Week 6 - Series of basic shapes

[golden sundial]

Welcome to Study groups!!
weekly study challenge to practice art fundamentals

for anyone who wants to join - here are references!
Try to observe simple shapes, proportions and focus on drawing the reference accurately

** 💪 general rules: use any technique, any medium and don't trace or over paint the reference! **

this week study ends : <t:1747513800:f>

Reference photo credit : Geo Art Ref

I will be here to help so feel free to ping me anytime
Have fun!

Turn on notifications for new studies here id:customize

Here's mine!
Feel free to do all of them or choose but keep it clean and accurate!

• construction before rendering, I've used lasso tool for most of them but feel free to use sketch
• the objects are simple so focus on accurate rendering - each side has some value variation it's not one shade!
• try to notice how light is interacting with each object - cube vs cylinder, cylinder vs sphere
• take your time with it and don't copy, use your logic!

The shapes are basic enough to not get overwhelmed with it but you can still learn a lot about value variation and smooth rendering.
Try to take your time and draw each shape at least 15-30min!

Here's timelapse if anyone finds it useful

Also reminder :
Everything can be broken down to these simple shapes so it's very important to know how to draw them!
Once you know how to draw cubes or cylinders you are closer to constructing a whole figure💖
This study has rendering practice addition but feel free to draw them in lines without render as well

Credit to artist : pikat.io on instagram

[ivory gale]

Wait am I allowed to type here?

[golden sundial]

yup!

[ivory gale]

Ok

[misty steppe]

Looks nice

[stark scaffold]

squares

great practice

[golden sundial]

pins are done XD

[grim ruin]

Dont copy? Use ur brain? but i have no brain

[golden sundial]

I believe in you all 💖

[grim ruin]

How exactly am i supposed to not copy tho? I think i automatically copy if i see the reference

[ivory gale]

Ima delete these

[golden sundial]

Try to explain yourself things you see while you draw
For example :
Why is this shadow that way? - it is lighter when it is further from the object
From where is the light coming from? - try to point out direction and place of light source
Where would be the shadows if we move the light source? - try to think about different shape of said shadow if we would move the light source
Why is this part lighter? - try to notice the reflection that is happening on each object
etc. etc. etc.
Pretty much being curious about the reference instead of blindly copying it!
Answering these questions will help you to understand what are u drawing, why is it this way and how to apply it in your own work!

[golden sundial]

it is not strict here, feel free to post your 5 min study and add your detailed ones too! the main point is trying:)

[static leaf]

I haven't picked up an actual pen in ages but this was a nice change

[grim ruin]

Oo okay! In that case ill make one following the ref and then ill try making my own light source

[lone grotto]

When you create a work of art with the intention of sharing it with others and being understood, you must think of it as a form of dialogue. Just like in conversation, you use words and expressions that both you and your audience understand—symbols, forms, and gestures that carry mutual meaning. In painting, and especially in the study of drawing, it is essential to engage with the world around you: to observe how you see it, and to learn how to interpret and communicate that vision to someone else.

Studying art is not just about mastering techniques or learning how to replicate hyperrealistic images from references. That much is true (but you cant teach a baby to speak if you dont teach it words) More profoundly, it's about developing your own visual vocabulary your personal "words and expressions" that allow you to portray the things you see and feel. Through this, you gradually build an internal visual gallery, a mental archive of forms, gestures, colors, and ideas that enable you to communicate visually.

References play a crucial role in this process. By studying them, you learn how to "speak" properly in visual terms. They train your eye and hand, helping you understand structure, composition, and expression. However, what you choose to say—what you wish to communicate is entirely up to you. That is the beauty of art, but also its challenge: the fusion of technical knowledge with personal intention.

hope its at least a litlle comprehensive, english makes me troubles sometimes

(for those interested in this topic i highly recomend book by Whitney Davis - A General Theory of Visual Culture) he talks in chapters 5-6 about what im talking

[grim ruin]

wow ty thats so poetic

[lone grotto]

i am sorry if its out of the line @golden sundial i thougth about last week discussion in study group. And thought about sharing some theoretical knowledge on the subject in contrast to actual practical definition which you beautifully express here.

[golden sundial]

Actually I love your additional info ❤️

[sonic hawk]

i need to learn bout symmetry

[west beacon]

Ah... This looks interesting! Imma join now 👉 👈 (I'm late I think)

[grim ruin]

Dw! It started yesterday and will go on until next Saturday!

[naive flame]

I know and sorta understand how to draw the shapes, but I have no clue what to do for the shading and shadows, any help?

