I know this was not the assignment, but I started drawing and couldn't stop (I did not simplify the shadows into 5 shades of grey). This was my first attempt at doing a human face, and I had fun drawing it. The face is a little elongated (compared to the photo) and the eyes are looking straight-on instead of angled down, but at least it looks like a human face. lol

Oh my did I learn a bunch on this one. I could say I got schooled. Firstly I realised that I'm really terrible at listening to instructions! I pretty much totally blanked everything Stan said to do for my first attempt which is a bit embarrassing. In my defence it has been 24 years since I had to listen to instructions from a teacher! So I managed a semi-realistic sketch instead of a proper straight lines value drawing. OK. Try again - this time I looked at the instructions again, totally didn't register them properly AGAIN and just looked at the picture in the lesson, I didn't watch the demo for this attempt. The value capture is a BIT better but the proportions have gone somewhere terrifying. Last one I watched the full demo and then tried again. I realised my laptop wasn't rendering the photo as well as I could see in the demo, so I tweaked the brightness just a touch which helped a bit. By this time I was thoroughly sick of this poor dude so I decided to just rip out a quick sketchy sketch just to get the feel of what I SHOULD have been doing. Values are better, proportions are dreadful but I probably only took 30 mins or so. He looks a bit like one of the ladies from Demoiselles d'Avignon. I'm the new Picasso! /s I also learned that if I write in ballpoint and then use fixative, it forces the ink right through the paper hence no.2 man has writing across his head! Oops. I'm going to have another bash at him tomorrow and see if I can do a better job.

I tried to keep the proportions in check while simplifying the values into simple asymmetrical relating to one another as much as possible

1st attempt and the follow-up after watching the demo. The first one I think I was a bit too focused on making a face instead of focusing on the values and finding the shapes. Second attempt was more value focused but is something I want to continue to focus on. The eye on the right in both drawings is too high...

Observation project attempt

2nd attempt after demo

After the second demo. Round 2 is continuing!

Image one was attempt before the demo with my simplification! Image 2 was done with side by side instructions in the demo! Its as if its of two different person! I found out my mistakes by attending the demo also what i need to work on! I think proportions are what i need to work on! #help @Proko i would love a critique from you🙌🏻

Sometimes it's a little difficult to see if they are shadows or halftones. It doesn't look much like him but well, you know it's him.

Hello here level 2 drawing, it is the first time I do something like this simplifying the values, it made me think where it should go and improve even the proportions in the nose I think and the head I think, I will continue doing this exercise with another image to improve my skill. Thank you very much proko for your knowledge

My attempts at Level 2 after watching the critique, definitely need to work on line quality and hatching more as it could be crisper. First time doing a thumbnail and found it good fun! Pretty happy with the finished drawing - struggled with his left eye (the right one on the page) and the chin but I think the changes I made towards the end helped in terms of the chin, but please let me know if you agree/disagree! Any constructive criticism welcome :)

My second attempt at the portrait project after watching the demo—this time with a different reference. I really took my time with this one, but man, I struggled a lot with the proportions and shape of the head. In the demo video, Proko talks about how making corrections (even if it's a huge and inconvenient correction) is just a part of the process, and wow, this exercise pushed my endurance. Doing the initial contour took me about 2 hours, and the actual shading took me about 3-4. I'll watch the critique video tomorrow and want to do one more portrait, but I'll give myself a day's break from focused art study so as to not burn out. I feel like my simplification of the shapes unfortunately made the woman's face lose a lot of its softness. I did like adding the little strands of hair though and think it looks pretty. I found it a challenge to pick out the values for the light/dark half-tones and the core shadow. I think next time, doing what Proko does and doing a thumbnail beforehand will help me better map out my values so I don't get lost during the shading. Finally, I wasn't sure how exactly to capture her expression... there's a bit of an elegant aloofness to the reference image whereas I get a more neutral vibe from my drawing. I'd love to hear suggestions about how to improve the expression so as to better communicate the mood!

Pre demo vs. post demo. Biggest adjustments between the two were spending significantly more time on the lay in getting the proportions correct and trying to differentiate the values a bit more in the second. Would love some feedback!

Did three attempts but I'm not sure if I'm happy with either of them; the third attempt looks the nicest on my tablet but I might have gotten a little too enthusiastic with the shading

Attempt 1 is the left image. I did it before watching the tutorial and critique videos. Attempt 2 is the right image and I did after watching the tutorial and critique videos. This exercise was hard but it was fun to do! I took my time on the second attempt :D

Very much a beginner. I've never really drawn a portrait before, but thought I'd attempt the Level 2 assignment. Before and after watching the demo.

Hmmm….

Before demo and with demo!

My attempt on the 2nd project