Hey Guillermo, great job on these. What I'd say is they're definitely correct, nothing much I'd say about proportion or structure. What I would say is that they're lacking confidence, or personality. They feel a bit timid, like you're doing studies of heads and not art. You're definitely understanding the information objectively, but it doesn't feel like you're injecting much of your own personality into the studies. An exercise I'd recommend trying is to do contour drawings in pen without the intention of doing a "pretty drawing". The point of this is to see how much of the information is integrated into your subconscious drawing process, and too let your brain try out a bunch of different shapes without the fear of failure. If you do do the exercise, let me now! I'd love to see what you come up with. Hope this helps!

Hey Atharva, great job on this. You definitely have some drawing and painting skills. What I would say is that the proportions and anatomy are pretty much correct (or at least enough), the thing you're really running into is a composition problem. Her hair for example covers up most of her next and back which takes away from the potential of using the back anatomy and neck turning to show off the gesture of the painting. The way the bird is positioned on her hand makes me feel like she was painted with the purpose of showing off the bird rather than an actual pose someone might take if they were going to be holding a bird in that way. Her head is also facing the viewer at way too much of an angle relative to her body. If this were an actual person, they'd either have an extremely flexible neck or they'd be in serious need of a doctor. I did a very quick paint over to illustrate what I'm trying to say. As you can see, the hair is less of a focal point and more of a complimentary graphic element to the character. I didn't spend much time indicating the anatomy on the back, but if you use the rib cage and some subtle lat/ scapula/ trapezius indication I think it'll do a lot to push the form of her body. Anyways, good job and keep up the good work! Hope this helps!

Hey Nailsen! Great job on this, it's a really solid first digital painting. What I'd say is pretty much what everyone always says. Focus more on the fundamental drawing stuff. Their right eye in your painting is too high, and it feels like their left is out of the socket. @Hooman Hn's advice of flipping the canvas is something I'd recommend too. It feels like a very correct painting, but doesn't have much personality in it yet. The background is an easy spot to do that, but I wouldn't stop there. Maybe spend some time really trying to nail down the nose and mouth to make them look really cool, not just correct. Anyways, good job! This is a really nice study Good luck!

Hey yee! Good job on these, you're definitely on your way to doing some cool drawings. What I'd say is to focus on gesture, right now our drawings are very stiff. It feels like you've learned some structure stuff, and applying that skill directly. That's not necessarily bad, but it feels like you've given up the other drawing skills you need to practice structure. The things I'd recommend doing are to draw lots of lines, circles, and swaths of tone. The second thing I'd recommend is to look at the teachers at the Watts Atelier. I've included some drawings by @Erik Gist that you might find inspiring. The next things is to take photographing your drawings more seriously. The photographing of your drawing is part of the presentation. It's currently not well lit, and as a result it's hard to tell what's happening. If you do take better photos of your studies, it will communicate to others that you're taking your education seriously. Also if you get into the habit now, people will have a better idea of how to help you since they'll be able to see your drawings better. Hope this helps!

Hey Natali, this is a really nice drawing. You're definitely getting the idea of how to use the planes successfully. You've made a correct drawing that I wouldn't change that much. That being said, that doesn't mean it's a beautiful piece of art. When I was studying at the Watts Atelier, @Erik Gist described the three stages of training to me. 1. Complete beginner, learning the ropes. 2. The generic phase 3. The artist phase This to me seems like a really solid generic drawing. You've exaggerated the cheeks too much, and made the bridge of his nose too wide which kills the likeness but I'm not sure fixing those would make this a better piece of art. The advice I would give, and feel free to not listen to this, is to start trying to play with your drawings. You're definitely good enough to do some bad ass drawings, but thinking in this way hurts the atheistic potential. Hope this helps!

Hey Mariana, this is the advice I've gotten. Set aside time to not draw, and make sure not to feel guilty about it. It's okay to have periods in your life where you're not entirely productive and I'd bet money that the artists you look up to most have the same thing. The point of taking a break is to let your brain recover from training in art. When you do take some time off, and make sure you're beating yourself up over it, you'll be excited to come back when it's over. That time off will give you a chance to come with ideas that will excite you, and the problem of what to do do and how to do it will be an easy problem to solve. If you are feeling stuck, just start! Do literally anything, and see what happens. Good luck!

Hey Nicole, this is a really nice drawing, and a great exercise. In terms of value I think you did a pretty darn good job. The dark spot near the ear is the only part I'd say to re-design. Comparing your drawing to the ref, it feels like you're indicating facial hair but it doesn't quite feel successful yet. What I'd say is that your proportions and structure are a bit off. For example, the nose in your drawing is a bit too short. The eyes are off, the one on the right feels a bit too high. The mouth sphere is flat and too low as well. If you'd like I can do a tracing of your drawing, let me know! Good luck, and hope this helps

Hey! These are great, the one thing I might say is to make the wood more flush with the pencil lead. This is to make sure that you're minimizing the chances of the wood interfering with the drawing. Great job tho!

Hey Fish, these drawings are pretty solid. Proportionally they're definitely correct enough. What I would say is that you probably should spend awhile just drawing circles, lines, and swaths of tone. So much of traditional art is dexterity based. It can be frustrating switching from digital to traditional, and vice versa because you're losing essentially all of the dexterity you've built with your medium of choice. I'm sure you've heard that advice before, but the longer I draw the more I realize that circles and lines are the holy grail of practice. Hope this helps!

