Portrait progress
4yr
Eric Desjardins
I started the Proko portrait course approximately 2 years ago. I feel I’ve made great progress since then and am still working on it. Here’s my latest.
I initially found that drawing heads was very difficult, and the course was helpful in breaking things down in a way I could understand.
Great work. I have a question about your beginnings. Have you been drawing before starting Proko portrait ? Do you have some of your first portraits still to see before and after effect?
Keep doin good work ;)
Hi Bartosz,
Here are a few drawings; I had no experience prior. First drawing is from early 2019 before the course, second was during the course, third was later in 2019 after the course. Last one is from mid 2020. The drawing in the original post I made just a few days ago.
I haven't stopped working on it since I started back in early 2019 and have taken other courses. I think what Proko offers is perfect for beginners.
You get out what you put in, so work often and hard!
I really like the way you control the charcoal, it gives the drawing a nice personality. Otherwise nothing to say, nice portrait! :)
I agree with Kristian that some of the shadow/anatomy shapes could be clearer. That would make the light source read more immediately to the viewer, and would help the portrait sit in space more solidly. However, this has a lot of energy in it and is really playful, and I appreciate that a lot. Well done overall.
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4yr
Hey Eric! This is an awesome drawing! You're definitely getting a hang of the concepts.
What I would say is everything is in the correct spot, but it looks like there are a bunch of arbitrary shapes. The neck for example doesn't feel like it has any primary forms. And the anatomy doesn't feel correct. So as a result when you cover the head and look at the neck, you can't really tell what you're looking at.
@Stan Prokopenko has an awesome diagram where he shows how using a very strong primary cylinder can be used as the scaffolding for an arm.
If you were to use the same concept for the neck of this drawing, I think it'd make it more dynamic.
Thanks for the reply Kristian! That makes a lot of sense. I often jump right into shadow shapes after I have a basic sketch down, but maybe I should spend more time building up the structure first. Thanks again 🙏
