Project - Simplify from Observation

Lesson by

38K

Course In Progress

Assignments 6.6KLesson NotesDownloads 9

Project - Simplify from Observation

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

in Drawing Basics

38K

Course In Progress

Assignments 6.6KLesson NotesDownloads 9

Use the reference photos in the downloads tab or go find your own reference and start drawing! Remember, this project is all about simplifying to clarify.

Make sure to keep these 3 things in mind:

Shapes - Draw your shapes with straight lines
Values - Use only 5 values. 2 in the shadow and 3 in the lights
Edges - Make every single edge sharp!

I'll publish my drawing demos of both levels next Tuesday so you can watch me go through the problem solving process. For a chance to be included in the critique videos, you must submit your drawing to the community by January 26th, 2023, so I can begin filming and producing the critique video.

Quique BA

•

I tried to do the portrait, it was my first time trying to do a portrait since a copule of years, I always had troubles with the eyes and proportions, if anyone has any advice I would appreciate it. TY.

@magnumexpress

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Been over a year since my last attempt, so here it goes. Could use some feedback on how I divided up the values

Rachel Dawn Owens

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You divided them up nicely! This is a solid pear drawing. Watch out separating the midtones too much. This one shape got a bit dark-

@chaotickaiju0517

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10h

First time working through a Proko course! Here’s my Pear drawing.

doweey

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17h

I am happy to start back again from the basics, as I put art on the side for so long.

Melanie Scearce

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13h

Really fabulous work @doweey. You did a great job organizing your value shapes to follow the form in your pear drawings. Your portrait looks awesome as well, but I feel that the values don't follow the hierarchy of light and dark areas as well as in your pear drawings. Squinting at your reference image and drawing can help simplify the shapes so you can get a bigger picture idea of the value structures. In your drawing, the value of the highlight on the nose is less than a full step away from the value shape on his cheek, which in the reference image is more than a step away from the light part of the nose. When you're beginning to lay in your values it's helpful to start by defining the light and dark sides. That creates the hierarchy and makes your decision-making a little simpler as you get more detailed.

@flebeux

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Hello, here is my first pears. Next the portrait !

Marcus Kruse

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Hello! Here are my pears. I drew the last two after watching the demo.

Adam Bullied

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hey everyone! i am a kid learning how to draw comics on my dads account! i hope you like this drawing give me feedback!

youssef ateya

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Hey everyone! I just finished the pear and portrait assignment and wanted to share my progress so far. I focused on simplifying the shapes and keeping the values clean and clear, sticking to the five-value range we were asked to use. It was definitely a challenge to avoid getting lost in details and to commit to straight lines and sharp edges, especially in the portrait. I'd love any feedback on how I can push the design of my shapes further or make the value grouping stronger. Do the shadows feel too flat? And is the light side working clearly? Appreciate any critiques or thoughts thank you!

Matias Furch

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Hi! My name is Matias, and this is my first time in a community. Please feel free to give me any feedback—it's the best way for me to improve.

@karmam

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Woopwoop! First one in the pocket. Looking for some super direct and open feedback (I'm Dutch you know ;) )

Percy Silva

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This is my second attempt at this drawing. I’d really appreciate any feedback or suggestions for improvement.

Lukas

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My attempt at simplifying the pear. I should probably not have used the side of my pencils so much, seeing as to how rough the paper appears to be. I also must admit that I forgot about the shadow on the table(?) and added it in after watching the demo because not having it there was really bugging me. I realized that I didn’t do the “core shadow” thing, but looking at the third reference I am really struggling to see it, even after being told about it. Maybe someone can tell me if I’m just not seeing it or if it doesn't exist in this image? All comments and critiques are greatly appreciated! 😊

@dustyp

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Finally finished the first assignment.The 1st photo was before watching the demo video.The 2nd photo was after watching the demo. My pencil sharpener wasn’t working so well. So I kinda struggled with shading here. The 3rd & 4th photo was after watching the critique video. I think that helped me click certain concepts together.

@0rchard

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Definitely struggled with the values but overall pretty happy with how it turned out! Would love feedback if anyone has any thoughts

@doramarin

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Did the portrait two times, first with pencil, totally forgot to simplify and use hard edges. Also i am not used to shading with pencil so i kept getting frustrated at my sloppy shading. I had to do it again and get it right, so i just traced my original drawing and i did the second one in clip studio paint

Robert Starr

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I've got thick skin and just want to improve. Any and all feedback is welcome. Drawn using Procreate on my iPad

Robert Starr

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Picked up some pencils and tried again after watching the demo (also realized I accidentally used 6 values in the digital version --- oops!)

Percy Silva

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I recently completed this drawing from the Proko Drawing Basics course. I’m open to any feedback or critique — feel free to be honest, I’m here to learn.

Rachel Dawn Owens

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You did great! The drawing is solid and the shading is smooth. You could push the darker values further. Don’t be afraid to add a big shadow shape. This will make the pear stand out from the background more. Excited to see more. Keep it up!

Paul Meier

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Here’s mine and my son’s sketches! We had fun making them!

Tori Blade

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thats awesome! What a fun way to learn :)

Rachel Dawn Owens

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I love this! Keep drawing with your kid!!

Carlos Javier Roo Soto

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Finally!!! Here's my first try to the 1st assignment along side a drawing that I would redo when I reach the end of my sketchbook to see how much progress I made. Based on the drawing and the my assignment work, what do you see needs work? Do you think I should not use the grayscale filter for my drawings?

Melanie Scearce

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I love your idea to make a splash page for this course and to redraw it at the end! That's awesome. Great first assignment 👍 Good luck with the rest of the course. The greyscale filter is fine as long at it's not changing the values. I'm wondering if it's lightening the darker values? If not, you could work on increasing your value range by making those darker values a bit darker, closer to black for your darkest value. Overall awesome work!

@pink_mamba_vip

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Picking the values for the pear was a bit difficult, but I'm happy on how it turned out. Any advice would be appreciated.

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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.