Project - Simplify from Observation
Project - Simplify from Observation
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Project - Simplify from Observation
courseDrawing BasicsFull course (185 lessons)
$159
assignments 9105 submissions
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.

@nuritpaint
Just starting draw.
Antoine
•
1d
Hello :) Complete beginner, I would very much appreciate feedback, thanks! (this was before watching the video, I already understand my approach is wrong)
@umurgdk
•
1d
I've tried two times. I'm not that satisfied with the results though. I think the shapes doesn't really comunicate the form that much. I've tried to simplify more in the second attemp. (This is a green tomato from my garden)
Rosa Aspilcueta
Hello everyone, I would greatly appreciate your feedback and critique of my first assignment: the pear! This is the result of many attempts after watching the demo. Thanks all.
Kevin
•
1d
Things in my attempt before the critique video. I was trying to get the proportions right but I don't think I got the values correct.
Camille Varner Kolafa
For the values, you can let the lightest value be the white of the paper. I suggest swapping your current lightest value to replace the 2nd lightest instead and leaving the lightest as the white of the paper. For your pear, I see you were using the straight lines guideline on the outer edges of the pear which is great! On your next attempt, make sure you break down your values into shapes using straight lines as well.
Fraser McCormick
Hoping to do a before and an after completing this course. This is my before. I already see some errors myself, but I would love any feedback/ advice from the seasoned pros! :D thank youuuuu!
Camille Varner Kolafa
You did a good job using shape for the highlights, but didn't do so for the rest of your values. On your next attempt, try breaking down every value into clear shapes with straight lines. Looks like some of the lines on your pear's contour are a little round too, so work on keeping them straight! Using shorter lines helps when it comes to round objects.
Fiona Parker
I reattempted this assignment after I realized I didn’t do it right, feeling like I understood it much better this time, any critique is very welcome!
Ash
•
2h
This is really nice!
Camille Varner Kolafa
Looks great! Clear 5 values and shapes. I think your light shadow (the big area around the highlights) could get a little lighter, but other than that I think you nailed it :)
@gtcooke94
Here's my before and after watching the demo Big differences were using more lines and using more pencils - first was done with just a #2. I do think in my attempt to use more lines I let things get a touch more curvy. The hardest part for me is getting the shading values consist, I find it quite difficult to vary the pressure to get good distinct layers, and the lightest layers was me barely touching the page. Oh and proportions are hard 😂 Would love feedback, this is my first attempt learning to draw as an adult, and the course is reall y great!
Camille Varner Kolafa
Great job on your first attempt! It's never too late to start drawing :) I see what you mean about the difficulty in getting distinct values. The 2B and HB values look about the same. I would suggest darkening your 8B value even more to essentially try and get it to look flat, then darken your 4B and 2B values accordingly. I think your HB value is in a good spot.
Stephen Gay
Left is first attempt, right is second without watching critique video. Looking forward to some feedback!
Camille Varner Kolafa
I suggest drawing bigger! It might help if you draw a boundary box to establish the size you roughly want it to be. You did a good job of breaking the darkest and lightest values down into shapes, but the values in between are lacking that. It's a little hard to distinguish the different values, so try drawing a value box scale somewhere on your page to be able to refer to as a key. I think the light shadow and dark halftone could both get a little darker. Keep up the good work!
Soroush
•
3d
Did the assignment. First image is my first attempt and then 2nd and 3rd image is my attempt after watching the critique video. First attempt i thought i messed up so i didnt finish it and so i watched video and tried again.
Camille Varner Kolafa
Great work! I think you should try to make your darkest value darker. Right now the drop shadow and the bottom of the pear almost blend together because they appear as the same value--the only thing really separating them is the direction of your pencil strokes.
@pedroalves13
I tried a bit more and tried to improve the terminator lines
@dabbo
•
4d
After the pear i tried my shot at the portrait. This time I drew the 5 value gradient beforehand. Think it worked out better in the end. Please do critique me, always up to improve!
