Project - Simplify from Observation
Project - Simplify from Observation
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lesson video
Project - Simplify from Observation
courseDrawing BasicsFull course (185 lessons)
$159
assignments 8838 submissions
Vance Viggiano
When you can't decide on Level 1 or Level 2. I thought it might be fun to try it on gray paper. Everyone's work is inspiring! Happy to be learning with you all!
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
jpeg
level-1-pear-1.jpg
2 MB
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level-1-pear-2.jpg
2 MB
jpeg
level-1-pear-3.jpg
2 MB
jpeg
level-2-portrait.jpg
1 MB
mp4
project-simplify-from-observation.mp4
183 MB
txt
project-simplify-from-observation-transcript-english.txt
5 kB
txt
project-simplify-from-observation-transcript-spanish.txt
6 kB
file
project-simplify-from-observation-captions-english.srt
9 kB
file
project-simplify-from-observation-captions-spanish.srt
8 kB
ASSIGNMENTS

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.

Cary
12m
Completed before watching demos.
Sinister
3h
I've decided to do this project on Clip Studio Paint, as I'm taking a digital approach to this course. At first, I drew the outline and the terminator, then I made a new layer and started coloring in that. This resulted in me having two versions, one where the outline is visible, and one where it's not. Because I wasn't satisfied with this result, I went back and redid it, observing a lot closer than before. I decided to use a charcoal brush to have a shaper shadow, and in the end, I actually got a pretty satisfying result. The fun part was realizing that I accidentally drew everything on the outline layer, but I'd say it turned out a bit better like this. I'll be more careful in the future though. This does help put into perspective where I've yet to improve though. Hell, I might try again tomorrow! Take a look at my little pearlings! If you have any feedback, let me know!
@klmsleepy
I tried out the portrait after doing the pears the other day. My proportions are definitely off and I’m not sure if completely blacking out the eyes was the right choice but I thought it would look interesting so I went for it. I’d love to hear anyone’s thoughts, feedback, or tips thanks.
Pedro Gaspar
I struggled a lot with the eyes on the portrait and getting the tones right (i'm a beginner)
Thom
12h
First attempt. I struggled with the value parts and keeping them clean.
Sam
17h
its a bit smudgy from drawing on the other side of the sketchbook page, but the second pear was my first try. The portrait took way too long, then I tried redrawing the pear while watching the demo, that one looks cleaner I think.
@sage232337
The first one is my own drawing and the second one is after following the tutorial. I’d really appreciate any honest feedback so I can improve and make my drawings better
Fabio Bompani
This is my attempt for this task… I’m always struggling with shading. I used just a 6B pencil today but I’ll get a full set tomorrow and try again with different pencils.
@klmsleepy
Just starting out on the first exercise left was my “blind” attempt and right was after watching example and critiques. I was using a mechanical pencil but I think second attempt came out ok would love to hear anyone’s thoughts or tips.
Patrick Bosworth
Nice job on both of these! I like a lot of your shape design from your first attempt, and you took a lot of great cues from the demos/critiques. In the second one I like how you left your highlights unconstrained by line, and went darker with our values in the shadow side. The uniformity and direction of your shading in the second attempt really helps give a sense of volume to the belly of the pear, and your steps values are nice and evenly shaded. (Don't forget correctly rotate and orient your images when you post so we can see your work a bit easier) Keep up the good work!
Vanessa White
Learning this course digitally, so was drawing using Procreate. I find it a bit difficult for me to grasp the concept of “seeing things in flat planes” (and in hindsight I noticed that I definitely drew the first sketch too dark), so it’s kinda hard for me to get “sharp edges”. This was my first attempt. Gonna give it one more try before proceeding with the next video. just started this course today (August 24th). Anyone who’s interested in being learning buddies, please feel free to let me know! I’m whole new to drawing fyi. :)
Martha Muniz
Getting used to digital tools can be a bit of a learning curve, and you may need to adjust or play around with different tools to see what you like. I think finding a balance in values between your darker first attempt and lighter second attempt will be the perfect middle. Try having your third value (the middle grey) as your second lightest value instead, and that will help you distribute the values more evenly. I do notice an improvement in simplifying down to flat shapes, so great job on that though!
Vanessa White
Second attempt based on the instruction given for shape, value and edges (I think the shading value part is bit difficult for me to control, not sure if it’s because it’s being done digitally?)
Trevor Peek
First attempt was a bit difficult. It was hard figuring out how to shade with the pencil tool. Ended up being easier to use the marker tool for the last half of the second attempt. But at least I gotter done. I'm satisfied with it. Cheers to anyone that's giving this course a go.
Boris
2d
I've drawn last time when I was 9. I am 39 now and want to learn it. There is plenty but I love the assigment. Now to the demo. Let's see how much I can improve in the year!
Erick Lazaro
Erick Lazaro
I only have a HB pencil 😅 but I did order some new pencil.
Grant Buhr
Grateful for any feedback on the shape finding and the value hierarchy! (lighting on photo is not the best)
Marco Uggè
Hi everyone! I'm a bit late to enroll in the course but I'm sure it's gonna be super fun and I'm gonna learn a ton! Here's my first assignment, both Level 1 and 2. I tried it before watching the demo, as Stan recommended, and it was really challenging!
@troelpe
3d
Martha Muniz
I like that you did a value scale! On the value scale and on the pear, try going a touch lighter with your 2nd lightest value. You can still achieve this with an HB, just try applying softer pressure when you shade. The darker range in your value scale looks good, but I think it can be pushed to be more dark on the actual pear, since the darker values look lighter than on the value scale. This will give you more of an even distribution values and more clarity and dimension to your work, as well as help you practice more control over your rendering. But solid work overall, I like the dimensions and simplification of the pear, you're definitely on the right track :)
Iris Rosa
My first assignment. I thought it was difficult to decide where the border of the shadow was. I haven't watched his demo video yet. Maybe it will help me get some more guidance.
@samabbassi
I'm an amateur
Martha Muniz
Welcome to the course! You have a solid for attempt as you're first starting out into art, so great job :) Your pear has good dimensions and you've broken it down clearly into the two most important categories: light vs shadow. My feedback would be to add more shading for the middle grey value, which you will see appear inside the light side of the pear, close to the dividing line between light and shadow, since this middle grey shows the pear getting darker as it gets into the shadow side. Right now, it looks like your lightest two values are clearly visible in the light side of the pear, so including a transition value will make it read more clearly and with dimension. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions!
@kimba
3d
Figures 2 and 3. Having watched the demo, I realise I’m finding it really hard to keep my lines simple and clean. The lighter tones would also benefit from being better defined. To be continued...
Cathy English
I’m late to the game! this was challenging. I kept wanting to get every detail. watched demo. Then drew pic trying to be aware of shape, values, and edges. Then went back to compare artists with mine. back to the drawing board! I learned a LOT. gonna do again until I “see” better.
Martha Muniz
Great notes and value scale! Going back to the demo and looking at other artists is an excellent way to learn. You have lovely work so far, my only recommendation is to lighten the 2nd and 3rd lightest values on the pear, though they look good on the value scale itself. But lightening them on the pear will be a more even distribution of values and let the light side of the pear read more clearly and distinct from the shadow side.
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