Project - Simplify to CSI

24K
Course In Progress

Project - Simplify to CSI

24K
Course In Progress

Download the photo reference images and try to simplify them using CSI lines. Draw each line with a focused and intentional path.

Your pace should be quick, but not rushed.

For this exercise, we will just consider the individual segments of the contour of a shape.

Same instructions for level one and two. Just a difference in difficulty of reference. The level two photos have more fun little tidbits to tempt you to get into the details, but fight the urge and simplify.

Also, no shading in these please. This is not meant to be a portfolio piece.

CSI
C = C Curves
S = S Curves
I = Straights

If you'd like to have a chance to be included in the upcoming critique videos, you must submit your drawings below by February 16th

Newest
Shane Cruise
Criticism is welcome.
Disha
2h
I tried this exercise for the first time and it was so much harder than i thought. And while drawing the shoes, i hadnt thought through and didnt have enough space to finish the entire shoe. Would love some some feedback on this. Thanks!
Kzip
1d
Before demo and after. Whew. I tried to go too detailed which, obviously, I'm not ready for, and proportions where wonky, but not totally unhappy with thr original contour. Definitely improved after watching the demo. Trying to do too much too fast.
@no1000
2d
How can I maintain accurate proportions in a drawing when using only freehand lines?
Brian
2d
I really struggled with this one. I had a few tries on my own and wasn’t happy with them. After watching the demo videos, I tried again and was a little happier with the results, but I see all of these other submissions and they’re SO good that I get discouraged. I’ve always wanted to draw better, but it has always eluded me.
Melanie Scearce
Looking at other students' work can also be encouraging to see what's possible with consistency :) I agree with @Oscar, there are improvements between each drawing you've done here. The same with your last post. You're in a position to learn a lot, which is a wonderful place to be. Many students are afraid to attempt the boots and you did a great job with them. Keep it up 👍
Oscar
2d
I think you're being too hard on yourself. There's some really nice shapes and lines here and there's clear improvement from one drawing to the next. I particularly like your boots.
Gustavo Duarte
Third attempt
Jake Guillereault
This is before the demo
Katerina Waddoups
These were really fun. I think the hardest by far was the laces on the boots, so easy to get stuck on details but then properly simplifying is tricky
@lgallinari
Snail 1
@linetime
The first snail and first left boot I did before watching the demo. Got a bit overwhelmed with the laces and wanted to do draw the right one as a comparison after watching. I think they look decent proportionally but I definitely wasn’t doing as confident lines as I’d like to so the first right boot was that attempt. I wanted to put in a little more time here and not try to move on too quickly so I decided to draw them bigger using a whole page for each to see if that would help my lines. For the second two the proportions definitely suffered but I was mainly focusing on confident lines even though it may not look like. They were confidently drawn, just not executed. Lol Gotta get my hand/arm more trained.
Oscar
5d
Any and all feedback is welcome! This was hard. For the snail I planned it out in pencil then went over with a fineliner, but I wondered if that was missing the point of the exercise, so I tried to do the boots in just 1 take. I did still draw some guidelines and even then ended up being quite messy though. Edit: to be clear I did allow myself to erase. I just didn't draw with the assumption that I'd follow up with a clean pass.
Laurie Bergren
I'm an abstract landscape painter and collage artist who (after decades) finally decided to get serious about learning to draw. This was SO HARD for me! I tried the snail first—stopped when I caught myself automatically filling in areas with shading. Then I moved on to the boots. Which made me imagine Egon Schiele, frantically trying to make more drawings in the days before his death from influenza at the age of 28, saying... "I will never have time to finish these shoelaces!" Not sure I have the right temperament for drawing, but I'm determined to persevere.
Andrew Kovachik
A very fun project! I wasn't completely sure what level of detail would be considered the contour, so I attached a couple of photos from along the way. I think I was most happy with the work from the 1st or 2nd progress picture. I tried to use some of the ideas of the "gesture" or "rhythm" lines that Stan was talking about. In the very first picture, I started from having 1 very large C curve from the top of the boots and 2 straight lines for the back of the foot down to the heel and then through the sole. This helped with getting the proportions pretty accurate to start with and I think the final drawing does hold onto the flow from the original outline more. I also added 1 "rhythm" line at the start in the boot on our right (I think), where it felt like there was a connection between the line from the back of the boot up along the part where the zipper connects the two pieces of fabric. I'm excited to see how Stan solved this problem and to go throught the critques. I might do another one tonight, or if I see something interesting today, maybe I'll take a photo of it and try drawing that. - Andrew
Melanie Scearce
Really cool to see your process. By the first photo you're at 80% completion since you've figured out the overall shape and determined which lines are going to be straights and curves -- and it looks great! I like how you used straights towards the bottom to show the structure and stability of the sole of the boots. Keep working on pulling light, loose strokes with your pencil. Your lines get just a bit hairy in some places, specifically curves. Curves can be difficult to get in one motion so the key is to keep your searching lines light until you find the right line. Just a small critique because this is very strong work. Nice job!
Tony Zhang
Jeeeeeeeaaaaan
Jessica Ambron
Camel attempt, skull will be next.
Gary Randolph
I am unable to download. I'm hoping this is temporary. (access denied) EDIT: Nevermind. I can download fine - just not from my iPad.
Enzo reda
Nice exercises! The boots were really hard to do tho. Curious to see what's the way to approach it in the next videos cause
Melanie Scearce
The boots are indeed very challenging, it's a matter of really slowing down and thinking critically when it comes to the laces. I encourage you to give them a go before watching the demo video! I really like your snail drawing, it's super stylish 🐌
Christian
1st attempts I definitely had trouble with the cross contour lines and the shadow areas
William
10d
Drew one image per day. At first, I wasn't sure how much I should add, but going into the level 2 reference images I felt pretty confident. I still need to get better control over my hand/arm movement but otherwise I am pretty happy with how they turned out. The boots felt the most difficult, and I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow. Thanks in advance for any feedback!
@brimarie
10d
They all look great!
Tatiana
10d
Actually, thought it would be easier... But seems I need just some practice. Made 3 attempts: 1. Seems was so impressed by this snail's curiosity, and wished to reflect that in the picture, that noticed that painted it too low on the paper when it was too late to change anything. 2. When paining the second one, understood that it was challenge for me to paint with the whole arm, so made one more attempt - third one. 3. Actually, it's a bit fat and not enough curly, and looks a bit like a finger and not a curious snail head😀 Guess the best attempt from the available is number 2?
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Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
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