Camille Varner Kolafa
I think you could let the white of the paper shine through some more in some areas of the face like the upper left of the forehead, the top of the cheekbone on the left under his eye, highlight on his chin, the triangle under the nostril, and the transition of skin at the very edge of his upper lip. The highlight you have on his nose should be scooted over to the left just a bit. Otherwise, I think you did a great job :)
@ashlyduran
Just did the simplifying project. I feel like the picture I took doesn’t show what I was looking at as I was drawing it but, I still wanted to submit and get feedback back. Thanks!
Camille Varner Kolafa
You definitely captured the spirit of the assignment, good work :) I feel like I'm only seeing 4 values instead of 5. I always suggest drawing in a value box scale somewhere on your page to help your eye establish what your 5 values are, and be able to refer to it as a key. I think you could fit in a dark halftone, something between the light halftone (the light area around the little highlight and the light parts of the drop shadow). The light parts of the drop shadow are close I think to the dark halftone you need, but at the same time it's too close to the light halftone you have in the apple. So try drawing a scale to nail down that 5th value and then I think you've got it!
@funkedanya
Good day everyone! So first one I did with demo and second one I did by myself. Next lesson I’ll do opposite 🙃 It was fun Exited about my journey
Patrick Bosworth
Really nice work! Glad to see a mario mushroom in there too, keep up the practice!
Melanie Scearce
Very nice 👏
Myat Aung
Please critique my work!!
Ben Kraske
Nice work, you got a good shape to your pear and the values. I'd lighten up the lighter halftone value so there's more of a contrast between light and shadow on your pear. Don't worry about the texture of the pear either, this project is all about the light and shadow, not the details! Keep it up! :)
Niki
•
5d
It looks good, just remember to keep it boxy and simple with no curves in there and focus on values overall though good work and I like the stem!
Mariya Lilith
I feel like I got the gradients better in the first image (1st reference) even though I tried to improve (after watching the demo) with the second image (2nd reference). I really need to get better at pushing my darker tones too. Also, I tried to simplify, but I'm wondering if the 2nd drawing is too simple. I know from past experiences that this is something I need to continue to work on but not to let that stop me from moving onto the next lesson.
Melanie Scearce
Yes and no to your question about the 2nd drawing: since we're focusing on the planes of the pear to determine the value, the little skin blemishes are too tertiary of a detail for our purposes in this project. I say yes as well because it feels to me like it's missing the 5th value. You are definitely improving though, your second pear has really nice shape design and feels more dimensional than the first drawing!
@alexandriayang
Hello! I am very shy to share my practice drawings! I am artistic as a hobby baker who decorates cookies and cakes, but drawing is something entirely different and I want to learn and become good at it. The first try I drew an apple. I don't have the reference photo since I forgot to take one. For my second try, I used a picture of a pear I found online. I do think my pear looks much better than the initial apple. Everyone's practice drawings look amazing. I am inspired and would love constructive feedback. Thank you! Ally
Mariya Lilith
I'm a beginner, but I think this looks great.
@dabbo
•
6d
Simplifying is fun, but more complicated than I expected. Inbetween caught myself using more than 5 tones. Tried to correct wherever I could. Please critique me. Thanks!
Niki
•
5d
Awesome job! Sometimes it helps to make your own lil gradient and number them 1 through 5 so you can use it as a reference to fill it in easier. Overall good shapes and lines.
@pedroalves13
I never shaded anything before XD, and i think my shapes are off
Melanie Scearce
I wouldn't say your shapes are off, because you have your shapes in the right place. I think too simplified is more accurate- pay close attention to the terminator line, the separation between the light and dark side, and the shape that it makes to help inform your design!
Cefauro
•
6d
This is my attempt for the lv 2
Ben Kraske
Nice! Be sure to make all your different values have sharp, intentionally designed edges! Some of the shadows on the face are a little fuzzy around the edges. Keep up the good work!
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