I can see I got the proportions wrong. Head and torso too small. AAAA

A little embarrassed at how messy my sketches are but I chose an owl as my creature. I started looking at owls in general but then became interested in the barred owl because it reminded me of an old woman wearing a shawl. I was thinking about drawing an elderly and kind owl wearing a shawl, and at one point, I wanted to try sketching the owl standing on one leg and drinking from a tea cup with the other (reference images of the skeleton for me to consider how it might bend). However, before I could do so, mid-way through my second sketch, I started thinking about how the head of the barred owl reminded me of a helmet... and thus the astronaut owl was born, haha. I still like my original idea though and think it would make an interesting character as well.

This assignment was both fun and challenging. I tried to draw a secretary bird in an anthropomorphic style but struggled with the wings. Any critique would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

As a quick introduction, I have been trying to learn art for around 5-6 years now, and I have taken other online courses on perspective and completed many of the early exercises in Scott Robertson and Thomas Bertling's excellent How To Draw textbook, but I am still not satisfied with my skill level. I hope Marshall Vandruff's expertise and exercises, as well as the community's feedback, will help me finally meet my goals. I really appreciate the posts that others have made. It has exposed me to plenty of other artists to study! I also find Alan Lee, Ralph McQuarrie, Peter Han, and James Gurney inspiring in their use of perspective to depict realistic scenes from their imaginations. I am also a fan of many anime and manga art styles, particularly those with more realistic proportions, such as Naruto. Since so many have already shared wonderful examples of these pieces, I will focus on works less represented here. 1. Collect some of your favorite drawings by perspective masters to set a standard for skill development. 19th Century Military Genre Painting: Edouard Detaille, Francisco Goya, Elizabeth Thompson/Lady Butler, Lev Lagorio, Alexey Popov, Mort Künstler (Not 19th century, but amazing, historically accurate realism of 19th century subjects), Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, Pavel Kovalevsky, Carl Röchling Palaeoart: Pollyanna von Knorring, Mark Witton, M. Rothman, Julius Csotonyi, and Marcio L. Castro. Here's a disclaimer regarding my chosen images, just to be safe: Most of the images I picked are in the public domain, but for those that aren’t, I want to be clear that I am not the copyright holder, and that my posting them on this website is solely for my and other students’ transformative experience through meaningful development and analysis, pursuant to 17 US Code § 107 Fair Use Specific Nonprofit Educational Purposes. 2. Big picture goal - think about problems you'd like to solve that require skills in perspective. Maybe drawing something from a different angle that you don't have reference for, or creating mathematically sound architecture from imagination. Perspective Goals: I would like to craft realistic scenes similar to those of 19th century military genre painters but challenging their frequent celebration of violence, and I would also like to create figures, landscapes, and architecture from imagination. Since I am interested in 19th century technology and culture, I would like to practice constructing vehicles and objects like trains, rifles, cannons, steamships, and more using perspective techniques, with the ultimate goal of inventing my own iterations of these things from imagination, but as deeply rooted in realism as possible (such as fidelity to the actions of rifles). I also love living things, especially trees. I appreciate palaeoart that uses evidence-based reconstructions of living things now extinct. I would like to draw and paint scientifically plausible landscapes and close-ups incorporating extinct or invented animals and plants, which would demand perspective knowledge. Challenges or problems: One of the major areas I struggle with in perspective is accurately depicting complex hinged or bending forms in space, such as a bent torso or a tilted head. I also find myself misjudging the center lines of angled forms in perspective, as well as not producing enough impression of space or depth. I would very much like to be able to, from imagination, construct believable human figures and even other creatures like birds, horses, and insects from as many angles as possible, challenging myself to push toward photorealism/hyperrealism and to minimize stylization. I also struggle with objects or figures that straddle the horizon line, especially at a three-quarter angle, like the rib cage, torso, or face. These skills will demand an ability to envision and craft organic forms in perspective and go beyond the box, an area of expertise I need to hone. Flat forms or twisting forms in perspective, like leaves, banners, or clothing, are another challenge. One perspective problem similar to the “clumping” of figures mentioned in the video that I would like to master is assembling figures into lines, such as military formations, but, rather than making each figure uniform in height, vary the heights of the figures to simulate the diversity of actual people’s bodies. I understand there is a technique for taking a standard height figure and replicating that height at different distances, but I would like to practice and memorize this skill until I can achieve it intuitively and from imagination. I have not yet attempted many worm’s eye or bird’s eye shots, but I would like to be able to create compelling scenes from these angles if needed too. Another area I need to explore is the use of Dutch tilts to convey dynamism in a scene. I also like maps and world-building, and understanding 4-point or 5-point perspective can help me accurately warp landmasses and oceans around spherical bodies like a fictional planet. I’m not sure perspective techniques are exactly the same as those used in map projections, but I imagine they will be helpful when tackling the problem of converting a curved surface to a flat plane. I think it would be advantageous for me to learn how to produce technical or schematic cut-aways of buildings, vehicles, and machines in perspective too. Ultimately, my goal is to internalize intuitive perspective skills through relentless practice to reduce my reliance on perspective grids and reference and to be better able to plot out the right perspective for a scene that believably captures all of the desired angles of the characters and objects depicted. As a final word, I wanted to share a compliment regarding this initial lesson video and assignment. I am greatly impressed that Marshall Vandruff takes an empowering, student-centered educational approach to enable students to focus on what tools and techniques will help them achieve their artistic goals. I apologize for the long post. Thank you for reading!

Critiques welcome