I'm falling a bit behind time wise, but I could spend so much time on this beautiful project! This was actually a rather quick drawing, after having scrolled past Eliza Ivanov's work a couple of times. I love the motion in her sketching and the lines. I wasn't able to capture it yet. And in all fairness, this one is a bit sloppy. I should've taken more time and let the lines flow better. I've included my first version. Once I was 'done' I looked at the photo and I went in again to correct a couple of things. I ALWAYS place the eyes too high. Also a lot of lines did not feel organic at all, too round. Photos are the original by Eliza, my drawing before and after going in a second time.

I'm a bit late to the game. Something held me back from starting this exercise. "Tracing, really?". Once I began the project I immediately started learning and I also became aware of some suboptimal habits. I finished the two rhinos posted below and it occurred to me that I have a hard time letting go of the rules/guidelines. I'm so focused on Stan's words (use heavy, medium light lines), that I totally forgot about transitions or about my own ideas. The light and shadows drawing: a couple things went well, but as a whole the drawing completely lacks cohesion. Long story short: wish I started practicing sooner. I'm gonna do another round of rhino! Little self reminders: - don't forget to zoom out and look at the drawing as a whole - you have space to apply your own style or idea - all the lines in your drawing are connected; make them look that way

Here's my first shot at the loose sketching from observation. Could be a little more sketchy. It was hard not to lose myself in the details of the VR girl. I chose to draw with coloured pencils for a change! I thought it would look fun, but I also knew these don't erase well and so I wouldn't erase guide/sketchlines. Which for this project seemed helpful!

I learn a ton from these critique video every single time. I go in with a feeling I did well, only to find out I completely missed the point of the project. Back to the drawing table!

So I redraw one of the photos taking into consideration the points in the video. One of my mistakes was that I focused a lot on the contour and I tried to do perfect lines. Also, I stop worrying about proportions and focused in the connections (I did a few mistakes with the arms but I'm still satisfied with the result)

I got round to doing these late, but I've not watched the demo video yet. Promise :) Drawing that hand was hard! I found I had to draw several iterations to really find it, or at least come close to finding it. I think it's actually worth doing these exercises several times to really benefit from them, and build that muscle memory and hand eye coordination. I also spent a lot of time looking for connecting lines and big shapes, which is something I've learnt from life drawing recently. Finally I added a variation of the penguin, just because I was having fun. I also drew a few of my own hand, as I still wasn't satisfied with my hand drawing and to be honest drawing from life is easier than drawing from reference.

First attempt with these big horn sheep (pictures from Pinterest). Planning another session to dive into the shapes a little further! I first started with loosely copying the photos , then I tried to explore with proportions a bit by exaggerating the snout and eyes. I really thought this was a fun project! And I feel like I'm not done. This sheep still needs a little bit more personality.

Yesterday I gave the level 2 projects a go as well. I'm happy about the camel and it's happy face, but I felt a little uncertain and 'pecky' with the skull. I decided to color in the red lines to be able to see what I was doing in the vertebrae. I think I ended up including too many details for a line work practice.

Day 8

shoes 1 and 2 before watching video. I was afraid I didn't simplify the forms enough.

Another attempt at line simplification. All critiques are welcome!

I really felt that 'pecking' comment that was made in the video. Every once in a while I would catch myself doing it. Thanks for making me aware of this Stan! I practiced with the photos of the snail and the boots. What a struggle, those laces! To anyone scrolling by, feel free to give me some feedback.

I practiced fruit simplification some more before moving on to line work!

These are my first and second attempt, with the second portrait in steps as well. I found it really hard to let go of looking at the photo as a face full of details. I even had to go back and erase a bunch, because I started to draw in detailed eyebrows and eyes, but then backed up a little to really just focus on drawing the shadow shapes. In the end, I found that my 4B and new 6B were too close in value. All in all, interesting process and rethinking. Not sure if I like my first or second portrait best, but definitely opened my eyes to the process of looking at the values differently. Thanks for the demo!

Started just today, trying to catch up with the course the upcoming weeks! Due to quarantaine I'm stuck at home with just a couple supplies - but gave it a try and doodle. Gonna get some new gear once I'm allowed and test everything out once again! I never knew about the standard sharpener to be considered shit.. I also never realised one of the steps is for the wood and one for the graphite! These are the little things I didn't even expect to learn.. :)