Activity Feed
Josh Fiddler
•
8d
added comment inFully Constructing a Head from Scratch
I used your initial construction just to get to the meat and potatoes of the drawing and then realized I forgot how to do the lips. :-8 Time to go back and review before doing the project...

Ben Whitfield
8d
This looks very good to me. Great job!
Ben Whitfield
•
10d
Asked for help
I'm struggling to understand form intersections, specifically the addition ones. I don't always understand the cut outs. On the example below why does the cut out not continue around (in blue)?
I would really appreciate someone helping me get this. Thanks
•
10d
Ya, these are frustrating. Have you tried looking at this site
https://eyes.training/intersections/
Sometimes this helps me solve especially confusing intersections, or at least give me a clue.
Great explanation of your process after the gesture drawing @Michael Hampton. I found it extremely enlightening. I really enjoy your analytical approach.
I can't wait to learn more from your figure construction course which I will be taking after this one.
I started it before this and you get the added bonus of having the gesture already. He does dive into it in more depth in a later set of lessons, but not as clearly or as in depth as he does here. Solid course. Almost done myself.
•
11d
The figure construction course exists already :) Here's the link: https://www.proko.com/course/introduction-to-figure-construction
Ben Whitfield
•
12d
@Michael Hampton really appreciate the critiques especially the second critique. I want to improve my understanding of the planes of the facial features. I have watched all the course videos a few times but I am still not quite understanding them. Do you have any other resources that can help me grasp this?
I am really enjoying your method of teaching by the way. I have all 3 of your courses here on Proko and would enroll in anything else you put on here.
Thanks
Ben Whitfield
•
22d
Asked for help
Wow, some of those poses were very difficult. Here are my attempts at the 28 poses. I am feeling a little more comfortable with the techniques but know I definitely have a long way to go. Any feedback is always welcome.
Off to watch the demos to increase my knowledge.
Ben Whitfield
•
28d
Asked for help
Drew the 10 new portraits assigned to this project. I am happy with the landmark placement for the most part but need to a lot of work/practice on the tilts, proportions and under planes (when applicable). I still find these to be big challenge.
I did not time myself but I estimated about 10 to 15 minutes per portrait.
Any feedback is appreciated.
Ben Whitfield
•
1mo
Asked for help
Here is my attempt at this assigment.
I took a break from this course for a few weeks because seeing the submissions from everyone is very intimidating as beginner. It is amazing seeing how amazing they are. It is also is very inspiring. Things can be two things right, haha.
I used the blob method for my assignment and used my iPad charger.
I'm not sure if I did this correctly, so any feedback is appreciated.
Ben Whitfield
•
1mo
I'm just starting to watch the lesson. I'm really looking forward to it because I like Michael's method of teaching. I generally struggle with face construction at this point with other teachers.
One question I do have and it may be addressed in upcoming videos is when drawing traditionally how do I deal with all of the lines that I have laid in so far. It seems like it will be a challenge to reduce/lighten them? If anyone who has taken this course has suggestions please let me know I would greatly appreciate it.
I generally just try to draw them lighter so they get lost once I go in with the actual information I want to communicate, buuut you could use a blending stump to get rid of them and still maintain some sort of underdrawing to use as a guide. Or good ol' tracing paper, I suppose.
Ben Whitfield
•
1mo
Asked for help
I am still struggling with this assignment. Today I did gesture drawings of the 5 images supplied to us.
Not sure if the wrapping lines and spine directions are accurate.
I think the proportions are ok, but am having a hard time with the representation of the arms and legs.
Any feedback/advice would be very appreciated.
I have watched the demo videos a few times but I hope that the critique video will address some of the areas I am having a hard time with.
Hey Ben, I did a little draw over for you. I'm not sure if these were meant to be pushed or just trying to capture the references but I think a primary issue in each one is the direction of things in space. Where an arm goes away from the viewer, the perspective given by the wrapping lines comes towards the viewer. But one really awesome thing you've captured is the lean of the pelvis. You really push those nicely, especially the 2nd and 4th, which goes a long way in making these look dynamic and interesting.
You also occasionally slip into capturing contours rather than the directional flow of a form. I made note of particular ones in the drawover below.
As for arms... I hear you. A trick I use is to look for the back of the arm and for the hard edges of the wrist to help me decide how it works. See the drawover, expecially the first one. I try to connect the shoulder into the arm using rhythms that "catch" one another. Sometimes it's just one rhtyhmic C curvel like in #2 but often it's an S curve from the C of the shoulder.
And lastly, you get the relationships pretty well, but watch out for angle changes. The last one is a toughy from behind, but if you get the tilt of the shoulders relative to the hips right, the rest works out pretty well, as they do in the others you did.
Hope that helps!
Ben Whitfield
•
1mo
Asked for help
Ugh. I'm really not happy with how I did with this project. I am a beginner drawer especially drawing figures. I really struggled with this project.
I tried to keep my lines to the 16 - 17 Michael is teaching and found that really challenging.
Also, I don't think I really understand how to properly identify the curves of the spine. Nor do I really understand how to properly identify the direction of the cross contours.
These are 4 of my first attempts and will continue to do more over the next few days but decided to upload some today.
Lot's of practice and watching the lessons is needed for sure.
See my critique of the 5 for the direction of wrapping lines/cross contours. Remember! Everything lives in 3D space. If things are confusing, slow down and think about what direction the form is moving in space, whether you are looking up at it or down at it.
Regarding the spine, the lines aren't exactly the spine, but imply how the spine is pushing the torso. In the case of the cervical line, how the neck moves in space as it connects to the back. The line isn't exactly the bones in every case. Sometimes it coincides, like in a side view for example. I know that's not super helpful starting out, but consider them as rhythms that describe how the form moves in space, the forces that keep the body in this asymmetric configuration rather than an anatomical feature.
Keep going! I feel your disappointment, but don't be discouraged. Time and practice. Time and practice.