Drawing Basics
Getting Started
Lines
Shapes
How Perspective Works
Intuitive Perspective
Values
Bonus Content
Let’s look through your simplified animal portraits! In this critique, I’ll be looking through both level 1 & 2 submissions and giving advice on what is working and what can be improved.
Newest
@fox4
19h
FYI. The video "Critique - Simply Animal Portraits" and "How Animators Use basic Shapes with Aaron Blaise" are mixed up. The downloads for each section are correct but for some reason the playback videos are switched.
Axel
3h
They're in the right place to me!
@childz
1mo
Gave it another try after watching the critiques. I'm very much a beginner any tips would be very much appreciated!
•
28d
Your shapes are looking good. You can push them a bit further by asking yourself some questions about the image to develop a narrative for this character. What kind of character do you think this fox has? Is it old or young, sleepy or excited, devious or sweet? Use shapes to convey the character you have in mind (this is a good lesson to brush up on how to use shapes effectively: https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/7-ways-simple-shapes-can-improve-your-drawings/comments). Making as many sketches as possible is key in this stage, so don't get too precious with it! Happy sketching :)
Tommy Pinedo
2mo
Here are my attempt for simple animal portraits level 2. I used an owl, monkey and my dog kenny.
•
2mo
Kenny is so cute 🐶 You did a great job with the owl and the monkey drawings, and the dog drawings too, but some of them read a bit more like a bear to me. I think it's the portraits where the bottom half of the head is larger. Just wanted to point that out as something to think about. Overall, these are great explorations!
pinkfin
2mo
Redraw everything after watching critique video.
Agnieszka
3mo
When I followed the demo, the exercise seemed simple and fun, but creating my own shapes was much harder. I’m not completely satisfied with them. I guess I need more practice.
•
3mo
Looks like you’re on the right track! It’s ok to keep your drawings a little sketchy.
That bear is really fun. I dig his cape.
@goobish
4mo
drawings made during critiques. any advice welcomed thanks
@mathtry2draw
4mo
Here is my homework the. Rooster is really fun :D
Chauncey Holder
5mo
I tired pry mantis and variety of dogs to apply what I learned from. The crtique
Jack H
6mo
There were some hits and misses with this set of practices. I find that I might be trying to focus on all the different pointers at once, which makes the result a little lost. However, I do think that this attempt is better in terms of the shapes explored compared to previous tries.
Still need a lot of practice though.
Natasha Johnson
6mo
I’m doing this project again . I’m encouraged that i got it wrong
SAFFANA
6mo
This is the most fun lesson , i can draw any animal and make it cartoony
@faegbc
7mo
Still struggling quite a bit to make these look interesting at all or to put down the shapes in way that feels like they make sense, but I think these ones are at least a bit better than the initial ones I tried before the demo and critique?
Kenny Thomas
6mo
maybe try focusing only on their faces/heads/facial features, skip the bodies for now
@macdre
7mo
I've been struggling a lot with these. I think I'm finally getting this down a bit though, albeit I could still try and push/pull the shapes more.
@macdre
7mo
Stefan Sharkov
7mo
Here are my first and second attempts for each of the shape simplifications and explorations. I struggled keeping a limit of ten shapes, and I kept my explorations straightforward. But after watching Stan's demos, I was able to draw more confident simplifications of the animals and my explorations were more varied. Critiques would be appreciated.
Tony Zhang
9mo
Stan I can’t tell you how useful the critique videos are…
Stefan Sharkov
7mo
These explorations are solid. I think what Stan is trying to get across with the shape exploration is, try to use the wildest shapes for your design while trying to maintain the integrity of the animal. The exploration is a test in pushing your design to the absolute breaking point right before they become unrecognizable. You can try these animals again, but pick the craziest shapes for their designs to push your comfort zone.
@d2dareal
9mo
Stefan Sharkov
7mo
Good shape exploration. Your shapes still have a round and soft feeling to them. For an experiment, I'd suggest trying to use sharp edges and shapes such as triangles and see if you can still maintain the essence of the dog.
Enrico Samaritani
10mo
•
9mo
I like how you're simplifying, finding the most essential parts of the image and boiling it down to a pleasing design. I would recommend to try out this out using shapes, rather than lines, as another form of simplification. Basic shapes like triangles, squares, and ovals can go a long way as building blocks, though always feel free to push and pull to find new ways of breaking down the image. Plus, it can be lots of fun! :)
Enrico Samaritani
10mo
Enrico Samaritani
10mo
Stefan Sharkov
7mo
All of your drawings provide a strong simplification of the animal. I'd love to see you explore these shapes further with some more dramatic designs.
Enrico Samaritani
10mo
Enrico Samaritani
10mo
Enrico Samaritani
10mo
Enrico Samaritani
10mo
Enrico Samaritani
10mo
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About instructor
Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