Hey Christopher! The first thing I would do if I were you would be to find a community to draw with. Whether it's online or in person, that's up to you but I think it's essential to art growth to be in a community of people you enjoy being around. Building your own curriculum from scratch is almost impossible, and not really necessary. There are so many people out there that do weekly sketch groups, host art discords, or figure drawing workshops. If you're determined, you shouldn't have too much trouble building a community. The benefit of a community is that it will do two things. It will keep you accountable in the way an art school would (for much cheaper) and it will make it fun to do. The boring parts of learning art become fun because you're studying with your friends vs completely on your own. The more you can create your own art community, I think that a study curriculum will fall into place. Hope this helps!

Hey Nikko! Great job on these, keep up the good work. You're definitely on the right track

Hey Jersey, great job on these. You're definitely getting the idea of what you're supposed to be doing. The proportions are correct, and they do like they're 3d objects. What I think you're running into is a dexterity problem. Your lines get the idea of what you're trying to do, but to me they feel unpracticed. What I would say is spend some time just drawing circles, and laying down value on paper without any subject matter involved. Listen to a podcast and just let the shapes and tone come out of your arm. I can tell you understand core shadow, mid tones, and highlights objectively. But it doesn't feel intuitive yet. I host a podcast, and recently I had my friend @Lucas Kremer on. He did a lot of work on the Watts online, and he also trained at the Watts for years. I really admire his perspective and his art. In the episode he talks about his peaks and valleys while training, and how the super mundane exercises end up being very important. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pH8d4IRJj8 While I was at the Watts Atelier, all of the teachers had pages in their pads that were just circles, lines, and tone. They would also credit that as one of the most important exercises you can do. @Erik Gist and Ben young would challenge students to spend a long time just trying to make a pile of boxes, or spheres look "cool". Hope this helps!

Hey Scott! Great job, this reminds of Eliza Ivanova's work quite a bit. What I would say is to work on your drawings skills a bit more. It's a pretty neat design, but the drawing mistakes take me out of the image. For example, the head is too wide which distorts the eyes and cheeks. I'd also try and think of 3d forms when drawing. On the skull specifically, it looks like the eye sockets, nose, mouth and chin are all on different angles. It's hard to tell where exactly what's going on. Hope this helps!

Hey Billy! These are really nice. I think your self crits are accurate, what I might say though is that you should focus on the simplification in general. Your drawings are accurate, but don't have much flow. I think if you were to focus more on the overall gesture of your drawings. When I was learning at the Watts Atelier, all of the teachers would enforce the idea of CSI. For these sorts of drawings, they would say that at this stage there should only be C S or I lines. You're definitely getting the idea of gesture, structure, and form but it feels like you're drawing more what you see versus interpreting it as something you want to see. I've attached some drawings by @Erik Gist that show what I'm talking about Good luck!

Final submission for my "Unlikely Superhero." Death Wish Marshmallow (real name, "Squishy Marshmallow") was manufactured, along with his friends, for a 16 oz. marshmallow bag in the Sugarwell Marshmallow Factory in Sugarwell, Georgia, 1998. Due to a clerical error they were not distributed to market until much later. They were called "gross, old marshmallows" at the campfire where they ultimately were consumed. A Mom was heard saying "Don't eat those! I'm so sorry, Joan, I should have looked at the date. I didn't think marshmallows went bad. Oof, I can still taste it. Oh no! Jackson, spit that out! These are disgusting!" These cruel words, along with the events that followed, lit a fire in the belly of our hero. As you know, all marshmallows dream of fulfilling their destiny as the Most Perfectly Roasted Marshmallow Ever. However... because D.W.M. and his comrades sat on a pantry shelf for over 20 years, at the time that they were finally shared around a campfire, their marshmallow dream was instead... yes, you guessed it, a marshmallow nightmare!! Squishy, hereafter to be called Death Wish Marshmallow, was the only survivor of the marshmallow roast from Hell. He vowed to avenge his marshmallow friends, who were roasted and carelessly dropped in the grass, or burnt up in the campfire, or left out on the picnic table (RAW!) to be eaten overnight by raccoons with muddy paws. These are the greatest indignities that can be borne by any marshmallow. D.W.M. has the following superpowers: Fights fire with fire, has a crispy graham cracker shield, and a low-fat content chocolate sword that is somewhat resistant to melting. He has an actual stick up his butt, and won't stop until he's finished the job. He hits enemies with a sweet, marshmallowy blast (and excellent aim), and then coldly says... "You ready for s'more?" while hovering over the bewildered camp-goer.

Hello everyone! This is my submission for the Nicolai assignment. What do you guys think about the piece. Please let me know. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to help me out! Have a good day!

Here's some more 30 sec gestures. I generally find that i struggle to get proportions right and finishing within the 30 seconds. I think I've improved a little bit in the last month or so and any feedback would be much appreciated.

just to clarify its one character and not a comic strip??

Amazing idea! Can we create a team or it must be only one superhero? 😁 (I mean a team in the same entry)

Fantastic theme! Is it allowed to use an older illustration if it fits the theme or does it have to be newly created for this challenge?