Project - Rhythms
Project - Rhythms
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lesson video
Project - Rhythms
courseDrawing BasicsFull course (185 lessons)
$159
assignments 1357 submissions
Rachel Dawn Owens
A little mantra that might help some students on this one.: ’Design. Don’t copy.’
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Rhythm Project Assignment Images.zip
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project-rhythms.mp4
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project-rhythms-transcript-english.txt
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project-rhythms-transcript-spanish.txt
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project-rhythms-captions-english.srt
28 kB
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project-rhythms-captions-spanish.srt
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ASSIGNMENTS

It’s time to draw the figure! Use the rhythms method I showed in the previous lesson to draw the poses from the photo references in the downloads tab.

Deadline for submissions to be included in the video critique is 10/6/2023.

  • Capture the gesture of each pose using rhythms.
  • Spend at least 5 minutes on each pose, ideally 1-2 hours per session. Take breaks as needed.
  • Shoot for accurate proportions by eyeballing placement of the rhythms. Have an idea of where the line will end before you execute the line.
  • Use the the template as a starting point, but observe the pose. Remember that each pose might have some of their own unique rhythms that differ from the template I proposed. This will develop your own rhythms over time.
  • Balance loose, energetic lines with more committed singular lines. Don't let it get too messy. Consider what we've learned about line quality.

Level 2

There are a few ways to make this more challenging. Mix and match based on your comfort and experience.

