Haha! This video gave me some good laughs. Thanks for making fun Stan and team!

There isn't really a focal point. Right now the biggest value contrast is where the trees meet the sky. In the second one it is also where you have the sharpest edges. Also the tree line and the top of the rocks are kinda uninteresting, just very uniform shapes. If you are okay with bending reality a bit, you could try to change the shapes a bit while keeping an overall balance. Like make the rock shapes a bit more interesting on the left, and only have trees on the right. And of course make the waterfall the main focal point, push the values, shapes and details there. Just a suggestion of course, some paintings work without a specific focal point.

HIi @Siqi I am always struggling with composition on my own, so I maybe are not a big help... Your drawings are very rough. What is the main theme of your drawing? The water in the pool, or the waterfall? At the moment the falling water seems to be squeezed into the left corner. Deciding on the thing you want to make the focus point can help. Another thing: The sky and the water are very light, the rest of the landscape is dark. Light and dark take about the same area of your drawing. You could try to give the darks more space or the lights.

Hi Alex! I actually just started Term 2 and I've been really appreciating this curriculum. I love the structure that this provides, and how I can attach somewhat of a timeframe to this curriculum. I was trying to structure my own learning before this curriculum and I felt SO lost. I am someone who likes structure and set topics though, so it's an especially good fit for me. I also like having a bit of a sense of accountability because I'd feel guilty skipping projects (e.g., the 250 cylinder challenge) that I find intimidating/dry/difficult.

I was also one of those kids who grew up drawing all the time, but I grew in a small town and didn't realize what opportunities were actually out there for artists. I ended up going into graphic design and am now a web developer. I am currently trying to find time to start studying art more seriously, but consistency has proven difficult between spending time with family, work, and exercising. I've had some success with scheduling time, but lately the toddler changes his schedule almost on a weekly basis. I pretty much have to commit to waking up super early or staying up pretty late. I'm still struggling to find the answer, but hoping to get back on track soon.

@Martijn Punt @Olga Bruser @Moonless_Sky @Uku Kivisild @Alberto Grubessi @Konstantinos Christofi @Yiming Wu @Gannon Beck (and anyone reading who may be interested) If anyone is interested in a small group chat to provide some support, motivation, and accountability, please let me know! :)

This was a challenge but I'm glad I took it. It was also super helpful to have Stan's demo to follow, since I don't know much about anatomy yet! One of the most useful things I learned is to try portraying each shape within the body as a 3D shape. I tend to be distracted by contours, so I think this made a big difference for me. Plus I really love Stan's manipulation of the light to make it look like it's glowing on his shoulder. I did this one entirely with graphite pencils because the art stores near me don't carry charcoal powder! (Boooo) So alas, I couldn't get as much of a value range as I could've with charcoal. I was able to superimpose my picture over the reference and Stan's drawing, so I know there are some things that are off about the anatomy and placement of muscles. If you have comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

I ended up opting for the non-art related career myself, many years ago, having majored in Interactive Multimedia, and getting hired after graduation as a game programmer at a studio that made educational software for toddlers. It was around the same time I got hired, or even a little before, that I firmly decided I wanted to pursue a career in art (which had been a hobby of mine for the previous decade). It's not that I don't enjoy programming - it's just that I figured I'd rather do game development for my own projects, for fun, and I'd be happier doing concept art and illustration for clients. I worked full-time - so 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I would definitely consider it to be cognitively taxing, but I did find that if I pushed myself, I had different pools of energy to draw from. After work, I sure as hell wouldn't want to push myself to do more programming at home, but while it felt difficult at first, I was able to coax myself into putting time into my art. Granted, it helped that I didn't have any other responsibilities - I lived with my parents, so while I helped them with chores in the weekends, I didn't have to cook dinner each night and had a fair bit of free time. I started making a habit of spending at least 3 hours each night on taking my art more seriously. First, I set a challenge for myself, where every night I'd do a photo study - a minimum of 3 hours had to be invested, and a minimum of 1 study. So if I happened to be satisfied with a study before that time was up, I would start another. If I got into the groove and wanted to go loner than 3 hours, I could, but of course I still had work the next day. I did this for 31 days straight, including weekends. Setting that end date helped, because I could see the finish line. It wasn't an arbitrary endeavor, so even if it was tough, I was able to push my limits knowing that it wouldn't be forever. I feel this had a pretty significant impact on me - it showed me I had it in me to pull from this separate well of energy, and that a lot of the time it could even help me unwind after work, even though I was trying to learn and train. After that, it was easier to invest that time in a wider array of exercises, in tackling illustrations that would be spread across several days and weeks, and to generally push beyond the limitations of a salary man. After about 15 months of this, I quit my job, took my savings and funded a 6 month trip to LA to study at Concept Design Academy. The rest is, as they say, history.