Project - Learning to Sketch from Observation
Project - Learning to Sketch from Observation
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lesson video
Project - Learning to Sketch from Observation
courseDrawing BasicsFull course (185 lessons)
$159
assignments 3605 submissions
Rachel Dawn Owens
A VR girl of my own. I wanted to make her cooler, so I gave her a sword and a shield… and a cape.
DOWNLOADS
jpeg
Level-1-Penguin.jpg
425 kB
jpeg
Level-1-Spider-Hand.jpg
515 kB
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Level-1-VR-Girl.jpg
819 kB
mp4
project-learning-to-sketch-from-observation.mp4
121 MB
txt
project-learning-to-sketch-from-observation-transcript-english.txt
3 kB
txt
project-learning-to-sketch-from-observation-transcript-spanish.txt
4 kB
file
project-learning-to-sketch-from-observation-captions-english.srt
5 kB
file
project-learning-to-sketch-from-observation-captions-spanish.srt
6 kB
ASSIGNMENTS

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 2023

Good luck and please have some fun!

@janabouma
•
2h
I really struggled with the hand. On my first penguin, the head proportions were wrong, so I redid just the head.
Jon
•
2h
Here's my first attempts at these. I seemed to have gotten worse as I went on. I felt pretty loose and okay with the penguin. When I got to the VR girl I think I tightened up to much and was focused more on making it look like the drawing, which I didn't even do that well. In my daily drawing I attempted this exercise and it went really badly. So, I'm going to have to practice some more and the demo will probably show me some things I wasn't thinking about. This was fun but difficult. All critiques are welcome and I appreciate the feedback.
Marco UggĆØ
•
11h
First attempt at this assignment! Looking at the result now, maybe I could have been a bit looser with those sketches šŸ˜…
Melanie Scearce
I think you got the right idea with the penguin and the hand. The VR is the drawing that feels a bit tight to me. It's easy to get stuck on all those details, so you have to call back to the simplify to CSI project and think about ways you can reduce the surface detail and focus on the forms. Overall though I think you did a good job here. Nice work šŸ‘
@ebonyreyes
•
14h
Used Crayola colored pencils here. Fun and challenging exercises. I’m still a bit away from having loose tapered strokes but these exercises are helping. Great course so far!
kathryn martinez
Finally figuring out how to post in the right place. Here are 2 assignments.
@ebonyreyes
•
14h
Nicely done! Digitally drawn? Or how did you do these?
Cary
•
1d
@ebonyreyes
•
14h
I feel like you nailed the penguin! The details are great in all your drawings
joseph henry
•
1d
@ebonyreyes
•
14h
Nice job… I feel like the vr girl has the loosest line work which is great. Did you use pen?
Thom
•
2d
I seem to have an issue with sketching as per my first attempt (on the left). I keep rubbing out and trying again over and over so it ended up being another line drawing which doesn't match the brief. I tried again in red pencil and forced myself to be more freeing with my arm and also stopped myself from using the eraser completely. Then did a quick pencil line afterwards over the red. Total rush job but I definitely has way more fun the second time. I'm going to try the other 2 images next in the same way a few times over and see if I can improve.
@ebonyreyes
•
14h
I struggle with the same thing… being free with the arm and elbow. I like what you did here. Good job!
Valentina Taneva
Vanessa White
•
3d
I tried drawing out a very light sketching of the ā€œenvelopeā€ first, then drew the outline and details. I got some of the proportions (very) wrong šŸ˜‚, like the beak, the eye, the back, but I’m quite happy with the outcome. One thing I noticed that I struggle a lot in all the projects/practices, is that I don’t know where to start, even for the envelope sketching stage. Somehow I feel like the first line determines the right proportion of the overall drawing, and getting the proportion right is my current biggest struggle. Gonna try the spider hand next!
Vanessa White
•
2d
Just finished watching the demo video, I think it answered my question about readjusting my sketching along the way, and also some other problems I mentioned in my own sketches. but I also noticed I wasn’t really ā€œsketchingā€? I think I turned out to be kinda ā€œredrawingā€ all the images instead of keeping it as sketching. Like, in the demo video, I feel like his final sketches were kind of like in between my ā€œlightā€ and ā€œfinalā€ sketch. I’m thinking if it was because, like he mentioned, that I was trying to ā€œredraw the linesā€ from the references, instead of bringing out the ideas to my canvas. I think this is something I need to improve, but I also find it a bit difficult for me to get into that ā€œin betweenā€. Or is my sketching ok? (For context, my goal is mainly to be a digital artist) Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Vanessa White
•
3d
I can’t seem to get the proportion right. Another thing I noticed is that, when I draw out the actual outline, sometimes I tend to not follow my first light ā€œenvelopeā€ sketching (like I readjust the proper outlines instead of following my light outline sketching). I’m not sure if this is a bad habit? When I was drawing the ā€œenvelopeā€ light sketching, I was thinking more of ā€œok this is roughly where things should go to ensure the proportion is about rightā€. So when I draw out the actual outline, I make adjustments if anything doesn’t seem right. I’ve attached one clean sketch, and one with my envelope light sketch underneath for your reference. You can see that for certain areas, my actual sketch isn’t really following the light sketch. I’m just wondering if I should be more precise with my envelope light sketching moving forward?
@sbholt
•
4d
Pretty fun. Hand was annoying.
Sam
•
4d
Before watching the demo/critique. Still struggling with clean lines and keeping proportions/scale so not so happy with this.
Ben Kraske
•
3d
Nice work! It'll take time and practice, but making clean lines and getting proportions accurate will come more easily each time you draw! Remember to sketch lightly as you're searching for the right line, and also use the ghosting technique (going through the motion of a stroke before you actually draw it). Doing those will keep your drawing from getting lost in a lot of pencil marks. Your penguin and hand are looking good, though! Keep up the great work :)
@troelpe
•
5d
ran a little bit out of space :)
Louche
•
5d
I tried my best. These were my first attempts without the demo and the critiques. Both helped quite a bit.
@fnefearnoevil
My assignments, open to all critiques
Michael California
This one was pretty fun. I really enjoyed doing the hand!
Michał Szurgot
@morb
•
7d
Felt good about some parts of this but the hand really got me šŸ˜… I do think I'm starting to get a feel for tapering my lines though
@gavinotheelf
•
8d
Got these done. Are my sketches still too stiff?
Balaperdia
•
11d
I’ve always drawn by copying ever since I was little, and now that I’m older, I find it hard to do anything else... I try to sketch, but... this happens :(
Ben Kraske
•
10d
It can be hard to try something different to what you're used to! I think you'd benefit from practicing tapering your strokes, making sure you let the stroke follow through, and make sure you're doing it lightly before further defining the line. Focus on making longer, confident strokes -- for example, the lines on the forearm are short and choppy, and drawing to follow the flow of the arm will make it look and feel more natural. Keep it up, you got this! :)
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