not smouth enough...thé paper is too thin for watercolour... I really like the mechanical pencil, but I have to get some 2b or 4b for dark values.... Very nice crashtest though 🤗
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Theodore Lowry
Some warm-up, material testing stuff. I don't need a critique for this :)
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Tim
5mo
I got excited and ran around the corner to a supermarket and bought whatever pencils they had. I forgot to even buy a sharpener.
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Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
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