Project - Simplify from Observation
Project - Simplify from Observation
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Project - Simplify from Observation
courseDrawing BasicsFull course (185 lessons)
$159
assignments 9011 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.

Christianah Adeyemo
My first drawing. I'd come back after the course to redo this.
Nejc Kravos
There we go, my pear assignment! I have no clue what im doing so any feedback is welcome!
@josedavidoterovera
Ursa ₊˚⊹♡⊹˚₊꒰ঌ☆໒꒱ ₊˚⊹♡⊹˚₊
I tried the pear assignment twice. I don't think I understood the values very well because I only saw 4 on both passes. Critiques are very welcome! Some questions: Are my values separated enough? Is my angle strong? Are my shapes interesting? Where are the gaps in my knowledge showing? The image with the clipboard bracket is my first attempt.
Katie Bowers
So I tried level 1 a few weeks ago, pretty fun to be honest. I've tried my hand at level 2, and although I think the proportions are a little off, I did actually really enjoy this lesson. (I didn't really want to put any guidelines in because I tend to make my lines a little too dark and I just wanted to test my eyes to see proportions without guides) I would love some feedback, but I think I can see the problems, feel free to let me know your thoughts if you have time. (Also, forgive my crappy shading, it's not my forte and the pencils I'm using are cheap, and pretty much all give the same shade.) Have fun with yours :)
@bubblegumtunatina
@bismarck
Here is my work, really appreciate any feedback
@bismarck
Also did the pear
@pinkbubbles
Hello thank you for the lesson this is my attempt at drawing this pair I could improve on simplifying it more 😅 (sorry for the scribbles 😓
@dudmanius
Decided to go for level 2 also, this is before demo and critique, any tips and comments are much appreciated
Melanie Scearce
Nice, you did a great job with your shape design! Very even shading as well, good job keeping your value shapes uniform. The one part of this portrait I would flag is that rectangular shape on his forehead that kinda sticks out a bit from the lighter value that surrounds it. It feels like too much of a jump in value, and seems a bit out of place to me. You have options if you choose to tackle it; you could maybe tweak the design of that shape a bit, to follow the form. You could possibly darken that lighter value shape, which would do double duty by helping the lightest value shapes become more visible as well.
Mike Damazo
Camille Varner Kolafa
Don't forget to simplify! On your next attempt, focus on breaking down the values into shapes, and use straight lines only. You've got some curves going on, and you're starting to shade with the values instead of keeping them shapey. Great start!
Adriana
3d
Camille Varner Kolafa
Lovely pear!
Precious
4d
attempted level 2 this was rough but i think i did okay wont keep trying to fix it
Camille Varner Kolafa
If you ever revisit, try focus on breaking the values down into shapes with straight lines and and edges only, and get darker value in certain areas of the face :)
@noahmoss
First one was too small, second one was bigger but less clear shapes. Lots to learn...
Precious
4d
My attempt at the pear without looking at the demo moving on to the portrait ill try to attempt that but i think ill work on that tomorrow
@tinellie
Smaller one was before demo. Bigger one was after the demo and more simplified
Isaiah Ross
Tried two attempts. Didn't have very good edges in the left one, I think the right one is better
David Gits
Didn't use straight lines in the first one, so I tried again.
Camille Varner Kolafa
Definitely seeing some improvement in the 2nd attempt! I only see about 3 values in your drawing, though. Try to get 5 in there! Putting a value scale somewhere on your page will help a lot. I also suggest trying to break down the different values you see into shapes (with sharp straight edges only) a bit more in the darkest areas!
@rods2292
My attempted. Used pencils for it. Any feedback?
Melanie Scearce
This is a great pear shape! Your darker value shapes are well designed. Not sure if it's the lighting in the image, but the lighter value shapes are a bit difficult to make out, a little on the light side. It's more difficult to control those lighter values, but maybe darkening them just a touch might help with legibility. Overall, really nice job!
Jay Grant
Before demo.
Charlie Wong
Before and after demo 🫰
Ben Kraske
Nice work on these, the shapes are fantastic! I'd see if you could build up those shadows so they're just a bit darker! Shade in light layers to build up the pigment on your page and see how that contrast builds between the light and shadow! :)
Charlie Wong
Pear-2 & pear-3, pear-2 drawing in office so HB only
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