One last crack at a "more difficult" project after watching the critiques. It was hard to find a balance between over simplification and still have something more complex and accurate. I shall return to it later and maybe do a cleaner version. I do not like the end product but I had fun and it's time to move on.

These are my attempts while looking at references and then changing them a bit. I found it hard to construct my own poses out of thin air, and they felt stiff and flat. I guess I am not at that stage in the character design. I tried to ensure that my cross contours actually added something to the form and that they were not just some random lines. I had to go over them a few times to ensure they did not fee flat, finished like a T etc. Having said that, I was not satisfied with some of them and tried to rework them on the side. I tried to strike a balance between more rigid structure, still some sense of flow, and the “organicness” of a ginger root. Looking at other drawings in the comment section, I can see that I could have pushed the organic part a bit more. I also tried to force myself to avoid the snowman effect, it still needs to be a conscious decision, specially when working on blobs. Finally, I tried to have fun for the very last drawing after watching the critiques. It’s departing from a pure Ginger Man and I also realised colouring and cross hatching were something I need to massively learn… :’) Anyway, as usual, any comments or feedback welcome.

These are my attempts before watching the demo, I worked from level 1 to level 2. I started with blobs inspired from torso and pelvis poses (similar to an exercise in the figure drawing course), then moved to seals and “simple” sea creatures, then to insects (and a snake). My first attempts at seals were a bit stiff and felt flat. I feel that sometimes I failed to find a balance in terms of “line density”. I tried to change the poses from the reference, but only did it marginally for the sea creatures. It feels easier to change organic shape that are more curved as I feel less bound by anatomy restrictions. For example when I tried to change some of the insects I was blocked my lack of knowledge on them. Once again, I love the exercise and I like the freedom that organic forms give. I will watch the critiques and try a few more animals. I also saw someone that did a beautiful work cross contouring a head, this is definitely something I want to try. I keep trying various medium, fine liners can be very punitive but also rewarding. Any comments or feedback welcome :)

These are my second attempt after watching the demo and the last one was after watching the critiques. I tried to use a gestural blobby figure, a gesture line, add a few caps to represent the sides, and work from there. I also explored other body parts like arms, forearms and hands and worked my way from boxes to “more complex / realistic form”. I like this “shuttle” between the reference and the drawing (i.e., reference to boxes then boxes to advanced forms, it’s like a sinusoidal where you move between simplification and complexification). Finally, I could not resist the temptation to have more of a finishing look as a “reward”. I also tried various mediums, like ballpoints or fine liners. Just exploring, I really loved the exercise. Any comments or feedback welcome :)

These are my first attempts before watching the demo. I used some references from a gesture pose pack, started with a gesture line, 3 simple blobs for the head, torso and pelvis and tried to think what would be the best boxes to represent this pose. I also tried to break the torso in 2 Boxes when 1 box seemed a bit too rigid, but I did not like it. I made a few attempts for each pose, trying some variations to see where it was going. Each time I tried to visualise where I could start a “Y” on the reference and make it into a box. I found that having an arrow representing where the main plane of each box was facing helped identified “mistakes”. Then, I tried to move from the boxes to a more structured sketch before sometimes coming back to the boxes but sketching made me realised some mistakes. I prefer having a reference (instead of working on random blobs and boxes), so I will probably do a few more using human references or animals before watching the critiques. Any comments or feedback welcome :)

My various sketches from the most recent to the first one (a mix of level 1 and 2). I stayed a bit longer than expected on this one as I was very unsatisfied with the initial drawings. My first attempts were really bad, incorrect ellipses and wheels incorrectly placed in relation to the body. I wanted to (i) understand a bit more about ellipses and vehicle construction in general (loved “How to Draw” by S. Robertson), and (ii) combine the boxes exercises with the cylinder exercises into a “vehicle into perspective project”. All the vehicles are a mix of reference and inspiration, but I realised I gravitated towards a 3/4 POV a lot… ! I also tried inking with fine liners and inking with ballpoint pens. Inking an ellipse is way harder than expected and this is still a work in progress… but I did discover that I loved ballpoint pens. Looking back at my sketches and the critiques / demo: - I really need to ensure the major axis is perpendicular to the minor axis and not to another irrelevant line. - a very foreshortened cylinder like the tank gun can be tricky to do correctly and I believe you have to play with the ellipse opening at the end and what part of the ellipse is visible to the part that is attached to the tank body. - The more ellipses you align next to each other, the more your mistakes will show (specially looking back at my train..) - I need to find a balance between free hand / gut feeling and too much planning / construction. I guess it’s better to overly plan as a beginner. - I need to stay light on the construction lines, as erasing should not be an option (without losing helpful cues) I will probably go back to drawing vehicles once I made some progress in the basic training. Anyway, as usual any comments or feedback welcome :)

This is my 3rd and last attempt at level 2. I just shifted the POV slightly to the left. I wanted to have most of the boxes / fingers visible and there were not too many angle that allowed for it. I am aware that the proportion between boxes could be improved, I tried to correct it after the fact. I tried to create a form of rhythm between the fingers while being mindful of the convergence. I had fun with this level 2 even if my brained hurts a bit x). I am aware that the proportion between boxes could be improved, I tried to (unsuccessfully) correct it after the fact. Any comments or feedback welcome.

This is my second attempt at level 2. For the second hand, I tried to change the POV more drastically (as opposed to slightly shifting it). It took me a while to find a new POV I wanted to fully draw. I found some to be “uninteresting” as only one side of the boxes would be showing. I also found some to be very challenging because of the pronounced foreshortening, and I had to give up (momentarily). I also gave myself a little more freedom to depart from the actual hand, that helped to focus on drawing boxes instead of an “accurate hand”. Anyway, it is still a fun exercise to do (with many sketches being used as basketball for the bin). I am excited to try the third hand !

This is my first attempt at level 2. I tried to rotate the POV up and to the right slightly. I will try a more “drastic” change of POV in my next attempts. I really have to think about each box and it feels like a non instinctive exercise but it is still fun to do. Any comments or feedback welcome.

These are my attempts at level 1. I did each hand before watching its respective demo. For each hand I worked on each finger on the side before moving to the full hand itself. Drawing the overall shape / gesture before diving in definitely helped a lot. I think for the second one I tried too much to “draw a hand” as opposed to draw 16 boxes inspired from a hand. I struggled a lot when there was a lot of foreshortening and I struggled more with the second hand than the third hand. I tried to improve from one hand to the other taking notes and using the tips given by Stan in the demo. I mostly tried to be more conscious of the overall coherence of the various boxes and to ensure there was some convergence. Any comments or feedback welcome. In the meantime, I will move to level 2.