Been experimenting with a red pencil lately so I decided to shade blobs with it. I don't think I quite get the range I need, but it was fun to try!

I feel like I’m not getting this right but I don’t know how to correct it. 🫠 gonna watch the demo and critique videos now to understand this better

Some edge practice, threw one rectangle in to practice the difference between firm and sharp edges, the firm edge used for cast shadow mostly. Looking forward to practice this in a cast like in our last project.

I started with random blobs then did a blob man.

My assignments, done in Procreate

Experimenting and enjoying...

The blobs assignment

was I supposed to do these shadows ?

My second try since I was not satisfied with the first one.

Some pebbles as warmup before the Level 2 assignments. I had a really hard time using my charcoal pen on the paper in my sketchbook, and tried smudging with eraser, finger, and stump with various results.

These are my first-ever attempts at drawing Edges and Focusing on Edges. I was experimenting to see what worked and felt right, and I wasn't entirely focusing on where the light was coming from until the last few ones. I feel like I can improve a lot, and I'm still going to experiment with Edges. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

My first attempt. This doesn’t feel right at all, but I don’t know what’s off. I would appreciate some feedback.

Trying shapes with different types of edges.

Another attempt at L1, this time with a teddy bear. I’ve gotten more used to digital painting in the meantime and tried to avoid using airbrushes/smudge tools too much. The geometry of the bear is relatively simple, but I had a hard time determining where the light would hit from imagination, especially near the indents at the eyes. So I simplified it into planes (which was a whole lot of trouble on its own), but it seems to help. I still had to meticulously determine the terminator/where each plane was facing, and at what angle it would meet with the light source. Hopefully doing that becomes more intuitive with practice. Is there a method to find the terminator of a 3d form more efficiently? Another thing I had trouble with was the subtleties within the light zone; the little value shifts caused by subtle plane changes. While I was (somewhat) able to separate the lights and darks, I found it very difficult to put more detail into the lights, so currently the light side is almost a single flat value. It’s still confusing how I can make a drawing seem like it’s popping out towards the viewer.

This was a good project to apply everything we’ve learned during past lessons. Though, actually executing different edges (especially very soft ones) was very difficult digitally. I’ve never learned to paint digitally, and since Stan approaches the project traditionally, I didn’t really know how to approach it. I used soft airbrushes/erasers and blending tools to create soft edges. Soft edges made with other brushes that aren’t inherently soft didn’t create the illusion of 3d form. I may have been overly focused on perfectly soft gradations, rather than other painting techniques that can describe soft edges without that airbrush feel. I think I’ll need to do more research on digital painting to become more comfortable with making soft edges.