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 (8/24/23)

* 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!

Christian Peitler

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This was more difficult than expected for me, feedback is welcome :)

@doodleibu

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I've been feeling that my drawings have been stiff lately, so I tried to be looser. Will watch the demos next!

Scott

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Third time for me. Getting more comfortable with creating asymmetry and being aware of peaks. Still not getting the internal zig zag between peaks. Maybe I'll get it on fourth try.

Fabio Ricci

•

I enjoyed this one! maybe I could try to use more gesture

samuel burgos celedon

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10d

Scott

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Nice gesture. Great line quality.

Jordan A

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10d

A fun assignment! These are all done pre-watching the demos but I have done others post-demo and I believe I'm seeing some improvement and I'm trying to be sure and draw with the purpose in mind instead of getting lost in just making random shapes. Any critique or comments are always welcome!

Rachel Dawn Owens

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Nice seals!

Emmi McKee

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11d

I struggled a bit with this project, felt like i was overthinking the whole concept, but im happy with how my seals turned out in the end.

@621

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12d

I love drawing these.

Melanie Scearce

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12d

Nice shapes! Looks like you had fun :)

Janou Baarda

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15d

I loved this assignment! Started rough but ended well 😎 still need a lot of practice.

Melanie Scearce

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15d

Very nice shapes here, keep it up!

@piba

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15d

I love your seals ( ˶°ㅁ°) !! they look really soft and squishy 💕💕💕

Maris

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16d

These are all drawn from reference. I just realized that I have barely used any straight lines. I would love some feedback on how to improve.

Melanie Scearce

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16d

These look great @Maris! You are identifying the overall gesture well and your line quality looks great! Making dynamic shapes is all about capturing the energy -- even if it's a static pose, the seal is still activating muscles to hold itself up or anticipating an action, gearing up for movement. A great tool we can use is tension to show this movement or storage of energy. The key is finding the right places add tension, which can be created in shapes by using a combination of straights and curves. I hope this example is helpful to you!

hobodios

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18d

I had a LOT of fun doing these I'm going to keep practicing because sometimes I feel like my seals arent as alive but yeah any critiques are welcome!

@roblewisart

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17d

honestly they look great, I love these. The most important thing is that you are having fun.

Melanie Scearce

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17d

Your seals look great! I think they all look alive, you've done an awesome job finding the line of action in these. I don't have anything to say to correct anything, but you can look for certain things in the poses and try pushing them a bit further to increase the movement in your shapes. Here's a few notes and drawovers I made for these poses. You've already found these areas, but see if you can push it more. Look specifically for areas where there is a stretch and squish relationship happening, and even if it's minor see what happens when you emphasize it. You can also add complexity to your shapes by using combinations of straights and curves where there is weight being distributed -- the straights will indicate where the weight is being held, and the curves counterbalance the structure with gesture. You may find that you push it too far that it doesn't work, but then you know where the outer boundaries are!

Tyre Blackshire

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20d

Here are my drawings. I appreciate any feedback and critique.

Aubrey Hannah

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22d

Here are the sketches I did for dynamic shapes. Admittedly, I think I may have focused too much on the contours, Next time I'll try and focus less on accuracy and more on the shapes themselves.

Kristen Budovski

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24d

I ran wild with this project! I had an absolute blast and just kept making more and more. I could use some work on making the shapes a bit more dynamic but I think this was a great start!

Patrick Bosworth

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24d

Nice job! You can really see a progression with these three pages. The top left seal on the third page is really excellent. Clean line quality, great shape design. Keep up the good work!

Mason Stroud

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24d

I feel like I can definitely push the gesture WAY more, and need to explore more shapes. Now that I've looked at this drawing again after 20 minutes, they seem flat. I also could not figure out how to draw that last seal... It looks too much like a strange dog haha

Rachel Dawn Owens

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24d

Haha I like your sea lions. Maybe use some more straights to balance things out. Here’s a few tips I made for other students that may apply to this as well:

@sosoph

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26d

Hi :). I loved looking at the reference pictures, they were full of emotions. Trying to have good line quality while drawing an animal that I'm not familiar with was challenging, as well as using my imagination/memory to figure out poses for level 2. Stan's line quality is truly inspiring. :)

Melanie Scearce

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26d

Happy Monday! Here's some colorful seals.

Shayan Shahbazi

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25d

Great work, Melanie.

Brandon

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26d

lol, the face

Philippe

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27d

Not really sure if I did well or not, I feel like I'm not quite sure what to do. I tried to look for the 'flow' and exaggerate it, but I feel like sometimes I've stretched the forms too much so that the original gesture is not longer there. Any pointers are very welcome.

Melanie Scearce

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26d

I think you are definitely getting the idea. Pushing the gesture too much is better than not pushing enough, so no worries there. It seems to me that you might be getting too caught up in the contours for this assignment. You don't want to over-simplify, but a bit of simplification can go a long way especially when you're trying to find rhythms. You can always go back in after you've laid in your gestural lines and add more structure to the shapes, which in general results in a stiffer drawing. There is a constant balancing of gesture and structure in drawing. Using this pose for example, I found two long rhythms that form the majority of the shape of the seals body, from the head to the tail. I invented the tail because I felt that it adds a bit more context to the pose. I didn't focus on the specific anatomy of the seal and instead simplified to create an interesting organic shape. I drew through the flipper and the tail to keep those long lines. Overall your seals are looking really good. I think simplifying a bit more will really take them to the next level!

Philippe

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27d

Tried to improve it a bit. Came to the realization that not everything needs to conform to the flow of the body. The feet offer stability, and you need to exaggerate that as well. The same goes for the face, it changes angle relatively quick, changing the direction of motion.

Lost 247365

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27d

I had to relook at the images and then put them away to do the memory part.

@christalynn

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27d

This is a fun assignment. We were in Victoria BC on a whale watch last year and saw and smelled a lot of these fun guys! I need to continue to practice line quality. But this is a fun way to do it.

Melanie Scearce

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27d

These are really fun! Yes, I agree with your self critique -- try to avoid those 'hairy' lines as much as possible by starting out really light with your stokes and darkening as you find your shapes.

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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.