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.

@oliv972
•
4h
Hello everyone, first attempt of the first level :)
@oliv972
•
3h
Level 2. the shape of the head, place all the element was a bit tricky. I couldn't manage to simplify all the drawing, my eyes were tired at the end ^^
Tasneem Noor
My attempt at the level 2 assignment
@lifang
•
13h
Did I get it right?
Chuck Ludwig Reina
Nice work! While there is no "right" way to do it, as it is just an exercise, I think you got the gist of it. One thing I would say is have a little more variation in the center of the pear. You perhaps could have grouped all your darkest darks together, freeing up another value for the light side of the form. But overall well done. Keep it up!
Artem Bokhulenkov
2 attempts: before and after watching demo. On 1st attempt all the values were made by HB, cause I kind of missed the idea of using different pencils =)
Jack
•
20h
Attempt 1 & 2. I rushed the first one, but focused on starting and building momentum.
Gianni Grizzanti
My first attempt. I tried it two more times with the other pear sample images, and I attempted the level 2 just for practice.
@pspgloopy
•
23h
Here is my first try at the assignment. I found making a grid for the different values really helpful! this is my first time drawing anything really so I would love feedback if anyone is willing to share! :)
@pspgloopy
•
13h
Second attempt
@xavierriverin
Here's my first attempt at simplifying a pear! Drawing digitally. I first used an HB pen brush to do the contour. Then used a red one to mark the difference between the values. As for the values (filling), i went with a full color. For the second attempt, I tried watercolor to get the values for the pear. I had a really hard time getting consistent values and especially sharp edges, watercolor is not for these kinds of studies. Still made me more interested in what I could do with watercolor, I think it looks nice. If any advice comes to mind upon seeing my drawing, thank you for sharing!
Kyle Gillespie
Here is my attempt at the project. I really wanted to do level 1 and 2, but I think it will be a better use of my time to do Lv1. continue through the class, and come back to level 2 later :) The restrictions of straight lines, and a small amount of values really helped provide a feeling of 'completion'
@24fps
•
1d
Kyle Gillespie
I like the proportion of the stem! Adds more scale to the rest of the pear imo
Majestik Unikorn
This my pear, hopefully it is okay. I can't wait to get good!
Kyle Gillespie
Looks good love the colors, looks like charcoal? Only thing I can think is to try to focus on making the outer lines straight even though I struggled with that as well.
Ty Merkens
This was my attempt before watching the demo. I sort of rushed through it because I didn't really know what I was doing and wanted to see how Stan went about it. I realize now it probably would've been helpful to draw it a little bigger and zoom in on the reference to really find those value shifts. I'm gonna take more time on future assignments and I'll post my second attempt as soon as I get it done. Might even take a stab at the portrait.
Camille Varner Kolafa
Nice job on your first attempt! On your next attempt you should try drawing a value box scale somewhere on your page, it will help you to figure out how to get your 5 values and kinda refer to it as a reference while you draw the pear. I think your values could be darker in the darkest one, and the two midtones you have on the left side of the pear look really close, so try adjusting them a bit to help them read more clearly!
Jeff Bloop
picked a banana to try something, think it looks alright for day 1 but always open to critiques
Camille Varner Kolafa
Nice work! A banana is a challenge for day 1! You did good trying to map out the values on this, but I think the lighting on the reference is not very good to draw from, at least for this project. Try to find a photo with a stronger, single light source. This one probably has at least 2 light sources. The pear references that Stan provided are really helpful in this regard! Another critique for you would be to make sure you're using straight lines only, no curves yet! You did good breaking the values down into shapes though. I would say your values are also not reading super clear, I see 3 values (including the brightest, white of the paper). It helps to draw a value box scale somewhere to figure out how to get your 5 values and kinda refer to it as you work :)
Mitchel Osunbor
I really enjoyed the video, I hope it okay I did it digitally. That's what I'm trying to learn.
Chuck Ludwig Reina
Nice work Mitchel. Two things to think about for this exercise. First, try to keep the border between your different values a hard edge. Think more geometric shapes. This exercises is about being able to pick out the different values and not so much about edge quality and rendering. That will come I promise! Second, and this one is super helpful: think about your light values and dark values as never crossing. Meaning, the values on the shadow side of your form should always be darker than the the darkest value on the light side of the form, and vice versa. This helps our eye see the form. In your drawing it seems the reflected light in the shadow side of the pair is very close (or perhaps the same) value as some of your light values. This is a common slip up because, next to the core shadow and other dark parts of the form, the reflected light seems very light. But it is a trick of our eyes. More of this will become clear in the other videos. I did a little draw over to help illustrate. But again, nice work. I think you're on track.
Mitchel Osunbor
This was my first attempt
Iv The Artist
Here’s my first attempts at this assignment. I think from this assessment my value and contour lines need more work
Ben K
•
2d
Nice work, especially on using a value scale! I think you could push your shadows darker, since on the pear itself it looks like you're only using the 4th value, instead of the darkest one you have on your scale.
Daniela Restrepo
Hi! This is my first attempt. I really enjoyed it! I would appreciate any feedback :)
Melanie Scearce
Excellent work! I can really just nit-pick, this is a great pear. If you squint, the two mid-values are a bit close for my taste (and it could just be my taste). A slightly lighter value for that larger shape separates them more comfortably.
Tomas Gallant
Hi! This is my second attempt at the assignment. I feel that I have visually separated the 5 values a bit more clearly than last time! I feel like the shading on the body could be a bit more cohesive though, but I was afraid of making the light halftone shade too similar to the dark halftone. Feedback would be appreciated! Thanks!
Ben K
•
2d
Nice work! I think to solve that problem you could take the lighter shadow a bit darker, and then make the dark halftone a touch darker as well. That way the shadows are darker, and then the dark halftone is still distinct while still being lighter than the shadows. Keep it up! :)
@fredkar
•
3d
Gave it three attempts. Once before watching the demo, once before watching the critique and once again after that. Find shading in the right values to be very difficult.
Ben K
•
2d
You're doing good! On pear 3, I'd get those lighter shadows a bit bigger so they're closer to the reference. I think you could get darker halftone just a bit darker to differentiate from the lighter one, and if you're able to, see if yo can break up that smooth single line into some sharper edged lines that follow the contour of the pear. Great job, and keep it up!
@asonyx
•
4d
I tried to do the portrait too. I noticed while doing (and I didn't doing the pear) that with my current set of pencils (2h to 2b) that it is a bit hard to get dark tones. There is also (for me) not enough differences between light and dark halftones. But I'm quite satisfied with the result.
@torridas
My first take at the assignment. I didn’t draw something since high school. It’s been a while. It was quite challenging for me. Looking forward to the next lessons. My pencil is not that great. I wasn’t able to stick to the 5 values.
Martha Muniz
It's a great start and a solid submission! I do notice you may have struggled with smudging, for that I recommend using a piece of paper or napkin under your hand to avoid it happening in the future. Or you can keep experimenting with other grips like the overhand grip, too How to Hold and Control Your Pencil if you would prefer to start practicing it early on. But overall good work, it's feeling very volumetric and solid. Keep it up, looking forward to seeing your work :)!
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