Weeks 4 & 5: Proportions, Contour Lines, Composition

EVERYone made big-time progress drawing with contour lines and accurate proportions.

I'd like to welcome new sketchers Brad and Kevin P.!

Attention all sketchers, show your best drawings! Enter your work in our Online Student Show, opening May 7, 2010. Your drawings will be featured with students from other schools in the Drawing League Gallery. Choose 2 of your favorites, either from your lesson drawings or work you've created during your own time at school. One drawing is to be from observation (drawing things you're looking at) and the second drawing is to be from your imagination. For Details: Click here

C you Tuesday! --Rob

Cassandra

Really, REALLY excellent drawing going on here, Cassandra!!! The proportions of the egret's head and body are VERY well drawn. The contour edges and shading of the bird look realistic and natural. Great work in seeing the negative space around the bird to draw the 's' curve of its neck! EXCELLENT job of drawing the proportions of the dragonfly's body and wings! The control of your line work gets stronger with each new drawing that you make!

Kevin O.

Hey, Kevin!! Your line work and eye for accurate proportions just keeps on improving! The proportions of the dragonfly and jaguar a well drawn. I really like the details you've included, such as the patterns on the jaguar and the wings of the dragonfly. Excellent job of drawing the contour edges that form the dragonfly and the egret! Drawing the realistic egret was a a little of a challenge, but you looked for the negative space around its body to pull of a great sketch--especially the 's' curve in its neck. The shading of the feathers is a nice touch!

Anthony

Glad you could jump in and draw with us on Friday, Anthony!! You used bold, angled and curved lines to put together a wonderful Van Gogh composition!! Great job of laying down accurate proportions and angles of perspective for the road, walls, and building. I really like the contrast of the grass in front of the walls in the foreground.

Nikkie

Exquisite! Drawing! Nikkie! You drew the jaguar large on the paper and kept REALLY accurate proportions of its head, body, and tail! You did a great job of lightly sketching the guidelines before finishing with darker outlines. The patters on its body and tail look way cool! And the gray tones are a nice touch. :-)

Wells

You've created a really cool composition, Wells!!! Your combination of several reference pictures to make this drawing turned out great. Excellent how you put a detailed tree in the foreground and trees further back to create depth in your picture. Great job of drawing the road in perspective. And it's nice how you used atmospheric perspective to create the illusion of depth in the background.

Brad

Welcome to Rancho Cielo Sketchers, Brad!!! You got off to a flying start in drawing with lines and shapes! You made lots of sketches and had to get used to holding your pencil on its side, but the proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) of the animals' bodies got more accurate with each new drawing. The control of your line work improved rapidly with each drawing, too. The proportions of the dinosaur are VERY accurately drawn. Great job of adding different tones of gray for shading. Keep practicing drawing light guidelines before finishing with darker outlines.

Tisha

More EXCELLENT drawings, Tisha!!! The proportions of the dragonfly's body and wings are spot-on! You did a great job of drawing contour lines for the wings, legs, and body--all-around great detail work. Nice job of drawing the race car in perspective. I'd like to work with you again on the car lesson because I think you could tackle the challenges of sketching guidelines for realistic perspective. And the egret... GREAT job of seeing the negative space around the bird to draw accurate contour lines for its body and head. Really nice job of drawing the 's' curve of its neck.

Jiovony

Superb work, Jiovany!!! Your bold line work is turning into your own distinct style of drawing. In your Van Gogh sketch you made excellent use of a variety of line strokes to show different textures. Great job of drawing the walls in the foreground and buildings in the background in perspective. The trees and bushes are sketched really well! Excellent use of loose, sketchy lines to draw the egret! Your eye for accuracy just keeps on improving, man!

Angelique

So cool how you made your lines really sketchy in your Van Gogh drawing!!! First you drew accurate guidelines; then darker contour lines for the walls and buildings; then you started to loosen up and sketched freer lines for the different textures in your composition. Keep practicing lightly sketched guidelines then adding darker contours and textures to finish. Excellent job, Angelique! :-)

Eric H.

I know this jaguar was a bit of a challenge for you, Eric... but you pulled off a REALLY fine drawing, man!!! Great job of overlapping the body in front of the paw in the background to show depth in your picture. Overall, the proportions of its head and body are very accurately drawn. The patterns and gray tones on its body are a nice touch. Keep practicing sketching light guidelines; then finishing with darker outlines.

Kevin P.

Great to have you stop in and draw with us, Kevin!!! EXCELLENT start in drawing with lines and shapes. The proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) are VERY accurately drawn on the puffer fish and toucan. The control of your line work and shading really shows in your drawing of the fish. Each time you made a new sketch of the bird your proportions became more accurate. Hope you can continue drawing with us!

