Project - Simplify from Observation

34K
Course In Progress

Project - Simplify from Observation

34K
Course In Progress

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.

Newest
Emily G
3h
First attempt at pear 1 :)
José Pérez
Lovely!
Jasmine Caibaiosai
Pear 1 Lvl 1, missed some of the sharp lines oops
@dukal
3h
I don't do a lot of portrait but I would like to have some feedback to improve. Thanks
Wesley
2h
Nice dude
José Pérez
Today's attempt at the third pear, done after watching the critiques. I would appreciate any feedback, fellows!
Blex
13h
ok been trying to improve since yesterday, even attempted the portrait, think this is the best i can do at the moment.
Tanjiro Hisana
Here is my attempt at simplifying the pear from photo 3 for this exercise. I feel as if learning about the 5 simple values were what helped me the most^.
Sandra Süsser
Level 1 pear :) (photo 3)
Melanie Scearce
Awesome! This is an excellent pear. The shape design of the core shadow really creates that sense of depth and form. I will say that there is a line to walk for this exercise where some shapes can be considered surface texture rather than representing plane changes, and some of the smaller shapes may walk that line. For this exercise in particular, you really wanna focus on just working with the planes, as if the pear was a low poly 3D model made of simple rectangles, and try to simplify any subtle surface textures that you might see.
@mguasch
18h
My first attempt in a very very long journey
José Pérez
Hello, everyone! It is very nice to meet you all and accompany you in the journey to become better artists! I do not have the premium course but I thought it'd be a nice idea to do the assignments as well, at least within the information I have access to as a free user. This is my first attempt and took a little more than 1 hour and was done before watching the free critique video on YT. I would appreciate any feedback! In advance, I thank you. Have a nice day!
José Pérez
Here's today version of the second pear! Drew it in a better paper this time.
@uljana
1d
Here is my attempt! :D I started with the pear and thought I did a good job with the values. My approach was to look at the shapes of the values and focus on proportions, rather than the actual shape of the pear. Then, I attempted the level two drawing and used the same approach. I think the values are decent, but I really struggled with simplifying something as complex as the human face. Also, the proportions and anatomy are way off, but since that was not the task, I am not beating myself up about it. Plus, I think I lack knowledge in that area. Anyway, please tell me if I could improve these any further! ♥ I would greatly appreciate it.
Rachel Dawn Owens
These are perfect!
Jacob La Velle
This is my first drawing on this course, comments and tips appreciated! Thx Jacob (aged 11)
Blex
2d
hey evryone i just started, here is my first attempt, far from pleasant with these but find myself trying to correct to much so will just post them. gonna retry this in a few hours after my frustration dies down
Rachel Dawn Owens
Maybe try some two value pears to simplify the idea more. Separation of light and shadow is the main purpose of this exercise. if you can make a 2 value study, you can do 3 and 4 and 5 values.
Christian Peitler
But your shape is quiet good, but i understand you, I also get frustrated sometime, when my Imagination and my drawings differ a lot :) lets keep going :)
Devon Smith
I have here the pre and post pear and the pre portrait. I struggled a lot with the shirt and the eye also the nose haha
@uljana
1d
I think these are rly great!! The five values are super easy to tell apart - especially on the second pear. Your rly did amazing :DD ♥
Christian Peitler
Hey Guys ! Im happy and excited for this course here are my assignment ;) Feedback always welcome
Rachel Dawn Owens
You’re using some soft edges. Which muddies up the form. It flattens the pear. You have a clear separation of light and shadow. So you’re understanding the base idea of this assignment. Try sticking to hard edges to really hammer things in. Here is a couple of demos to help you out-
Adrian Damengen
Tried my hand at level 2, drawing a face this way is so different than drawing the fruit! Doing this with not much guidance was very hard, can’t wait to learn how to do and understand this better:)
Adrian Damengen
First try at the pear! Simplification of the pear was fun! I see that I did struggle with the simplified shading tho!
@canbaz
3d
Hi, just started and tried to do all the 3 pears from the references. It was fun and will try again with a printing paper. Any feedback is appreciated, thank you.
Kiefer Keddy
Yeah pretty cool they kinda look like theyr made of plastic or clay good job
Jacob La Velle
Great pears!
Melanie Scearce
These pears look awesome!
@overdrawn
Hello everybody, I just started the course, and this is my first assignment. Critiques are very welcome.
Rachel Dawn Owens
This is a great start! Nice work keeping the lines straight and the shapes sharp. I think you could push the shadow values more. Any of the planes of the face that are falling away from the light can fall into shadow.
@amirston
Hey here is my assignment, what do you think? Any criticism is totally welcome, I identify some mistakes that I made, but if you can help me give feedback I would really appreciate it. ¯⁠\⁠_(⁠ ⁠•́⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ⁠•̀)⁠ ⁠_⁠/⁠¯
Rachel Dawn Owens
This is a reference that you can render in 2 or 3 values, but I still tried to go for 5 for the sake of the assignment. Heres how I might tackle it.
Devon Smith
I’m coming back to art after an almost an 8 year break. I’m not too happy with how my skills have dulled but I’m not going to let that discourage me. I noticed I was pretty lazy with my lines when shading. I was rushing a little because of my own time crunch. I plan on watching the demo next and taking another swing at the 🍐 I love constructive criticism so lay it on me haha
Devon Smith
2nd try after demo
Melanie Scearce
Glad you're picking it back up again! The good thing is that with consistency, your skills will return pretty quickly after a break. Good luck with your journey!
Adrian Damengen
i think this looks very good, it seems you followed and understood the assignment very well. good job!
Full course
You will be given unexpiring access to watch the videos online .
View course details
Give a gift
Give a gift card for art students to use on anything in the Proko store.
Or gift this course:
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.
Help!
Browse the FAQs or our more detailed Documentation. If you still need help or to contact us for any reason, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!