Drawing Basics
Getting Started
Lines
Shapes
How Perspective Works
Intuitive Perspective
Values
Bonus Content
Course In Progress
Course In Progress
Now that you’ve all had some time to try the first project on your own, you can watch how I do it and figure out what areas you are exceeding and struggling with.
Here is my step-by-step demo on how to properly execute the first project for level 2 students.
Newest
HADS
21h
Had to do the pear a few times to truly wrap my head around this approach, and rewire my brain to use only straight lines and hard edges. This is my first attempt on the portrait; took at least 3.5 hours. Totally see the value (pun intended) in focusing on planes to train the eye to pickup on form as though it’s a sculpture. So satisfying to see it come together. Incredible lesson and exercise! Will hopefully tackle it again to try and improve on it.
Would love any feedback or critique on the portrait attempt. Thanks! : )
@andresarte2025
1d
@geeklady
2d
First and second attempt at the Pear for the drawing basics course
Tony Reza
3d
Welp I tried
Meg
5d
Hey gang! Loving these lessons so far. Coming back to drawing/art after a really long time. First pics are without the demo, second is with them. Simplifying is something i've always struggled with and I honestly loved following this. Made me realise how much I was overcomplicating everything. Looking forward to doing more. So many good drawings already on here also! Love looking through them all.
•
4d
Big improvement in your second portrait drawing. Your values are much more organized there. The thumbnail was a great idea. Nice work!
Nik Faraday
6d
Tried my hand at this after the pear. I am trying to stick to digital because it has caveats I haven't found a way to curb quite yet. This portrait taught me a few things of note: Holding my pen way lower than normal helped me keep some values consistent, raising my pen from the tablet messed with the layering and produced undesirable overlaps, and smudging tools are nice! But any advice from other digital artists would be fantastic! I really want to know if there is a way to lift my pen and not cause such odd layering.
John David Carcache
7d
I can see progress in just these few days. Getting back into the swing of drawing after a long break.
•
6d
Nice work! Really like the second one!
Emm Rdgz
7d
•
6d
This is a pretty one. Nice work 👍
Chirantan Talukdar
22d
Can someone please explain how the measuring with the pencil thing really works?
@swerveye
21d
Look up 'how to measure with a pencil art' and there should be some good guides. But the idea is basically you stick your arm out and measure, using your pencil, the size of something. You put your thumb/finger where that measurement is and now you can compare the size that you measured to something else. This gives you the relative sizes of two things.
So lets say Line A is half the length of your pencil, and Line B is a quarter the length of your pencil. Now when you go to your drawing, you know that Line A should be twice as long as Line B.
@swerveye
22d
I'm feeling okay about the proportions on this one but there's a lot of I could definitely improve upon. I've noticed during these exercises that I struggle to get clean areas like we see in the demo. I feel like stuff gets all muddied up. Making those clean line breaks isn't something that's coming naturally to me. I definitely also rushed the end - which really stands out in the hair with the lack of highlights, and the fact that I didn't finish the shirt (I got frustrated). I do plan on doing a follow-along with this demo to see my before and after but I don't have time at the moment.
@swerveye
20d
Another attempt after watching the critiques video. I only had 4 values in this because I felt like that was representative enough and I wanted to really focus on 1. Consistent shading and 2. Proportions/Accuracy. The shadows are a lot simpler in this drawing. I definitely could've added more details but I wanted to focus on the BIG picture without getting caught up in all the little things. I know the angle of the portrait is way different than the original. It's something I struggle with (just making the faces be oriented up-down) and something I'll be more cognizant of moving forward.
@swerveye
21d
Attempt #2. It's definitely a lot improved from the first one. The features of the face look a lot better. Last time I definitely got swept up in the details and failed to stick to the fundamentals of the shapes etc.
@markflys1
23d
David Salamanca
25d
this is tough, before and after watching the demo, with the little thumbnail
Lemuel Stewart
25d
My first attempt without watching the demonstration is on the left. Ashamed to say i got fustrated and loss interest in finishing. My second attempt was much more successful.
Jessica Dodd
26d
Jumped into this blind before watching his video approaching it. I haven't done an excercise like this in a long time, and approached it oddly. I started with construction like I was drawing and then painting the midtone and doing everything above and below that. After about 30 minutes of iterating onto it I got to this point.
I definitely need to recover a more methodical approach to starting.
•
26d
Finding reference images with more concentrated directional light, like the reference image included in the downloads, might make your job a bit easier here. The lighting in these images are quite diffuse, which means soft, even light that reduces shadows and highlights. You'll struggle to get a full value range in these images. This lighting is great for headshots because it's flattering but not so much for designing distinct value shapes.
You might find this tool interesting to experiment with: https://www.proko.com/values. You did a great job in your second drawing finding the mid tone shapes despite the lighting challenge. You improved a lot between your first and second attempts. Keep up the good work 👍
Jessica Dodd
26d
went back after seeing how he approached it, I think i got closer to what he was thinking.
Rob Hagen
30d
Night and day again. These courses are amazing. I did rush the demo follow along (I’m sure it shows) but the breaking down and sculpture analogy are paramount ideas.
Account deleted
Hi there! Here is my version of the portrait (I haven't watched the demo yet).
It was much more difficult than the pear 😂
I'm a bit disappointed about my shadows but this is beacause I miss a 6B pencil so I used only those : 4B, 3B, 2B and HB.
Thanks for your feedback 🙏
David Salamanca
1mo
First portrait I’ve ever drawn. Feedback is welcome! I can’t wait to learn more. I made this in Photoshop
Harigovind N
1mo
At first, I created a thumbnail as he suggested, and it helped me figure some things out. But since I'm a beginner, things didn’t really work together. Anyway did the second one.
Matthew Cabral
1mo
Lemuel Stewart
1mo
The pencil measurement explaination was complete lost on me :(
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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.
