Project - Simplify from Observation
Project - Simplify from Observation
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Project - Simplify from Observation
courseDrawing BasicsFull course (185 lessons)
$159
assignments 9127 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.

@bismarck
I did level 1 earlier, decided to give level 2 a try for practice. Thank you for any feedback!
@cocojam
•
17h
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)
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.
@jillbascome
Just got the recommended pencils! So exciting
@gumbub
•
4d
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!!
@nuritpaint
Just starting draw.
Ben Kraske
Welcome!! Be sure to check out the demo video for this project! For this drawing, it's all about sharp, clean edges between values. I can't tell exactly if you're using a soft pencil or charcoal, but I'd suggest using a couple pencils of varying hardness to practice filling in the values neatly, focusing on making sure the edges between are sharp. Using a harder pencil will also allow you to shade in the lighter halftones so they are light without needing to be blended out. Keep it up! :)
Antoine
•
6d
Hello :) Complete beginner, I would very much appreciate feedback, thanks! (this was before watching the video, I already understand my approach is wrong)
@umurgdk
•
6d
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)
Camille Varner Kolafa
Great work! I think you definitely captured the spirit of the assignment. Personally, I think they do communicate the form! I think you might be able to put in more of the highlight in there, that may help with the form a little more.
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
•
6d
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
•
5d
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
•
8d
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.
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