Project - Learning to Sketch from Observation

13K
Course In Progress

Project - Learning to Sketch from Observation

13K
Course In Progress

Use the three reference images of clean line drawings and sketch them using simple loose lines. Don't try to match the cleanliness of these drawings. Instead, sketch them out with energetic, tapered strokes. Don't hesitate. Just practice moving your arm with confidence. If you draw some lines and then you realize that, Oh, shoot, I need to curve that more. Go ahead and just draw the new curve right over it. As you get more confident that you've found the shape, you can darken those lines and the lighter lines start to disappear. Focus on the big idea and the shapes the lines represent, rather than on each individual line. 

For you, Level 2 monster trucks, I want you to start with this Level 1 project as a warmup, and then head over to the Learning to Sketch from Imagination project page for your instructions.

If you'd like to have a chance to be included in the upcoming critique videos, you must submit your drawings below by March 9th

Good luck and please have some fun!

Newest
Robert Gould Jr
Not sure if I quite got this one right or not. I definitely focused on the details of each, and after re-reading the comments I realized this was more of CSI. I am sure there are things that are off on each of them, like for example the penguin the feet are too long and at the wrong angle. For the hand it looks like a box of hot garbage...haha! Anyway, just thought I would post my drawings. And again any critiques are more than welcome! Thanks for viewing
Blane Nasveschuk
Sketch from Observation Level 1. Need practice drawing clean circles and ellipses. Just had a bear of a time with the oval shapes of the hanging object to the right of the humanoid tech figure. Plenty of thought before actually making marks, then connected segments to darken and emphasize.
Maren
1d
something I can tell I need to work on is figuring out how to size the image to the canvas. For instance, even though I mapped out the general shape of the penguin first, I ended up going off the canvas because my spacing of things wasn’t right. I can resize easily when I’m working digitally, but that’s not an option when working on actual paper. Some instruction on that would be appreciated.
@alanel
2d
This hand was from after the demo -- my pre-demo hand looked like something from a horror movie!
Randy P
3d
My sketches from before watching the demo or critiques. After watching the critique video I think I was probably in the camp where I was still focusing on contours and CSI lines and didn’t understand the focus of this exercise was really on staying loose and searching more.
Melanie Scearce
You have great observational skills! To help you get a bit looser with your lines, keep your marks light. They should be long and gestural to begin with, and eventually you will narrow down on the correct lines.
Randy P
3d
Tried loosening it up with a few more on my own.
Yevhen Syrchin
the hand is SO frustrating. please give some advice
Melanie Scearce
Your lines look great! Very gestural. You could try the envelope approach -- it takes a bit of thought and effort upfront but gives you a framework to more easily place your lines.
@sfung608
I’m trying to not focus on how accurate each line is but sometimes I get distracted on making it look perfect and keep correcting it. :/
@yzz
5d
Really like how the arm turned out
KYMI
5d
@doodleibu
This was fun! I did these before watching the demo, felt like I was improving over time.
@doodleibu
And a rough follow-along of Stan's spidey demo, trying to be looser with the lines.
Ágúst Strand
Penguin came out wrong
Melanie Scearce
Overall pretty good. The proportions of the head and feet compared to the body are a bit off, but not by too much. Errors like that can be easily fixed before committing to a dark line, try to keep all your searching lines light until you find the correct proportions. You have very nice line quality in general here, keep it up!
@hobodios
I had a lot of fun trying out the red ink. I feel like I'm improving!
Maren
7d
Spider-Man Hand
Rachel Dawn Owens
Beautiful tapered strokes here
Victor ABELLARD
Drawing is actually so difficult 😮‍💨 but i think i'm making progress and i still enjoyed doing this assignment so that great!
@adkins77
Noah Murray
Risto Eskola
Hard to keep things sketch-like and not concentrate too much on the exactness. I'll try the imagination one next!
Melanie Scearce
Nice work, keep it up!
@ramondc98
The VR guy body is to small i think. We won't talk about the circle... The penguin and the hand... i'm happy with them
Melanie Scearce
Proportional errors can be fixed easily in the initial stages of sketching, when the lines are still light. Try to get the full image down before you start darkening your lines, that way you can check yourself before the point of no return. Overall these look good. Your lines are very neat 👍
Kaspar Kannelmäe
Gave the spider hand a go. It was really fun to draw but looking at it afterwards isn't that fun haha. But I guess it's the enjoyment of the process that really counts.
Patrick Bosworth
Really nice!
Melanie Scearce
Definitely the most important thing is enjoying the process. Doesn't matter where you start because that quality will take you far. Great job staying loose with your lines here, and proportions look good. Nice work!
Márta Kovács
I'll be honest: I was terrified to do the hand and the VR girl. But I did it, and I ended up enjoying the VR girl a lot! Sorry for the paper texture and photo quality.
Patrick Bosworth
These all look great, really nice work! Clean lines in the VR girl, keep it up!!
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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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