Project - Cross Contour on Organic Forms

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

inDrawing Basics

1.3K

Assignments 380

Downloads 10

Project - Cross Contour on Organic Forms

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

in Drawing Basics

1.3K

Assignments 380

Downloads 10

Level 1

Simple Blobs: Visualize how cross contours wrap around random blog shapes from different angles (add eyes and limbs if you want to make it more fun!)

Ginger Root from Photo: Start by drawing the ginger root from the photos provided in the downloads and then try to invent your own. These are essentially blobs that grow other blobs, like bloated tree branches.

Simple Creatures: Draw seals, sea lions, fish, worms, snakes, sharks.. any simple blobby creature from photo reference. Find your own photos on pexels.com or unsplash.com

Level 2

Complex Creatures: Draw more complex creatures like lobster, shrimp, beetles, etc.

First do the lobster photo I provided in the downloads. Then find your own reference on Pexels or Unsplash.
Start with simple dynamic shapes. Remember what we learned in the Shapes section!
Add the cross contour lines to show the forms. Simplify, but not too much so you don't lose the essence of the form.

Change the Pose: Change the pose a little from the photo to force yourself to imagine the forms instead of only copying.

Deadline: Submit by 05/31/2024 for a chance to be in the critique video!

Menriv

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Level 1 - Sea Horse from Photo

John Edgeworth

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nice

Menriv

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Level 1 - Sea Lion from Photo

Rachel Dawn Owens

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Cool seal! I dig the variety in the lineweight

Menriv

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Level 1 - Ginger Root from Photo

Rachel Dawn Owens

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Lovely smooth and 3d form

Luke

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It took me awhile to get used to it, but I think I got the hang of it in the end. I tried to tilt the head of a buck, but tilting the antlers was way hard than I was expecting.

Rachel Dawn Owens

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Love that lobster. They are all great!

Mint

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10d

First three attempts I wasn't really sure if I was supposed to add the cross contour lines just up and down or side to side

Melanie Scearce

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Looking good! The cross contours on different axes aren't a requirement to show 3D form but they can help show depth and orientation. This is an example of how you can organize them using your ginger root as an example. By simplifying the ginger root into planes, we can easily find the contours of the x, z, and y axes.

Luis Fidalgo

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16d

These are my attempts , i'm liking a lot the concept

@osa

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17d

Here are my attempts! The first one shows my ginger root characters.

@taraegan

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16d

Wow I love these they’re great! You really were able to capture the form and movement of all the subjects. I do think the dolphin could be improved by using a reference photo where you can see the form more clearly and that will make the cross contour easier. The tail is well executed, but the head and torso could be more refined. Your ginger root character is really well executed as well! I think the top left one would be great to work with as a character because you were able to create defined limbs. This increases its believability as a character because I can easily imagine how he would move around. The other ginger root characters are fun as well! I do have a harder time imagining how they would move around. But you did such a great job with all the facial expressions that it adds nice personality to all of them which makes them feel really alive. The only ones that are hard for me to read are the two top and bottom in the center where their faces aren’t visible. For those ones maybe add some fingers to the hands like you did in some of the others so it’s easier to differentiate the arms from the head and legs.

Ramiro Roman

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17d

DOPE

Aleksander Steinsbekk

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19d

Hi, I drew some animals. I drew all of them from an different angle except the squirrel. All feedback is appreciated

Rachel Dawn Owens

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18d

I love these cross-contour drawings. They are carefully made and have a 3d look to them. I think you could simplify the lines a little more. One trick I like to use is to find the longest axis before I start wrapping the lines. This will give the different forms and more cohesive look. Keep practicing drawing things from different angles. You will learn so much from this exercise. Thanks for sharing.

Amu Noor

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23d

I tried to draw each subject from a different angle after drawing it from reference but I struggled especially with the portrait. I felt that the chin looked a bit off but I couldn’t figure out why. Any advice on that?

Rachel Dawn Owens

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21d

Wow! These are all extremely high level drawings. Great work moving the subjects around in a 3d space while keeping the forms and proportions consistent. I love these. The portraits are lovely. If you’re looking for what might be off about the last one, it’s just a very minor thing. I think if you added a little bit more to the throat area, it would balance it out more. You’re very good. Thanks for sharing.

@aubrey

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24d

This was fun, and I think in going to try more different types of animals. I'm already noticing myself getting better at visualizing how the forms are oriented in space. I noticed the eyes on the hawk are a little off and I struggles with the curves of the lobster and getting them to converge properly, the lobster that has one claw was like that in the reference but adding the other claw would have been good practice, But I learned so much!

@juliomarcosbortolon

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1mo

Thien Minh Pham

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1mo

My Attempt of the project! Any tips help!

I did not Want to see that

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1mo

This was a pretty fun and relaxing exercise, whilst still being a little difficult at parts, I will definetely add this exercise to the more important ones I will be doing after I caught up with the course. I did both level one and two, if there are some problems with it letting me know is something I have so much gratitude for! Personally, I could have tried to make some contours a little more 3d looking, so ill keep that in mind for next time!

Rachel Dawn Owens

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1mo

Your cross contour drawings are great! You even gave some of the cross-contours corners to differentiate between round and boxy forms. If you want your drawings to look more 3d, you could consider this: Keep it up! I love seeing your drawings.

@josephl

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1mo

Here is my attempt, had a lot more fun with the ginger root drawings and I think it shows in the comparison of the quality. Still wanted to try my hand at different animals.

Rachel Dawn Owens

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1mo

The animals are looking nice. The ginger root drawing with the light blue pencil underneath is really cool. The underdrawing gives it a bit of a pentimento look.

Jack H

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1mo

Here are my attempts. I think they turned out not too bad, but it was difficulty coming up with a pose that wasn't in the reference. While they seem alright to me, I'm not sure if I made the correct decisions in the cross contour lines as I mainly just did what felt right to me. Would appreciate any advice/feedback on any parts that seem off/can be improved!

Lil FatWombat

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2mo

Here is my assignment. I rly liked the gingerroot task :)

Rachel Dawn Owens

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2mo

These turned out really nice! I like that dinosaur 🦖

Vili

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2mo

Hi ! Here my assignements ! They are looking 3D but for the 2 last, it looks a bit weird 3D, i dont know why 😩

Melanie Scearce

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2mo

I see what you're saying! I think it could be that the circles are too narrow - adding a bit of surface area at the top by flattening the lines could help. Try "ghosting" in the whole ellipse to see what the cross section looks like.