Project - Simplify from Observation
Project - Simplify from Observation
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Project - Simplify from Observation
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Vance Viggiano
When you can't decide on Level 1 or Level 2. I thought it might be fun to try it on gray paper. Everyone's work is inspiring! Happy to be learning with you all!
LESSON NOTES

Alright guys, let's jump into the deep end and see how you do! I feel like we've been talking a lot and not drawing enough. So, before we move on to learning about Lines, I want to give you an opportunity to spend some time doing a simplified drawing. You’re going to draw a pear or portrait if you’re doing the level 2 project. I know… A fruit isn’t the most exciting thing to draw, but it’s going to allow you to focus on the process I’m going to show you, instead of being distracted by a difficult subject matter.

This will let us see where you're at with your skills. It’s totally fine if you're at zero. Kind of expected actually. But, you'll identify right away what you struggle with. And you’ll be introduced to a lot of the skills that you’ll be working on improving in this course.

You can draw from the photos I provided in the downloads tab, or find your own fruit and draw from life. Pick a fruit that has an interesting shape you like. Put the fruit on your desk and shine a light on it. Move the light around until you like the balance of light and dark shapes. 

If you don’t want to draw the photo I provided, or you want to do more than one, feel free to find your own photo. Just make sure you choose a photo with a strong single light source that creates a clear separation of lights and shadows. Many moons ago I wrote a blog post about good photo reference.

Make sure you take a photo of it from your point of view, so you can include it when posting your drawing in the community. If you want to be critiqued by me or others in the community, we'll need to see what you were drawing. 

Join us in the premium course to get access to this lesson, full lesson notes, assignments, demonstrations and critiques!

DOWNLOADS
jpeg
level-1-pear-1.jpg
2 MB
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level-1-pear-2.jpg
2 MB
jpeg
level-1-pear-3.jpg
2 MB
jpeg
level-2-portrait.jpg
1 MB
mp4
project-simplify-from-observation.mp4
183 MB
txt
project-simplify-from-observation-transcript-english.txt
5 kB
txt
project-simplify-from-observation-transcript-spanish.txt
6 kB
file
project-simplify-from-observation-captions-english.srt
9 kB
file
project-simplify-from-observation-captions-spanish.srt
8 kB
ASSIGNMENTS

Use the reference photos in the downloads tab or go find your own reference and start drawing! Remember, this project is all about simplifying to clarify.

Make sure to keep these 3 things in mind:

Shapes - Draw your shapes with straight lines
Values - Use only 5 values. 2 in the shadow and 3 in the lights
Edges - Make every single edge sharp!

I'll publish my drawing demos of both levels next Tuesday so you can watch me go through the problem solving process. For a chance to be included in the critique videos, you must submit your drawing to the community by January 26th, 2023, so I can begin filming and producing the critique video.

Newest
@sasha_washa_25
So I tried to do pears. I did all three of them, but croissant was the first drawing( I found reference online) I am still going to do portrait just because I want to try it, I just kept forgetting to do it, so submitting these for now for the feedback. I looked over others’ work and critics of them, and I feel like I didn’t do it quite correctly, but anyway I’m open for feedback. Thank youuuuu, and I appreciate anyone who has something to say about it! Also others’ work is so good, good job everyone(whoever will see this lmao)
@sasha_washa_25
AAAAAAAA I FORGOT THE CROISSANT ITSELF, anyhow here it is. Also, I’d like to post in my profile, my gesture drawings I did today, and if someone ever sees them, please give a good feedback, I beg you stranger(: anyhow, anyhow, take care everyone!
Henar PS
4h
Here is my pear after many years without drawing, during which connecting with my creativity caused me a lot of anxiety :) I’m open to any suggestions for improvement. Thank you, and good night from Spain :)
@fiftysento
Had a go at the portrait after completing the pear.
Melanie Scearce
Very nice! You organized your values well 👍
Vincent GIL
Hi everybody ! First drawing since 25 years. What's make me happy it's that i have a lot to learn.
Panga Moise
First attempt, I tried to finish asap since we don't have to bring maximum glaze for today lol
@beezyo
1d
Third and final pear. Feels like out of the three, this came out as the worst one especially for proportion and shading.
@fiftysento
My attempt at pear 2.
Elena Didenko
Attempt on paper. So hard to keep the tones even!!!
@elizaqp
2d
Primeros intentos :D
@bmurphy
2d
My first attempt! I know it is rough, but honestly, I am pretty proud of it.
Rachel Dawn Owens
You should be proud of it! This is a fine drawing! Thanks for sharing!
@beezyo
2d
Here's Pear #2 after watching the demo. Compared to the first one I think it's proportioned better. I think I messed up some if not all the values again. Another thing, I think I could've also rounded up some parts. But I am liking this one more than the first pear
Chuck Ludwig Reina
Looks pretty good! Don't get too hard on yourself. One thing I find really helps is to draw my little 5 value scale next to the drawing and use that as a value reference. Another thing is to keep it simple! You have a few small little changes in value. Don't be afraid to groups those together. Again, looking good. Keep it up!
@underthecarpet
Tried to do in Procreate on a midlevel canvas. I struggled with the lighter tones, I’m more used to darken a white canvas. The values are a bit off as well and could have used more time, but here we go :)
@taorw
3d
Martha Muniz
Solid work, nice job!
Elena Didenko
First attempt
Slava Fast
Recently bought a screenless tablet and decided to also practice all exercises digitally, since it's completely another type of beast :D Going really hard so far, but still proud of what achieved :) Any critique or tips are always very welcomed <3
Slava Fast
After posting I immediately see that on the first photo shadow is completely off - incorrect direction :D
@mrsnooze
complete beginner here, top one is from pear 1 example and bottom is pear 2 example. Any advice is welcome, gonna go through the demo shortly
Troy Suss
i had nothing to use as reference so i stole pear 3 from the downloads, feel free to give feedback, anything you think of, even if it seems insignificant, i will gladly take all the feedback
Melanie Scearce
This is a great pear! The directional lines of the shading is a nice touch. I don't have too much to critique, but this pear is a bit on the light side. The reference image is pretty high contrast, and has dark darks and light lights, so if you wanted to be true to the light source, darkening the shadow areas would help increase that contrast. Adding in another value in the middle to help transition to the core shadow would help the form as well!
@radina_miteva
Here's my attempt at the portrait as well, found this one quite difficult
@radina_miteva
My attempt at the pear, welcoming any feedback :)
Douglas Seeley
Here's my first attempt at the pear. Kinda of struggled with seeing the values and where to place the different shades.
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