$159
Bundle discount Each additional course part in your cart adds 3% off all courses, up to 15% off.
Full course
You’ll learn the most important foundational concepts for drawing anything and soon you’ll be drawing pictures out of your imagination or from reference.
$159
Give a gift
Give a gift card for art students to use on anything in the Proko store.
Or gift this course:
Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
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
project-simplify-from-observation.mp4
183 MB
project-simplify-from-observation-transcript-english.txt
5 kB
project-simplify-from-observation-transcript-spanish.txt
6 kB
project-simplify-from-observation-captions-english.srt
9 kB
project-simplify-from-observation-captions-spanish.srt
8 kB
ASSIGNMENTS![]()
![@dabbo]()
![]()
![@ashlyduran]()
![]()
![Camille Varner Kolafa]()
![]()
![@funkedanya]()
![]()
![Patrick Bosworth]()
![]()
![Melanie Scearce]()
![]()
![Myat Aung]()
![]()
![Ben Kraske]()
![]()
![Niki]()
![]()
![Mariya Lilith]()
![]()
![Melanie Scearce]()
![]()
![@alexandriayang]()
![]()
![@dabbo]()
![]()
![Niki]()
![]()
![@pedroalves13]()
![]()
![Melanie Scearce]()
![]()
![Cefauro]()
![]()
![Ben Kraske]()
![]()
![Jarron O'Neal]()
![]()
![Jeff Koon]()
![]()
![Martha Muniz]()
![]()
![Jarron O'Neal]()
![]()
![Martha Muniz]()
![]()
![Joe]()
![]()
![Fiona Parker]()
![]()
![Camille Varner Kolafa]()
![]()
![B]()
![]()
![Daw]()
![]()
![Camille Varner Kolafa]()
![]()
![Sérgio S. Filho]()
![]()
![Camille Varner Kolafa]()
![]()
![Benedikt Brinkmann]()
![]()
![Camille Varner Kolafa]()
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.
After the pear i tried my shot at the portrait. This time I drew the 5 value gradient beforehand. Think it worked out better in the end. Please do critique me, always up to improve!
Just did the simplifying project. I feel like the picture I took doesn’t show what I was looking at as I was drawing it but, I still wanted to submit and get feedback back. Thanks!
•
18h
You definitely captured the spirit of the assignment, good work :) I feel like I'm only seeing 4 values instead of 5. I always suggest drawing in a value box scale somewhere on your page to help your eye establish what your 5 values are, and be able to refer to it as a key. I think you could fit in a dark halftone, something between the light halftone (the light area around the little highlight and the light parts of the drop shadow). The light parts of the drop shadow are close I think to the dark halftone you need, but at the same time it's too close to the light halftone you have in the apple. So try drawing a scale to nail down that 5th value and then I think you've got it!
Good day everyone!
So first one I did with demo and second one I did by myself. Next lesson I’ll do opposite 🙃
It was fun
Exited about my journey
•
20h
Really nice work! Glad to see a mario mushroom in there too, keep up the practice!
•
1d
Very nice 👏
•
19h
Nice work, you got a good shape to your pear and the values. I'd lighten up the lighter halftone value so there's more of a contrast between light and shadow on your pear. Don't worry about the texture of the pear either, this project is all about the light and shadow, not the details! Keep it up! :)
It looks good, just remember to keep it boxy and simple with no curves in there and focus on values overall though good work and I like the stem!
I feel like I got the gradients better in the first image (1st reference) even though I tried to improve (after watching the demo) with the second image (2nd reference). I really need to get better at pushing my darker tones too. Also, I tried to simplify, but I'm wondering if the 2nd drawing is too simple. I know from past experiences that this is something I need to continue to work on but not to let that stop me from moving onto the next lesson.
•
2d
Yes and no to your question about the 2nd drawing: since we're focusing on the planes of the pear to determine the value, the little skin blemishes are too tertiary of a detail for our purposes in this project. I say yes as well because it feels to me like it's missing the 5th value. You are definitely improving though, your second pear has really nice shape design and feels more dimensional than the first drawing!
Hello!
I am very shy to share my practice drawings! I am artistic as a hobby baker who decorates cookies and cakes, but drawing is something entirely different and I want to learn and become good at it. The first try I drew an apple. I don't have the reference photo since I forgot to take one. For my second try, I used a picture of a pear I found online. I do think my pear looks much better than the initial apple.
Everyone's practice drawings look amazing. I am inspired and would love constructive feedback.
Thank you!
Ally
Simplifying is fun, but more complicated than I expected. Inbetween caught myself using more than 5 tones. Tried to correct wherever I could. Please critique me. Thanks!
