Project - Get Your Tools and Start Playing

17K
Course In Progress

Project - Get Your Tools and Start Playing

17K
Course In Progress

Your assignment is to get your tools. Once you have your stuff, start doodling. Make random marks on the page. If that gets boring, find something nearby and draw that. Or doodle things from your imagination. Just start drawing. Obviously, you have very little information right now to make these drawings look good, but we’ll get there. Right now a big wall that we need to start climbing over is the awkward feeling of not having control of the pencil. The way to get over that is mileage. Draw a lot!

Use the tip to draw thin lines. Can you control how light and dark the line is? Does the pencil feel different when it's freshly sharpened vs after you’ve used it for a few minutes? Use the side to draw thick lines and shade large areas. Can you make a gradation from dark to light? Is the texture of the paper showing too much? Or do you kinda like that? Try your eraser. Shade an area and erase it. Make a darker area and try erasing that. What’s the limit of your eraser? Start to play and get a feel for your tools.

If you make anything you'd like to share with your classmates, post it below. Or if you have questions about your tools, ask the community here. There are too many of you for me to help individually, so please help each other when you can :)

Newest
He Li
4d
Jsut starting out my journey to be an artist. My goal is to be able to draw or paint realistic animals with traditional media, like colored pencils or watercolor and to sculpt them in 3d software. I'm 28, never have drawn anything in my life before, sometimes I feel I'm too old to do art comparing to those young artists who have already done great pieces, but anyway, I'm doing it, got all my gears set up and taking this awesome course from Proko. I tested my pencils in printer paper pad and tried to draw an apple on my working desk in my drawing pad, my first drawing ever in my life.
Melanie Scearce
Happy you're here! Good luck with the course :)
D
10d
Started learning here in the middle of last year but I allowed myself to get complacent. Finally attempting to get out of my comfort zone and take my skills higher.
Grant
15d
First time post. Been drawing for about two years and I figured it was about time I take advantage of Proko. Did some warmups with materials on hand. The triangle at the bottom is referenced from an “Jump All but One” game from Cracker Barrel. Excited to see where the course takes me!
Melanie Scearce
Good luck with the course :)
Axel Gyllenstierna
Welcome!
Nate Ferguson
I've been dabbling through several different Proko courses and sketching when I can, but not really posting anything or engaging with others. I've decided to work this course from the beginning and post my work from each assignment and the speak more with the Proko community as a whole. I'm very excited about taking this course from the top and I'm all set up with the tools of the trade, so let the fun and games begin!
Melanie Scearce
Excited to see your work!
Ken STACKS
30d
Decided to give myself a refresher after going on a hiatus of not drawing for like 2 years (I was still a beginner then), Did not have much since it was at night but I did have a pencil and a blank book lying around so I thought why not follow the tutorial with that, cause I do hope to develop the skills to draw anywhere with ANYTHING in stock, so yeah!
Nate Ferguson
Awesome! I'm glad your back drawing Ken.
Jeff Z
1mo
Haven't really doodled in a decade. Got a set of 2mm mechanical pencils. Sharpened them and then practiced shading using an overhand grip. Drew lines with both tripod and overhand grip.
Nate Ferguson
I've never really sketched with mechanical pencils. I'll have to give them a go as well.
Neo Diamond
Just doodled for a while using my different pencils. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so it's hard to start something and have it look terrible. First instinct is to give up but I have to push through and keep drawing terrible stuff until it's not terrible lol.
Ken STACKS
30d
The zombie looking face is funny
Leen AW
2mo
I experimented with some of the materials I have, mainly HB and B2 pencils. It's been a long time since I last drew, so I decided to sketch something from my imagination.
@piba
2mo
Since I already draw a little I didnt need to hunt for materials, but I took the chance to sketch on some craft paper to change things a bit. But i woud like to try some collored graffiti eventually. I know my strugles drawing and I think this sketch highlights some 1- Space dimension (ran out of page) 2 - graduation/ transition (to harsh transition of tones or none) If you notice something worth comenting or a advice, its more than welcomed :)
Melanie Scearce
Just wanted to say good luck with the course, looking forward to seeing your progress :)
@b1egun
2mo
I don’t know why, but I love the traditional approach. Every time I spend time working digitally, I get this uneasy feeling that it’s not real. It’s funny and a bit strange, but the physical surface just makes me happy 😊 + Some of my doodles
Martha Muniz
Hey, that's a totally valid feeling! Different materials work for different people, with a lot of people especially resonating with physical and traditional media over digital for the exact reason you mentioned. In that case, I definitely recommend you experiment and have fun with all sorts of different tools, from pencil to crayon to watercolor and charcoal. Trying out the variety of physical media is a great tactile experience that really makes the learning process fun, and lots of people end up finding that they gravitate towards the personality of one or two tools in particular. That, alongside practicing the fundamentals found in the course, can really strengthen you as an artist. You've got some great sketches already, keep up the good practice! :)
Joe Burris
3mo
I cant draw much of anything so I did the one thing I kinda know: cubes. I wanted to see the range from my pencil kit and also see how erasing looked on each. How'd I do?
@piba
2mo
Im sure we will get better if we keep drawing Also you did the hard part thats starting so I would say you did great ദ്ദി(。•̀ ,<)
Chirantan Talukdar
What's the verdict, chat?
Cain Walker
pretty solid start mate, I like the dude in the sunglasses.
Valdez Brown
I got the Drawing Basics course, along with a new gaming pc, and I have an XP-pen 2nd generation drawing tablet on the way, currently drawing with the Wacom Intuous pro tablet. I just started drawing some different stuff, trying to get a feel for drawing on a tablet. I have the following software: Coreldraw 2024, Clip Studio Paint, Davinci Resolve, Wondershare Filmora, and Blender. I am currently on trial period with the following: TVPaint, Moho, and Cartoon Animator 5. I am excited about this journey.
Chirantan Talukdar
Do you want to be an animator?
Tommy Pinedo
Nice! those are great gifts, look forward to what you create with what you learned with this course! :D
Oliver Wan
4mo
Got this course for christmas. Excited to go through it and get better. Just made some random marks and doodles.
Joe Burris
3mo
That's a real nice hand man.
Chirantan Talukdar
How are you so good already? Are those anime eyes?
Tommy Pinedo
Can't wait to see your projects for this course! :D
Lara Castro
Joe Burris
3mo
Really clean lines. Looks fantastic.
Tanya Valkanova
I have a lot of tools but for now it's pencils 2H to 8B. I've been hobby artists since ever, but I'm looking to expand my art knowledge and potentially pursuing a career in art 😊
Shynnel Cumming
I haven’t purchased all the tools yet; however, I did start using some of the tools I already have at home.
Gurshan
4mo
I would introduce myself as an learner! I am in college and trying to get better at drawing almost everyday! I wanted this course so bad,finally got it! Here ⬇️ is my brain dump consisting of drawing from imagination,reference,surroundings,shades etc! I am excited to move forward in this course! Anyone who is reading this right now,I wish you best of luck and appreciate you for striving to improve:)
@hwjones91
5mo
@fomorian
6mo
My doodles after the lesson. Gonna go shopping for materials tomorrow but I was too eager to wait until then.
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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.
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