Level 1: Week 2: Positive/Negative Space, Contours, Form

Sharon


Welcome to the SC Mountains Sketchers, Sharon! You got right into the groove with a beautifully sketched egret!! Excellent use of negative space to show its form. The proportions of the head and body are spot-on and the delicate contour edges and details, such as the feather highlights, are very well drawn. Your skills really turned on for an awesome dragonfly drawing! The proportions and angles of its wings are very accurately drawn compared to the reference picture. The contour edges of its body look realistic and natural. Keep practicing doing quick study sketches of things, just like you did for the dragonfly, while searching for accurate proportions.



Excellent how you drew corrections right on top of lighter guidelines!



Helen


Using positive/negative space while drawing the egret was a BIG step in learning to draw realistically, Helen!!! The boldly sketched background is a powerful contrast to the delicate shading of its body. The 's' turn in the neck is especially accurately drawn. Excellent work in delicately shading the contours of the feathers and erasing out the highlight areas. Your sharp eye for detail really shows in the rendering of the dragonfly. The proportions of its body and wings are really, REALLY accurately drawn! Great control in drawing the contour edges making for a very natural looking insect. And then you put all the lesson skills together for an amazingly realistic flower!! Excellent work in showing its textures and contours. Nice quick study sketches of the dragonfly, too!




Val


Val, once you got into the zone you cranked out some wonderfully realistic and accurate drawings!!! Your sketching technique captured the delicate contours and form of the egret's feathers and facial features. Great job of using positive and negative space to draw the contour edges of its neck. FAANTASTIC work in showing the wolf's strong muscles and texture of the fur. I know the head was a challenge but you pulled off a very realistic looking face! Your confidence line work really showed in the speed in which you sketched the wolf. And your dragonfly shows the strength of your sketching technique--natural looking contour edges of the body and thin contour lines for transparent wings.



Kirsten


You were a drawing machine Thursday night, Kirsten!!! Your stellar sketching style, combined with the lesson on positive and negative space produced some amazing work. I know you made some big adjustments in proportions during the early stages of the egret; then drew your corrections over the initial guidelines to nail down extremely accurate measurements of the head, neck, and body. Excellent line work and use of the kneaded eraser to show the contours and textures of the feathers. Your quick study sketches of the dragonfly set up a very accurate, tight rendering of its body and wings. Also, the textures and perspective of your 'positive/negative space' chair turned out really cool!

Level 1: Week 1: Lines, Shapes, Proportions

A big Drawing League welcome to our new SCMAC students! In the first 2-hour session we started seeing tremendous potential in the drawings produced! The first half of class we drew from observation. Then we created a large composition from the imagination by using ideas from the observational sketches. Our focus was on ways to hold the pencil, moving the whole arm while drawing, sketching light guidelines, and looking for accurate proportions. Scroll down to view your work. And be sure to click on your drawing to view it larger.


Pencil warm-ups by Helen (left) and Kirsten

Kirsten


Kirsten, this fantastic set of sketches shows quick progress in gaining control while holding your pencil on its side, especially the longer, sweeping curves of the toucan. Your sketches show fine examples of drawing on top of mistakes while sketching light guidelines for basic shapes; then you found accurate proportions (comparing the size of shapes to other shapes) by drawing darker outlines. The lizard's tail and toucan's head show your thinking process while searching for accurate proportions. A number of things make your large-format composition interesting, such as repeating lines, shapes and patterns as well as varying the sizes of animals. Varying the sizes of things also give depth to your composition. And the long angled lines in the background do a great job of breaking up the page.



Nice job of overlapping the frog's front legs and showing the lizard on top of the wood texture. Cool facial expressions!




Val


Excellent start in drawing with lines and shapes, Val!!! Nice sketching technique that you're developing in this set of drawings--confidently sketched guidelines and bolder strokes for final outlines. Overall, the proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) are very well drawn. Your accuracy and control of holding the pencil on its side improved with each new drawing. You pulled all the skills together in your drawing of the lizard! Excellent use of lighter and darker tones on the toucan. Really cool how you repeated the form of the frog in your large composition, showing rhythm and movement. Also, by lightening the tonal value of the frogs you're showing depth in the picture. The angle of the frogs divides the composition nicely.



Nice job on overlapping the frog's front legs. :-)




Helen


Crisp line work and a keen eye for accurate proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) are a great start in developing your sketching style, Helen!!! Great job of adding all the details of the toucan and lizard such as the overlapping of the lizard's body on top of the wood and texture of its skin. The light guidelines and darker outlines of the toucan's head show accurate corrections in proportion. And the overlapping legs and position of the frog's feet give 3D depth to your sketch. Awesome mash-up going on in your large composition. Really like how you interlocked shapes t0 break up the page! Lighter and darker tones tie it all together nicely.



Nice job in improving the proportions of the puffer fish, especially its curved belly.

Level 2: Week 6: Color, Proportion

This group of intrepid sketchers continues to blaze new trails! The previous week found everyone immersed in tonal values of grays. And this week we plunged into mixing it up with Prismacolor pencils. We captured the fun evening in new photos and a new music vid.

Michele


Your drawings show a quick progression in learning to control the layering of colors. The blending of yellow, red, and blue comes together wonderfully for a smooth look in your final apple drawing--VERY cool illustration style, Michele!! Really like how you experimented with various color combos in your awesome impressionistic take on the squash! It's interesting to compare the techniques used for the squash and the apple. You're on the verge of busting open a looser style with energetic, sketchier line work as well as a tighter realistic approach. Go for it!




Penny


You REALLY got into the zone during this lesson, Penny!!! Layer after layer of colors gave way to the brilliant surface textures of the apples. And during your color-blending process you focused on showing realistic curved contours, especially in the areas where the stem is attached. The shadows cast by the stems and the highlight areas are really nice touches. Let's do more exploration in dramatic shading as your drawing style develops. Your skills have progressed beautifully! You're on to something here--grab your sketchbook and draw like the wind!



Matt


Put some Prismacolor pencils in your hands... and... watch out, man! You clicked into the blending process quickly, laid down your base colors, got into the rhythm, and never looked back. Awesome how you loosened your strokes to show a sketchier, more impressionistic style. Because you applied lots of layers, some very wild colors emerged in the mix. REALLY liking how you mashed up the apples and bananas in your composition! Hey, Matt, you've GOT to venture into doing more surrealistic compositions.

Allison


Beautiful! Drawing! Allison! You've gotta add Prismacolor pencils to your sketching tool kit at home. Your study sketches show a quick understanding of the form of the apples and how to blend the pencils. Your final drawing of the apple is wonderfully realistic--in color mixing as well as accurate proportions. The subtle shading and surface textures are nice touches. And your take on the squash broke it wide open for experimentation in a freer, looser style. Definitely beyond very unique. :-)