Another great video, thanks Stan! Absolutely love this course. Looking at my CSI drawings again - I know I need to work on confident lines and practice making my straight lines...straight! My snail is sitting on a slanted wooden ledge :S Looking forward to the next lesson all about drawing confident lines :)

Who's in for another round of boots after watching this? 🖐️

Omg, I’m so glad you put that lace in the wrong hole too lol. I was like, oh pants now what am I gonna do 😀😏

Thanks Stan! I only watched the critique on the boots, since I still need to attempt the snail, and don't want to 'cheat' :) Learned so much from that critique - between the lay-in, simplifying the laces, adjusting when you make a slight mistake instead of erasing what you already put down, and breaking things down. All in all, that was an awesome video, yet again! Can't wait to attempt the boots again on my own, taking away what I learned watching this video. Really loving the pace and content of this course so far!

Here are my efforts. Snail wasn’t too bad. Boots were a pain. The laces are a little chicken scratchy, but I tried to tidy them up.

Hi everyone! I found the boots challenging. It was a great challenge though. I had trouble simplifying the shoelaces; I felt like I was literally getting tangled up in them as I sketched this! That was my queue that it was time to stop! When I stepped back and took a good look - I immediately noticed proportions were off; I drew the boots much wider than the photo. I also find my lines can be 'scratchy' at times, and not as confident/solid as I'd like them. I'm sure that will come with more practice. Btw, love the photo choice! Looking forward to seeing the critique video for this one! Would love to know how to approach this one, and more than anything...simplify sketching shoelaces :)

Thanks for this, Stan. I’ve already learned so much and I’m only 15 mins in! When it comes to shading, you mentioned shading with the “tip” of the pencil. I found that I ran into the same problem as the example you critiqued, where the texture was coming through. What I found when shading with the tip, the pencil dulls out so fast. I noticed, in your video, I was able to clearly see the lines where you shaded with the tip of the pencil - not sure if it was actually the pencil or if it was the paper quality or the technique of application. Question - would I need to constantly sharpen my pencil to avoid getting that textured look / dullness with the pencil? That is one of the things I am currently struggling with.

Stan, I love your format for the class…giving us a chance to draw with minimal instruction and then giving us the full teaching and demo after we have had a go. This is a very eye and mind opening process that I am fully embracing. Thank you for your wisdom as a learner and an instructor; a powerful combo.

My second attempt at the portrait. This time i tried turning my drawing and the reference upside down. This way, I could really focus on shapes instead of drawing a face. Not sure if it's a good method, but maybe this works for some of you too. Feedback is welcome.

"Imagine the fruit to be sculpted out of wood with a big chisel."