Project - Cross Contour on Ginger Root People

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

inDrawing Basics

1.4K

Assignments 301

Downloads 5

Project - Cross Contour on Ginger Root People

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

in Drawing Basics

1.4K

Assignments 301

Downloads 5

Cross Contour Project Deadline Extended!

I decided to add in an additional project video to practice cross contour. I'll show you how I turn up the difficulty level on ginger root blobs and turn them into characters.

Deadline: 6-10-2024

Turn the Difficulty Knob

Start with random ginger blobs. Make them humanoid by adding limbs and a head. Focus on mass rather than anatomy and proportions.
Use photos of people in dynamic poses. Ensure the photos have depth (things coming towards you, body twisting, etc..). Avoid static poses.
Create specific characters with pre planned proportions, like a monster ogre with a club. More specific characters add more constraints and chances for errors.

Refine the Drawing

Switch to a black pencil for cleanup. Focus on line weight and clean up your shape design. Adjust cross contours to show depth and volume. Emphasize interesting shapes and avoid symmetry.

@pmirko

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trying to loosen up a little...

@pmirko

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trying different pencils with procreate and having very different results...

Rachel Dawn Owens

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Ha! I love the guy in the middle 🌱

Dani Torres

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I had time to do two today. I like the push-up one the most 😊 It was the second that I did, maybe i was warmed up after the jumping one 🤔

Rachel Dawn Owens

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These are rad! Perfect cross contour linework!

@pmirko

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i can't manage to remove the anatomy out of the ginger men....all my attempts are too close to body anatomy rather than just blobs slowly going into characters... i'll try again without reference and see if i can stick to vegetables people....i also wonder if this s how Spiderman costume was born, or Colossus from Xmen...

Rachel Dawn Owens

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This is a great cross contour study. Your form design rocks. Keep pushing it. If you want to abstract the forms of the figure more, you could try getting rid of the photo and use you own drawing as reference. Push the shapes. Play with proportions. Get weird.

Michael Longhurst

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The first page is before watching the critique and 2nd was after. I tried to aim for interesting shapes, but not sure I improved much.

Dani Torres

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I really like the horse!

Natasha Johnson

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12d

Hi , yup i probably need to do a redo on this one . Any critique welcome . Thanks guys .

Rachel Dawn Owens

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11d

It looks like you almost got it. You could maybe push some of the ellipses more. Make the foreshortened limbs more round. It will help with the illusion. Heres a couple of demo i made for other students that could help you too.

Evan Wray

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24d

Had a great time with this one. The overlapping lines felt like it really unlocked something for me, especially since I feel like I struggle with hyperfocusing on outlines/contour and this whole project helped!

Rachel Dawn Owens

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24d

These guys are so fun! I had to give them a go and drew my own version. You could add a more convincing 3d effect to these drawings by adjusting the connection points. I drew this out to help explain- Hope this helps. Keep it up!

Stefan Sharkov

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26d

I tiny Gingerroot dreaming about two other Gingerroots going for a high-five.

@shopdoc

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28d

Hoping someone can tell me if my cross contour lines are facing the correct position? Still struggling with this.

Melanie Scearce

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27d

Yes, you have the right idea! The two things to consider are the position relative to the horizon line and the position relative to the viewer -- is the object straight up and down or is it moving towards or away from us? In this gif, notice that the middle contour line when the cylinder is in side view is completely flat. You can't see either side of it, but it rounds out as the cylinder tilts back in space. The width of the ellipse of the cross-section become wider the more an object points towards or away from the viewer. It might be useful to draw the full ellipse as practice. Try to make the edge that's not visible lighter so it's not confusing. It's a good exercise for pencil dexterity as well!

@dollydigital

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1mo

@dollydigital

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1mo

Yevhen Syrchin

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1mo

Giacomo

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2mo

Cross Contour on Ginger Root People. I went digital, tried with Blender Grease Pencil.

J. Menriv

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2mo

Project - Cross Contour on Ginger Root People

Aasiya

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2mo

it was more fun than I expected - tried without reference

@ray777

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2mo

im trying to draw this shark, but I’m having trouble, can someone draw over it so I can better see where the contours should be? Thanks in advance!

Rachel Dawn Owens

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2mo

Perhaps something like this? You could use the water reflections on the shark’s back as a loose guide for the cross-contours.

@ray777

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2mo

One of my ginger root people. The one is blue is the before, the one next to it is the after!

Melanie Scearce

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2mo

Nice! Your second one has great gesture. It feels a lot looser than the first. Good work 👍

DrawYer

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2mo

These are my attempts while looking at references and then changing them a bit. I found it hard to construct my own poses out of thin air, and they felt stiff and flat. I guess I am not at that stage in the character design. I tried to ensure that my cross contours actually added something to the form and that they were not just some random lines. I had to go over them a few times to ensure they did not fee flat, finished like a T etc. Having said that, I was not satisfied with some of them and tried to rework them on the side. I tried to strike a balance between more rigid structure, still some sense of flow, and the “organicness” of a ginger root. Looking at other drawings in the comment section, I can see that I could have pushed the organic part a bit more. I also tried to force myself to avoid the snowman effect, it still needs to be a conscious decision, specially when working on blobs. Finally, I tried to have fun for the very last drawing after watching the critiques. It’s departing from a pure Ginger Man and I also realised colouring and cross hatching were something I need to massively learn… :’) Anyway, as usual, any comments or feedback welcome.

Melanie Scearce

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2mo

You did a great job with the cross contour lines in these, especially in the volleyball figure!

Chris Cernoch

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2mo

I couldn't resist putting a little watercolor on this guy. So much fun!

@honestjake

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3mo

did this with a dull pencil cause I didnt want to get up and sharpen my pencil, but I hope you guys can appreciate how ugly this guy is lol I like him

@roddangelo

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3mo

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Stan Prokopenko

Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.