Project - Dynamic Shapes

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

inDrawing Basics

4.8K

Assignments 722

Downloads 46

Project - Dynamic Shapes

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

in Drawing Basics

4.8K

Assignments 722

Downloads 46

Download the photo reference images of seals and sea lions.

Level 1 - Draw from Reference

Draw their gesture and design dynamic shapes using the concepts from this lesson and the previous lesson.

Remember that gesture is not the contour, so don't just copy the outlines. Look for the movement and energy throughout the shapes. Use your whole arm and use the looser sketch line that we learned about.

Level 2 - Draw from Memory or Imagination

Start with the level 1 project and after 5 to 10 poses, turn the page, put away all the reference photos and do more drawings from imagination or from memory.

You can try to invent your own poses and design those shapes to be dynamic. Or you can try to remember the poses you already drew and use those as inspiration. Try to push and design with a focus on drawing dynamic shapes. It doesn't matter how accurate you get to the original photo, it's more about designing the shapes to look dynamic and interesting.

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Deadline for submissions to be included in the video critique is next Thursday (8/24)

* Because of the large amount of reference images, it would help a lot of you include the reference you used for each drawing. I'm more likely to select your submission for the critique. Thank you!

@silver847

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i struggled at first but got better as I continued

Melanie Scearce

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Looking good! Keep going

@falv4397

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Back at it

@goobish

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10d

Submission for the gesture project the first 2 pages are from reference while the second 2 I attempted from imagination. gesture is something I've struggled with in the past but I think this helped me get a better grasp of it.Any advise or critiques would be welcomed thanks.

Alan Massey

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10d

I'm a bit rusty. I won't lie. I've been focusing a lot on my writing, so drawing fell by the wayside. But I'm back. I have a new disdain for seals. They're kind of boring. I remember doing an assignment where we could pick an animal of our choice; mine was a blue heron. I had a lot more fun doing those guys for their dynamic shapes. These seals are just blobs, but I see the purpose in drawing them, turning the blobs into something. The first two pictures are from the refrences, and the third I tried to do from memory (again, for the blue heron I found it a lot easier). I'm glad to be back here, though. Cheers. All feedback is greatly appreciated.

Michael Longhurst

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19d

Two more pages from references and then two drawings from imagination. I tried to be a lot more gestural on these which I felt like came out better.

Melanie Scearce

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19d

Great seals! Gesture breathes life into your drawing. I like to start with finding that action line, usually the longest line connecting the top to the bottom. It helps a lot when drawing from imagination to create a more cohesive and dynamic drawing. You can get so many different poses and energies with one line.

Thien Minh Pham

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23d

My pre-demo attempt

Rachel Dawn Owens

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22d

Really great flow on these seals!

Michael Longhurst

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1mo

The first two were ones I did from the references and the third was from imagination. I struggled with the less active poses and only had one imaginary one that wasn’t really bad. I think I’m going to do another round of both then watch the demos and critique.

@arthiecio

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1mo

Tried to make the seals more sketchy but i think lacked structure

Tori Blade

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1mo

I definetly struggled with keeping shapes dynamic and interesting. I noticed that after the reference drawings, my imagination sketches got sloppy and I began losing energy to draw. I know there is something I could do better, but I am struggling to find out what. Any critiques are appreciated! 🙂

@luiscubal

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1mo

I think I could get general "flow" of the drawings, but the part of the bouncing lines not so much. Here's my attempt at some seals.

Rachael

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2mo

I feel like I kinda understand, but also not. I’m having a difficult time separating things in my mind, like shapes vs contour. I think I’m focusing too much on contour, but I tried to think about the shapes while I was drawing.

I did not Want to see that

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2mo

This is all after watching the demos, the first two images are level one, followed by the references I picked for those, and the last ones are all from imagination. I do feel like I improved a little bit, or atleast grasped the idea of this project a little better, but I am not sure. The last two images were done on my wacom, I recently got it and I spend the last few days figuring it out. One thing I will say that is, digital drawing is not easier, but it's way more forgiving and handier than tradional drawing, which brought me to the decision to still keep doing traditional drawing for most of my projects, and when I have the time, do some extra on the wacom. Regardless of that, if there are any points of improvement, letting me know is greatly appreciated!

I did not Want to see that

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2mo

My first attempt at this project, all pre demo, first are level 1. I should have taken some more time to carefully think about some of the shapes and gestures I was using, so when I watch the demo I will take some more time on all of them. I feel like I can do better than this, and perhaps I did rush some of these, but that is no excuse. I will watch the demo with great care

Melanie Scearce

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2mo

These look really cool! It feels like you have the right idea. You may be using too many straight lines in these -- try incorporating more C curves and S curves and what that does to these shapes. Keep it up :)

kelsey baker

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2mo

this was hard i dont know if got the dynamic drawing down or right shapes any advice would be nice il keep watching the video .

Melanie Scearce

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2mo

Definitely continue practicing -- these skills will develop over time with lots of mileage. That said, you have the right idea! Remember that form follows function, try to think about the energy of the pose and design your shapes to support that. It may be helpful to include your reference images in future posts if you used any :)

Minna Mäkinen

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2mo

My Level 1 and 2. First one is from the references, second one is from memory.

Tori Blade

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1mo

Wow, your memory and reference ones look equally great! That's cool that you can do that so well. Great job :D

Walker

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2mo

my level 1 koi fish and seals! I’d love some critiques ❤️

@rudysterner

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2mo

Here is my submission as a level 1 attempt.

Luke

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2mo

I saw some improvements with each iteration, but I think I need to move on and do these as warmups for a little while. The last 3 were from imagination