[golden sundial]

helloo, you can practice symmetry pretty easily with simple shapes but since it's outside of this study I would recommend you to ask in #978708583090892830 or #🎨・art-chat !!

[golden sundial]

Hi, it would be good to work with pencil or one brush in digital and try out what shade is your pencil able to do, remember to work lightly at first and work your way to the darker shades! I can give you more tips but I need to know if you work in digital or traditional first!

[naive flame]

Both but mainly digital

[naive flame]

I tried using the watercolor brushes and airbrush but it just looks too white and plain (I've never drawn shapes before)

[grim ruin]

Try to never use pure white and also what helps me is comparing colours to each other. Is the right side darker than the left? Is the top part of the side lighter or darker than the bottom? I relate with u tho im bad at colours

[golden sundial]

yeah try to block the whole cube in grey and then try to check the reference what is the darkerst part, what is the lightest part etc etc.
if you work with layers it would be good to have blocked out color of cube on 1 layer so u can draw into it easily with clipping mask

[naive flame]

Thank you very much! Also another thing I had trouble with is the shadow, I was struggling trying to find where the light is coming from

[golden sundial]

for that case it's really useful to take your time to check the reference. since this is your first time drawing shapes don't over complicate it for yourself! look for simple shapes in shadows too and compare it with your own work! notice where is the shadow longest (left side) and how thin it is on the side of the cube
for shades it's also good to notice what is the darkest part of the cube (shadow in that case) and how light is the cube compared to background color

[calm niche]

im not good at perpective, still learning about values and watercolors. but atleast i tried my best HAHAHA😭 (srry for the low quality pic)

throughout when i was painting these shapes, i didnt really think about anything how this and that, except for the color and placement of the cast shadows, dark, midtones and light shadows lol. i did think about the placement of the lighting, it kinda helped me a little. so i just played and played😭 (and i spent at
east 5+ hours just for these shapes, is this bad😭 lmao)

[golden sundial]

I think you did a really great job!! I love the value variation on each side and and it is nice that you have kept sharp edges as well (which is a bit of a problem with watercolors sometime xd). Also it is not necessary to over analyze it as long as you learnt something from it✨
your effort paid off!!

[calm niche]

thank you!!

[sonic hawk]

ok thanks

[misty steppe]

My dumbass thought today was the last day for this lol

[golden sundial]

lmao noo I am doing new post every Saturday!

[misty steppe]

Kk 🙂

[safe dune]

Woah

[modern forge]

Thats actually quite good

[quartz vine]

Sorry for wrong rotation

[modern forge]

Did the cube, photos in 2 different lightings

Time: about 1 hour

Medium: acryclic, watery white paint for mixing, cardboard

Summary: I painted over the cardboard initially to make a background to replicate the photo but I think in hindsight it wasnt a good idea.

I’m happy with the colours I used and the painting managing to atleast resemble the reference. I really struggled with the shapes, like the square facing the camera is lopsided and the edges are wonky. I also didn’t lighten the area where light was coming from

The shadow also should be a different angle

3 stages of the painting before the final product

I think I did better with the blending in this one although I need help with making the blending help the painting to look more real.

Like for example you can’t tell what this painting is if you saw it first time

I think it gradually worse as the painting carried on and I struggled with shapes yet again (how do you even paint a sphere)

How does one plan out the foundations before starting, for instance my sphere and cone aren’t on the same line

Once again my shadow was poor

I found it fun though

@golden sundial

[golden sundial]

Hii great self critique!!! As you said, the proportions still need some work but that could be resolved with some more construction. I would recommend you to sketch everything with pencil first (overall shape and maybe general shadows) to make your painting easier and more controlled! I think you did a great job with shading but the unclear edges of each object is breaking it off a little!

[modern forge]

How do I put edges, do the line have to be black?

Cause like I struggled with showing where one objects starts and the other stops

Also if I do some construction before I start

Won’t I just paint over it

Like before I use it

Also how do I improve realism, I think only the cone (maybe?) looks real

[golden sundial]

nope, doesn't have to be dark line, just clean cut between bg color and object color! I did a quick over paint to show cleaner edges + bject separation. the solution would be to use thinner paint to get smooth strokes to achieve this!

for sketch before painting I can show you sketch I did for week 1 study - I eventually over painted all the sketch lines, yes, but it helped me to establish every side and proportions of each object before I started with blocking out/shading!

[dusk seal]

the highlight is abit intence but i was trying the new tablet

[modern forge]

Thinner paint?
Sorry for the questions

[golden sundial]

no, sorry for confusing explanation xd pretty much lots of your stokes looks like example on the right and for sharper edges u will need stokes that look like example on the left.