  • Set a timer for 5 minutes to force yourself to draw only the most important rhythms.
  • If that's too easy, go for 3 minutes.
  • Practice developing the overhand grip.
  • Try charcoal pencils (sharpened like a bullet) on newsprint paper.
  • Add another layer of smaller rhythms indicating the muscle masses. You can add some time to the clock.
Balaperdia
I pick up my iPad full of enthusiasm, but as I draw, I start getting bored—and I think it shows in the drawings. I don't know if it's normal to feel bored like this, or if maybe it's my terrible linework making me feel that way; I'm caught in a tug-of-war between the iPad and the course... maybe I should just give up and switch to paper and pencil.
Melanie Scearce
I saw you had mentioned that you typically draw with pencil and paper, so maybe you might add that into your practice as well. Don't put down the iPad if you enjoy drawing on it, but it sounds like it may be causing friction in the process. Just be mindful. You don't want to become so frustrated that you burn out. Maybe you could set aside some time where you play around with some different brushes and get more comfortable with the tools.
Sebastian V.
Did a BUNCH of these until I felt like I really had it down, took a while for it to 'click' for me but I think I eventually got it and had a lot of fun getting there. I've attached the ones I did after starting to time myself. Some of the line work is a little messy and I would like to be a bit faster, but both of those should improve as I keep practicing these. Definitely going to add them to my rotation of smaller things I work on!
@verp
2d
Some newer attempts
Alireza Heshmati
I think the first one is better than the others. Over time, I became tired and careless.
@verp
3d
My very first attempts, I'm new to drawing figure. Any feedback appreciated! I can see that some proportions are wrong and I 'm able draw only contour.. and my lines are very light.
Myra Lemmond
my attempt. Could use feedback
Dana
5d
3 of several that I attempted with charcoal and newsprint. The proportions are off and the lines aren’t clean, but I still like them in spite of their imperfections. This one was fun and as Stan said, the more I did, the more fluid it felt.
Melanie Scearce
These have nice gesture. You have a good eye. Keep up the studies!
Fern
9d
I'm level one . You might be able to tell that I never draw people, which I think is pretty self-evident from my first couple of attempts. I think I'm starting to get a little bit more of a sense of figure drawing, but I definitely struggle with rhythm and movement in general because it's very hard for me to let go of getting correct proportions. I am working on it, and would love feedback on what I can do to improve. I think I just have to do a lot more of these and keep working on relaxing and accepting imperfection initially. Thank you Stan for your encouragement regarding this. It's helpful!
Ben Kraske
So far you've got a good sense of anatomy and proportion in these! For the purpose of these rhythm lessons, you really want to focus on the flow, of how different parts of the body naturally flow into each other. Let your strokes follow through, and gradually build the part of the body and connect it to the others. In your second and third drawings, the legs feel a bit stiff and disconnected from the torso. Take time and let your lines flow from the hips and pelvic area into the thighs, and observe how the legs connect to the body in the reference images. It'll start feeling more natural the more you do it, so keep on practicing and exploring the technique! Nice work!
Liam Gordon
From today. I’m apprehensive about continuing without first understanding what I need to improve upon. Thanks so much!
Melanie Scearce
These are super strong gesture drawings! I think you nailed it. I have to nitpick to give you any usable feedback other than praise. Watch out for your proportions- most look pretty good but the legs in the second drawing are a bit short compared to the torso. Moving forward, you could experiment with more exaggeration. See how far you can push the gesture. If you push it too far that's good- you found the upper boundary and can reel it back in from there.
Turbo Fish
15d
Took some weeks doing only gestures, here are some of my results. I will keep doing them daily
Gabriel
16d
Here's my lv1 submissions. I was pretty anxious about this project, but it turned out to be pretty fun and I think they turned out alright for my skill level. Tho I did these for an hour and only ended up with 5... so I think I took too long on each one. Also got a bit messy with my lines at times.
Gabriel
8d
More attemps after watching the demo and critique video, I think they are a bit better, but my linework keeps getting messy and the legs still feel a bit shorter than ideal.... but thats whats practice is for I suppose! (also tried using more curved lines since they were lacking in my previous attemps)
Ben Kraske
15d
Nice work, and I'm glad you ended up having fun with it! You're using a lot of straight lines on these, so I'd encourage you to explore utilizing some S or C lines to give some more organic flow to your figures. Another thing that'll come with practice as well is proportion, since the legs on your figures are looking a bit short. The halfway point of the body is around the pubic bone, and knowing generally where that is can help you double-check that your proportions are accurate. Keep it up!! https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/human-proportions-average-figure
Jeremy Johnson
I do have a little experience with gesture drawing from Watts (online), but admittedly, I'm quite a bit rusty since I burned myself out. Yet as I continue to strive for better results, I feel the Reily Rhythms and the rhythms demonstrated in the demo flooded back into memory. It's not perfect in terms of proportion, but I feel better about these now than before in this assignment.
@ebonyreyes
lovely work! This is inspiring
Chuck Ludwig Reina
Great work. Lots of good stuff there. One thing that really helped my proportions overall was learning to find the middle point of my figures, which I usually place around the great trochanter. I'm seeing you have a tendency to go a little larger on the upper half of the body to the lower. I used to do the same thing. Having a good midpoint in my mind really helped me quickly get my proportions in more easily. Again, nice work! l love the energy in these.
Nicholas Allott
I thought I'd do half, watch the demos and critiques and then do the second half. This is definitely one to keep practicing. Done with some combination of level 1 and 2 and both hands.
@mis_74
20d
Any feed back is welcomed and appreciated
Martha Muniz
Overall solid start! I see you're taking note of the rhythm the poses are moving in, as well as simplifying down to a good level. I do think that the amount of strokes per each line section could be reduced -- it's great that you're redoing lines to get the final correct one, but just doing it once or twice before doing your final committed line will do just fine. Your line placements are pretty solid, so there's not much need to keep redoing each line, plus this will help the clarity of your line work and help the drawing read more fluid overall. With the figures, it also helps to see if the limbs can keep the flow of the main body section (like the torso) going, and you can push their direction a bit to help reinforce that flow. Also be aware of any parallel lines, especially with limbs, as this is an area where it's easy to lose flow and make it feel 'static'. Look for ways to push more of an asymmetry, so that helps keep the rhythm going.
Jon B
23d
After a week, I decided to go back and use quick pose and limit myself to 180 seconds per pose (normally I spend 15 mins at least). Results uh... As bad as expected. Interesting to see if I do this a few times a week how things improve. Will go for a longer time next time. I literally didn't have the time to think of the techniques we learned and I'm definitely not at the point they flow instinctively. Far to easy to just fall back on replicating contours. Strangely I find the images where models are sitting/laying easier than standing. Go figure. Definitely need to refresh by watching the videos again before next session
Samuel Gariépy
Two sessions of gesture drawing using rhythms. HB pencil in my sketchbook. I'll buy some big newspaper pad and charcoal pencils later today. I tried various poses with unlimited amount of time, 5 minutes, 3 minutes and 1 minute time limits.
Samuel Gariépy
Some more gesture drawing using 8B graphite pencil and 3B pierre noire pencil on newsprint paper. I tried charcoal pencil on newsprint paper, but I get goosebumps and a real physical reaction of disgust. 3B pierre noire is mostly ok, since it's smoother, but I find it very messy and I have to sharpen it very often. I don't like working with it so far.
@justsev
27d
(Repost) L2, these poses were diabolical 💀
Balaperdia
love ur lines
Araphel
27d
I'm not sure if i'm ready for level 2 as I just started seriously drawing this month, and actually started with doing quick gestures every day for half an hour but until now nobody really told me what to look for and how to do it besides the big idea... so this was eye opening i guess? Anyway, i did five on my own and then watched the demos, drew along with Stan then did three more on my own and I think that's enough for today haah. ordered the pics in the order i drew them. they look much more faded for some reason than irl. I used a mechanical lead holder with an overhand grip to try it out!
Ben Kraske
27d
These are looking good! One thing to note is to be careful about how many lines you're putting down, and how dark those lines are. Some of these have a lot of overlapping sketch lines and the shape gets kind of lost in the scratchiness. At around 13:15 in the project video Stan talks about using multiple lines along with committed lines. Some added lines can add some energy to a pose, but it's also important to be mindful about how you're designing the lines before you put them down. Nice work on these, you've gotten the gesture and pose down on these, keep it up!
Victor
28d
It’s really frustrating to see how badly they’ve turned out. I think what makes them look so bad is the proportions. I need to practise this one more.
Ben Kraske
27d
Don't be afraid to further break up the shapes of the body, and let your lines overlap as you're drawing to help understand where and how different parts of the body connect and flow together. You're capturing the line of action for these poses very well, I would just practice more in identifying those connections and how you can build your rhythms. It might help to go back to this video and try some of the rhythms that Stan uses, and let them evolve as you get more comfortable. Keep it up! :) https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/draw-any-pose-from-any-angle-rhythms
rheannon
28d
Found this quite difficult at first but got into the flow of it after a bit, even in subsequent days [level 1]
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