Awesome job! Sometimes it helps to make your own lil gradient and number them 1 through 5 so you can use it as a reference to fill it in easier. Overall good shapes and lines.
•
1d
I wouldn't say your shapes are off, because you have your shapes in the right place. I think too simplified is more accurate- pay close attention to the terminator line, the separation between the light and dark side, and the shape that it makes to help inform your design!
•
18h
Nice! Be sure to make all your different values have sharp, intentionally designed edges! Some of the shadows on the face are a little fuzzy around the edges. Keep up the good work!
Tried my hand at the intermediate assignment. Something feels off with it but I'm not sure what it is. I'm thinking the proportions are off.
I believe I have lost some of the sharpness in my edges as I shaded in the shadows and lights. I can see this proportioning is going to be a bit challenging for a bit. :)
•
3d
Hey there! I think what would help with the sharpness of your edges is practicing a value scale (an example is attached, so you can try recreating it with pencil), so you can hone in on shading a consistent value for each step on the scale. Especially focus that it's an even tone for the entirety of the square from edge to edge, so that you can see a clear distinction between each value. It may seem subtle, but it's the small variations in tone as you reach the edges that can make the borders feel fuzzy or unclear, so refining this will help a lot when you go for a full drawing like the pear.
I also think some of it be due to accidental smudging, so something that helps is using a napkin or sheet of paper under your hand as you draw.
Otherwise, I think your value progression and placement is pretty good and on the right track, so just making the values more refined by practicing the scale will make it much more clear. Hope this helps! :)
Probably one of the best drawings I've done since I started drawing a year ago. Getting the right pressure on the pencil was difficult so I had to switch from a 2B to a 3H to get the lighter tones, I would absolutely love any and all criticism, please let me know if there's anything I can improve on.
•
3d
Hey there! Great start :D I think you made a good choice making the most of your pencils, since the lighter tones are very well done.
For some points of refinement to push it to the next level, I would recommend drawing in your guidelines for the value shapes lighter, so that they're not visible (specifically for the light section, where they're darker than the values themselves and can stick out as a harsh outline). We want the values themselves to be consistently rendered, so that the change from value group to value group is clear enough without needing an outline. What would also help in the darker section, to keep the values consistently rendered, is going back to fill in the gaps of white. It may seem like a small change, but just that detail can make it feel much more consistent, clear, and polished as a whole. I hope this helps, and I look forward to seeing your work as you go through your art journey! :)
First time I’ve shaded digitally, but had hard time seeing all 3 light values i think i got it somewhat right but some criticism would be helpful. - Before Demo
This is my third attempt at this one, I struggled to keep it to just 5 values!! Finding perfect shape was tricky too any criticism is very welcome!
•
4d
Values are looking great! My main critique would be that you used more curves than straight lines, so try to stick to straight on your next attempt! I also think your background is distracting from the values, it's too close to the light shadow. If you want to keep some of the background, I would suggest drawing it in a box (it won't look too "weird" since this assignment focuses on using shapes to build your values!) coming from behind the right side of the pear since that side is lighter.
First post. I did this one digitally, and had the reference image under what I was drawing. Shaded in with solid fills.
First time doing this...havent watched the demo yet, just tried to do it from the project vid. Had a hard time with controlling how much pressure I put on the page. And getting straight lines lol
•
5d
Good start though! Doing straight lines on a round object can definitely be tough, sometimes it helps just to do short lines on the curves. It might help if you make a value box scale somewhere on your page with your 5 values as a key so that you can refer to it. You could definitely go darker on your darkest value and then adjust the next lightest accordingly, and I think you should also let some of the page show through in the lightest spots :)
I didn't have any pears at home, so I drew a banana instead. I think it would have been easier to start with the pear. 😅
•
5d
Hey at least you got practice drawing from life! It looks great. You did a good job using just shapes and straight lines! Definitely give the pear a shot too!
I've watched the demo and made some notes. Then I gave the pear another go. For the new approach I used the pear-2 image so that I can make sure I don't try to copy what Stan is showing in the video.
My new approach is way better in terms of clear value separation. I'm particular proud of the stomp. Proportions and line length and placement where the hardest parts for me. The background (I used the light shadow) as Stan shows in the video definitely makes a big difference for the halftones and highlights.
I would really appreciate some thoughts and critique on this. Especially in comparison to the first try.
•
5d
Your 2nd attempt definitely shows a lot of improvement :) My biggest critique would be to try and get darker with the darkest value (and adjust the next lightest accordingly), because I feel like those 2 values are a bit too close and it can be hard to distinguish them in some spots. Otherwise, great work!