Mystery Name

Oops! I didn't get your name on the paper, but welcome to the Rancho Cielo Sketchers!! Really, REALLY great start in drawing with lines and shapes. Your clean, controlled lines show very accurate proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes). Cool facial expressions, too. Hope to see you back in class. And I hope you put your name on the next sketches. :-)

Weeks 2 & 3: Lines, Shapes, Proportion, Finding Your Drawing Style

Lots of drawing going on out at the Ranch! We've got returning students experimenting with drawing on large format paper with different kinds of pencils, and we've got new sketchers making their way toward drawing realistically.

As you explore new drawing styles and materials, be thinking about submitting drawings to the student show in May. For details: Click here

Want to compare the work of Rancho Cielo Sketchers to other schools? Check out the Drawing League to see what other students are doing: Click here

Wells

Your inner artist has finally emerged in this drawing, man!!! You maintained accurate proportions as you experimented with graphite on large paper. Excellent how you smudged the tones and kept your contour lines of the man light--makes his form look natural. And it's way cool how you used the kneaded eraser to show highlights. I know the 2-point perspective lesson was a bit tricky for you, but you stayed focused and pulled together a tight drawing with correctly angled guidelines.

Nikkie

The drawing of the tiger is a BIG-time breakthrough for your skills, Nikkie!!! You got into the zone, held your pencil on its side, and drew the light guidelines for its face. And you drew BIG on your paper while keeping accurate proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes)! Excellent job of including all the details such as the stripe patterns and whiskers. Great start with the 2-point perspective lesson! You did a nice job of angling the guidelines to the vanishing points without having to use a ruler Keep it going! :-)

Angelique

Your drawing skills are really starting to come together, Angelique!! Your eye for accurate proportions helped you draw natural looking leaves of the agave plant. I really like how you're loosening your pencil strokes to add expressiveness to your work. Keep experimenting with different kinds of pencils as you add lighter and darker tones of shading (like you did with the frog and plant). I know the 2-point perspective lesson was a bit challenging, but you did a great job of angling the guidelines to the vanishing points and keeping the vertical lines of the buildings parallel.

Kevin

Awesome! Drawings! Kevin! Your eye for accuracy and control of your line work improves with each new drawing you make. I really like how you sketched light guidelines for the form of the jaguar. Practice lightly sketching accurate proportions of things; then compare your drawing to what you're looking at and sketch your corrections (try not to erase). Get sketchy, man! Excellent job of drawing the angled guidelines of the buildings in 2-point perspective!

Cassandra

Wow! Cassandra! You were a drawing machine last week! GREAT job of loosening up your line work and practicing holding your pencil on its side--this will help you as you venture into drawing realistically. Your eye for accurate proportions (the sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) keeps improving with each new drawing. Nice job of overlapping the frogs front legs to show depth in your picture and including patterns for the textures of the lizard. And your tiger turned out awesome! You did an excellent job of including the details such as the stripe patterns and whiskers. Compare your tiger to the reference picture. Is the size of the ears the same?

Juan

Great job of transferring your bold drawing style to the 2-point perspective lesson!! You did a superb job of angling the guidelines to the vanishing points, especially for the car. Maybe add some objects drawn in perspective to some of your future compositions? :-)

Tisha

Lots of wonderful progress going on in these drawings, Tisha!!! Great job of overlapping the frogs front legs to show depth in your picture. Also, the gray tones are a nice touch. You did a nice job drawing accurate proportions of the animals, especially the jaguar! Excellent how you added the patterns for the textures on the lizard and the wood. Compare your drawing of the lizard to the reference picture. Is the proportion of the body, compared to the head drawn accurately? Keep practicing sketching light guidelines before adding darker outlines.

Eric

Excellent! 2-point! Perspective! Eric! The angled guidelines to the vanishing points are very accurately drawn. Great job of keeping the vertical lines of the boxes parallel. You might want to try a drawing in 1-point perspective--I've got a lesson for that. Maybe you'll be an architect in the future?

Jesus

After you got the hang of drawing with your pencil on its side, your drawing skills progressed quickly, Jesus!!! The 2-point perspective lesson was a bit of a challenge, but you got into the zone while drawing the animals. The proportions (sizes of shapes compared to other shapes) improved with each new drawing you made. Compare your drawing of the puffer fish to the reference picture. Is the overall shape of its body accurate? Keep practicing drawing light guidelines for the shapes of things then finishing with darker outlines.

Jiovony

Excellent, EXCELLENT work on the 2-point perspective lesson, Jiovony! Guidelines are angled correctly to the vanishing points and you did a great job of correcting the angles of the windows. You may want to try the lesson in 1-point (after you finish your Van Gogh drawing) or create an abstract drawing with shapes drawn in perspective.