Project - Simplify from Observation
Project - Simplify from Observation
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Project - Simplify from Observation
courseDrawing BasicsFull course (185 lessons)
$159
assignments 8594 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
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level-1-pear-3.jpg
2 MB
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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.

Jonathan Guyman
This is my second attempt at the pear after watching the demo. I welcome any critiques and the tougher the better. Thank you! Edit: Added the image of my first attempt. Pros: + I feel I slightly improved + I think my shapes are more interesting in this one + I think I did better at separating the dark mid tone and light shadow value wise + I worked on the drawing in longer sessions than the first attempt Cons: - My pencil work got sloppier in the light mid tone - Went off the demo in a couple of places instead of observing - That darn ground shadow sill looks wonky and I erased the outline a few times and could not get it right
Devon Smith
Take your time with the darks, using the side of your pencil, making your stroke go the same direction. You want to add value with layers not pressure.
Abs SW
2d
Picked up a mechanical pencil on my work break, since any practice is better than none!
Melanie Scearce
Yesss work breaks are a perfect time to draw. Keep doing that 🙌
@alex1246643
Daan Van Cauteren
My attempt at the pear. Found it hard to shade the light zones as I might not have gone dark enough for the dark shades. I really couldn’t go lighter… Feel free to critique!
Jonathan Guyman
Hello. This is my attempt at the pear. Please feel free to critique it hard as I am looking to improve and face my weaknesses. Pros: + I got over my anxiety and did the assignment + I'm posting and looking for honest feedback + I think the overall shape of the pear is ok + I think I have five tones down + I'll draw it again after the demo Cons: - The middle tones are hard - I think I forgot to think of it as planes - Pencil work needs improvement - The highlight has an outline (I just caught it in the upload image) - I need to properly fit the drawing on the page (The ground shadow is a bit crunched)
Patrick Bosworth
Nice work, Jonathan! This is really well done, you used straights to draw your shapes, your values are REALLY evenly shaded, and your edges are nice and sharp. Nailed it! Middle tones are hard, it's a common struggle, but you'll start to dial in your value ranges soon in the coming lessons. Outlining the highlight isn't always an issue, in fact it often helps accentuate those lightest light highlights by helping separate them more clearly from the next step of value. It's a choice, and not necessarily an incorrect one. For this pear, I think your light shadow value is a little too close to your dark halftone value. Take a look at the Value Tool and you can see the two are close enough to be considered the same. You can see this yourself if you squint your eyes down and look at your drawing. Squinting simplifies what you see, and compresses the values so you can see how they relate to one another. Layer another pass of graphite on top of your light shadow values on the pear to separate it a bit more from your dark halftone, and you'll start to see the form become more round and 3d. Keep up the good work, thanks for posting!!
Matthew Houseward
My twelve year old drew this skull.
crina fratean
Hello there! I tried uploading the image a couple of days ago and it either got lost in the ether of the internet or I forgot about chickening out just before I hit submit. Both valid scenarios. So here's another go. Feedback welcomed or course and good karma to all those who give me their 2 cents.
Collin
4d
Ben Kraske
Nice work, Collin! I like the way you constructed the portrait and utilized different shapes. For this assignment, it might help you to make a value scale of the five values that you're using on your drawings. That way, you'll have the two values in the shadow areas giving it some depth and distinction from the halftones and highlights. I would also recommend trying to look at the hair as one single shape or container, versus singular strands. By shading it in fully, it can help with the illusion that it has volume. Keep it up!
Lin
4d
Hi everyone, I just started this course and I'm excited to join this community. Look forward to hearing your feedback and contributing to your experience.
Ben Kraske
Welcome! Your tomato looks great, and the range of values as well. For this assignment, I'd recommend you try outlining the shapes of the shadows and halftones, like you did with the highlight, giving each shape a hard edge and intentionally designed shape. Good luck and have fun with the course! :)
@mikef1026
I tried both the assignments without watching the demos then I tried the portrait again while following along with the demo.
Melanie Scearce
You cleaned up your value shapes in your second portrait very nicely 👍 I like how you handled the shadow shapes in your first version, but the lighter value shapes don't feel as intentionally designed as they do in the second version. Nice improvement!
@birdartist
I not really good at realistic portraits but thought I’d give level to a whirl before moving to lines, I’ll probably try the demo later but some feedback would be appreciated
Melanie Scearce
Keep going with it! You did a good job with the shapes in shadow. I like how you lost the left eye in that dark value shape. I'd love to see how you handle the lighter value shapes!
@sublimey
My first attempt... i tried to have sharp edges.... how bad is it?
Ben Kraske
Not bad at all! Your pear's overall shape and the neatness of your shading is very nice. I'd only recommend designing and drawing out the shapes of your values, as they are the edges get a little blurred with the shading. Overall, really nice work!
Bruno Villarrreal
My first attempt (sorry for the paper, it won’t happen again), I have issues during improving the edges because I used dark likes to mark the limits, but there is more to learn 😅
Melanie Scearce
Yeah, starting out with dark lines definitely limits you if you need to make any changes later on. This is a very nice pear!
@floridaestresso
I redid this exercise in Krita and while i noticed i was able to get 5 clear values as opposed to the 3-4 i was getting from pencils, it occurs to me that it is not easier in digital software that i had not touched in 3 months with brushes i had never used before. So there's a definitive gap in my knowledge there.
Melanie Scearce
Digital tools definitely have a learning curve. I like to use a standard round brush at full opacity so I can focus on the shapes and not have to worry about irregularity in texture for this project.
@ethanmm
5d
Attempt #2 at The Pear has been made (left) after watching the Demo. I can honestly say that I am pleased with the improvements in the balancing of shading from the first to the second attempt, though obviously there is more work to be done. Any feedback or suggestions for how I can make sure I keep improving, especially on shading, would be massively appreciated.
Ben Kraske
Excellent improvement! I think your lighter shadows could be a little darker, but you've done a great job with your pencil strokes and finding the shapes of your values. Keep it up!
genevieve pluhowski
Level 1 exercise
Melanie Scearce
Very nice pear, you nailed it!
H K
6d
First try at the pear exercise - any feedback is welcome. I did this in photoshop and struggled with deciding what brushes to use. It is not as intuitive as traditional drawing so I am lacking the lines. I will take any brush recommendations as well. Thanks!
Amileaminute
Attempt 1 for Level 2; Attempt 3 for Level 1 - Thank you for your feedback!
genevieve pluhowski
Both excellent!
Christopher Hubbard
@cchaney
5d
Woah! That's awesome, you have so much talent keep up the work!
Patrick Bosworth
Nice work! I love the hatching around the circumference of the pear, it really gives it volume. Keep it up!
Priya Herian
My portrait before watching your video.
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