Project - Simplify from Observation
Project - Simplify from Observation
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Project - Simplify from Observation
courseDrawing BasicsFull course (185 lessons)
$159
assignments 9145 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.

Jerami Ballard
I called it after a lot of trying to fix the values since I know that I went too dark on some of the shadows. Though I will say that I'm a lot more impressed with myself than I thought!
Jamie
•
21h
I typically work digital but I wanted some traditional practice. I prefer to sketch in a 6B but with this assignment it was difficult to create 5 values with a darker pencil. I felt like my end result was more like 3 in the shadow and 2 in the light. Would've been much easier to control the values in digital, but it's all good!
Benko
•
1d
Here's my pear. I'm happy with the overall shape, not so much about my values (sp. the middle tones). But it was fun!
Melanie Scearce
I think your values read very clearly! What was your struggle with the middle tones?
@boomerang
Got my tools and made my first attempt on the pear. Still exploring, but any critique is welcome 🙏
Axel Gyllenstierna
Nicely done! Great use of blocky shapes and beautiful thin outline on the light side. Very appealing result. The only minor critique I can imagine is using less gradients in your values/shadowing (but only to follow the assignment, the result looks great).
@tpeaslee
Made two attempts - the pear first before watching anything, then the portrait after watching Stan's demo of the pear. Struggled a lot with discerning values and getting it simplified down to only 5 with the pear. After watching the demo, I felt like I understood it much better. On the portrait, I then wasn't sure how to treat the hair. I cheated a bit and gave it a stark outline so that it wouldn't melt into the face shading. Maybe not in the spirit of the exercise, but I thought it looked better. Facial proportions are tough to nail! Quite a few errors when I compare - namely, face is just too long in mine.
Jill Bascome
I messed up when i started erasing the eye and mouth, learned the value of the kneadable eraser (my original attempt was better...but any feedback would be greatly appreciated
@meebo
•
2d
for sure youi can recognice him
@kindacolourblind
I was a bit hesitant to try the level 2 drawing but I like it more than the level 1. What helped me was the fact that Stan said that he took 1.5 hours for the basic form and shadows. As beginner and the short form videos nowadays it's good to hear that it takes a lot of patience. That's one of the hardest parts for me, not rushing. I think the right eye needs to sit a little lower.
jasmin
•
3d
Critique away!
Brennan
•
3d
@uncannievalley
I don’t know if I managed to get it to just 5 values, and maybe I didn’t simplify my planes enough, but I’m a little satisfied with this as a first assignment. Tried not to take too long doing it either or I’d end up thinking too much
Camille Varner Kolafa
Great job on your first attempt! I think you might be able to fit that darkest value in some spots within the furthest left value on the pear. Otherwise I think your values read nice and clear and you were successful in meeting the project goals!
@bismarck
I did level 1 earlier, decided to give level 2 a try for practice. Thank you for any feedback!
Camille Varner Kolafa
Hey this is looking great! I think you should revisit your value scale. Your values are really close together. You 2nd lightest value is in a good spot, but you could darken the darkest value some and then adjust the two values between that and 2nd lightest accordingly. Those two (you have them numbered as 2 and 3 appear almost the same to me. After making those adjustments, try and work them in to your portrait. Most notably, I think you could definitely get darker in the hair, the neck, and the right side of the face.
@cocojam
•
4d
2nd attempt since in the first attempt i didnt really grasp the intent of the assignment. i intentionally used liberal use of shading as an experiment (and also because i really really like the look of heavily shaded drawings) and realized at the end that by doing that I wasnt sure what to use the 2nd lightest tone for, and ended up adding it in spots where i may have imagined plane changes, so nothing looks right with those areas. but it was still a fun mini challenge regardless
Mariya Lilith
Practicing seeing the values
@marciahasslocher
Restarting my drawing journey at 54.
Nicholas Allott
Great start to the course!
Patrick Bosworth
Very nice work! Welcome to the course, glad to hear you're jumping back into your art journey!
Adrian Bushore
Hello. This is my attempt at drawing a pear prior to watching the demo. I would appreciate any advice/critiques. Thank you in advance! (Sorry if the lighting is weird in the photo itself)
Camille Varner Kolafa
Nice job on your first attempt! My biggest suggestion is to adjust your values a bit. In your scale, I think you could get darker with the darkest value, and the value in the middle could also be a touch darker because right now, all three of the middle values look super close together. On your pear, the left-most value almost looks to be the same as the value next to it. Try getting those values nice and clear, and keep up the good work!
Ana Paula Serra
I feel I need to work on my angles ahahah
Camille Varner Kolafa
Good job on your values! Make sure you are breaking them down into shapes with straight edges though, like the outer contour of the pear!
@zeichnenveraendert
Hi everyone After the pear, I tried to challenge myself with level 2. I didn’t succeed with the straight lines (I can tell that much…). As for the different values, I found it tough to decide how to classify them, since there are like 50 shades of gray (sorry for the allusion (-; ). Looking at the result, I’d say I misjudged the brighter tones in a dark environment (for example on the right cheek). Compared to the left cheek, the values in the brighter areas of the right cheek appear too light. And yes... in terms of simplification I need to be more brave.
Jill Bascome
Just got the recommended pencils! So exciting
Camille Varner Kolafa
Looking great! 🤩
@gumbub
•
7d
Helloo! One attempt before the demo, and one after with an apple!
Camille Varner Kolafa
Good work, and fun shape design for your values! You could probably get darker on the drop shadow under the pear, but other than that I think you nailed it!
Brian Durán
Hi everyone! I just started this course. Any feedback is welcome :D I also have a question: is it normal for the page to smudge while drawing? It happens to me every time. Do you have any tips to prevent it?
Ben Kraske
Nice work! I'd suggest lightening up your light halftone just a bit, it's almost the same as the lighter shadow and is making your pear feel a bit flat! Smudging will definitely happen when pigment meets paper, but I'd recommend being mindful about how you are holding your hand as you draw. You could try another grip, maybe one of the ones Stan mentions in this video. https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/how-to-hold-and-control-your-pencil You could also put a scrap piece of paper between your hand and the drawing to avoid smudging! Keep on drawing!!
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