Second attempt at pear #1 after watching the demo and first attempt at pear #3. So many problems with this but some better than attempt #1. I'm glad he says we'll struggle. Then I don't feel as bad when I do.

And this is my 14yo son's pear #1.

My kids are doing the course with me. This is my 11yo daughter's pear #1 and pear #2.

Will the Staedtler lead pointer work with all brands of 2mm clutch pencils?

Pear #1. Critique away! Thanks!

Hello! Are there any study groups open to another member who's new to drawing? Or maybe individuals who want to make a new group? I'm on the west coast of the USA right now (PST, UTC-8) but that doesn't matter so much. Queer, <30, been making art for only a few months. Looking for a long-term learning environment and pals to do it with :~)

Really great reminder of how much I need to learn. It is much harder that it looks for sure. I keep on wanting to curve the lines. It was also hard to picture a pear in planes.

So given that I'm on an art supply binge I picked up Staedtler Mars Lumograph Black. I believe these are called carbon pencils and a few companies have them for order (Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Matte Pencils are another brand). These boys are apparently a mix of carbon and graphite that give deeper blacks without the graphite sheen. Neat! So I did some experiments. First off the pencils have a slightly waxy feel to them, like china markers. when I compared them with the standard Staedtler Graphite of the same hardness there wasn't much of a difference between the two. What was obvious was that the at the 4B level the Carbon pencils. What was surprising is that I also applied a blending stub to each of the swatches and lo an behold the graphite sheen was muddled while the carbon pencils gained a less matted waxy sheen. Not what I expected. I tried to also erase them and it appears that, at least with a standard plastic erase, the carbon pencils marks want to stay around, especially when you get to 6B,7B and 8B. Finally, since I would expect to use the carbon pencils in conjunction with graphite pencils I tried to draw graphite over carbon, then carbon over graphite. The Carbon over graphite seemed to work well and even dampened the sheen from the graphite. The Graphite over the carbon felt a little "slick" and it seemed to make a more pronounced graphite sheen (perhaps because the carbon pencil filled in groves of the paper, giving the graphite more area to directly reflect light...just a thought). So what do I think as complete novice who has tried to restart drawing at least 3 times before. These pencils are cool.....and completely unnecessary until you start doing final pieces. Let's face it they really are there to fill a niche of people completing graphite pieces where they need darker non reflective areas but have no interest in charcoal. Since I am NOT a fan of charcoal, that may be me....SERVERAL years from now, but for now they go into the draw. Anyone else try and use carbon pencils? I'm curious what the result have been.

Ok, I love Proko, I love his courses and his teaching style but right at this moment in time I am very frustrated and quite frankly disappointed. I purchased premium expecting the course to start in January, which it did, but so far I feel like I should go find another course and come back here six months down the line. We have had five videos, two intro vids pretty much and 3 vids on tools. I get it, you want to provide total beginners with information, fair enough but those vids could of been put into one, and we could now of been starting on actual practice methods. It's fine to just tell us, draw everything, but I came here to learn how to draw, with a structured course, that has assignments and demos and so far I feel like I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting for it to actually start. I'm really not a fan of this whole weekly video release thing either, what happened to the days of purchasing a course and having that course available?....I would not mind if we had something to focus on for a whole week but like I said so far we are still waiting, or it feels that way to me. At least with New masters weekly live lessons you get a good hour video to watch and assignments to do through the week. I know that is a different set up but ......yeah just frustrated at the moment. Sorry just needed to vent.

I got a late start I think. I got some pencils and a sketchbook. Tried some stuff out.

I discovered the Loomis Head sometime in late November, but I just can't quite seem to "get it." Something always seems off. Any advice/tips from the people of Proko on getting the Loomis Head right?

I know there will be 40 lessons approximately, but how often will they be released? Once , twice a week?

Hello Friends, where I can find the reference photos (Pear and Portrait) for practice?

This looks interesting https://www.nma.art/

The advice to draw before learning to draw kills me! It seems so backwards! I mean as a kid I didn't mind drawing terrible drawings but I didn't know they were terrible then!

If I learn how to draw from this course, I will personally kiss you, Stan

Been checking everyday lol for the classes to start

hope it starts soon

whoa, what are all these pears and portraits? Are we supposed to draw them already, before the beginning of the course??? I can't believe I'm late for something AGAIN, even before it began :'(

Hey everyone! Looking forward to getting started on this course with you all. Just to clarify, will the first lesson(s) be released on January 1st? Or is there a set date for when it begins?