[modern forge]

Oh oh ok
So fill the brush more

[golden sundial]

yep exactly!:D

[modern forge]

Alright thank you

This was fun

I’ll add this to my notes

[golden sundial]

I am glad u have enjoyed it!!

[modern forge]

I’m at the point where ive realised I’m probably not an objectively good painter (albeit this is just casual) but painting hasnt been this fun since I started

[golden sundial]

Personally I love this point of progress where I find issues in my skill because I am able to improve them from there!! Thank you for joining - and I hope I will see more of your works in the future❤️

[dusk seal]

any tips i'm trying but i feel like i'm missing something

[naive flame]

Attempted to draw the cube again (it don't look like no cube) but I feel like it's slightly better than the old one

[calm citrus]

I tried… my lines were a lil too soft

[bronze nova]

^_^

[earnest heart]

It’s nice seeing this stuff again, last time I saw it was when we had to draw them multiple times for art class

[tacit beacon]

I only have a pen so I gave the pen sketch a try. Value is not right but at least I tried
I'm gonna be so busy this week so I posted this in case I can't do a long study.

[golden sundial]

helloo you are missing darkest and lightest values! I've checked your work and you are staying only in this range on color wheel! for more 3d feel u will have to add darkest shadows and highlights!

[golden sundial]

haha yeah I am taking inspo from art school classes

[dreamy veldt]

I mean ur teaching me better than my teachers so ur doing it quite well

[golden sundial]

I am very happy to hear that ❤️ I am still student myself but I will try my best!

[nova vapor]

Do you have to do a study of every picture or can it be just one?

[golden sundial]

u can choose or do all of them, whatever works for u!

[nova vapor]

Alr, thanks!

[earnest heart]

Lol, that’s sick

Btw do you know any guides for building anatomy and animal anatomy??

[stiff remnant]

how did you check that?

[golden sundial]

with eyedropper tool

[stiff remnant]

so you went through it pixel by pixel?

[golden sundial]

yes exactly

[stiff remnant]

mamma mia

[golden sundial]

tbh it always goes down to breaking forms to simple shapes, here's example from Animal Anatomy class by Jonathan Kuo
I think we will cover that in future posts in study groups too

[earnest heart]

Ok thanks bro!!

[nova vapor]

Done
Idk I kinda don’t like it
Also surprised that it is more difficult then I though

[native sluice]

first time here, how is it?

[golden sundial]

I think you did a nice job!! Simple shapes are a bit of trap they look simple but it is tricky to draw them xd

[nova vapor]

Ty!

[golden sundial]

I think the cube would still need some adjustments to look more 3d but overall good job!!
I would recommend you to focus on more confident lines since there are too many on some parts and it is messing with depth of the object

[native sluice]

thanks ill keep that in mind!

[golden sundial]

I took one of my studies and tried to rotate it in space in different angles! some of them are definitely wonky but it was nice study so if anyone wants to try it on hard mode - go for it xd
for my aphantasia homies the sketch on pic 2 helped me A TON

[golden sundial]

hii this post it only for study related posts so please use other gallery channel ( #🔵︱・traditional) or feel free to create your #1275265244435845220 and share your work there!!

[quartz vine]

Second try, any suggestions?

[golden sundial]

hii I think u will need some more value variation to create depth especially on cone!

[lone grotto]

did the other too, they do you think they look little cleaner?

[golden sundial]

they do!! great job💖

[lapis nova]

i’m so late for this but everything looks so cool!!

[wheat basin]

I only do traditional, is that okay?

[scenic echo]

Did the other one. Is there anything I can improve upon?

[lapis nova]

i’m not the owner of this thing. BUT, it’s always okay to be traditional. just take a picture of your work. i approve 😎 👍

[bronze nova]

Wow this is so good

[golden sundial]

hii I think u could add some more darker values but overall great job 💯

[calm shuttle]

I tried

I need to harden my lines tbh

OH

HELP

I SHADOWED WRONG

CfathVRhHHuu

I'm better with traditional with an pencil

Nice workout lamfo

I think I put them too close together

[scenic echo]

ohhh alright, thanks!

[soft rapids]

Trying to get back into traditional. My self critique is that the proportions aren’t very accurate and I could’ve gone darker in some areas. Any more critique?

[loud vale]

I feel like I'm going to crash out studying art because what do you mean i need to draw NORMAL circles and not just scribble circles

[golden sundial]

haha yeah studying can feel overwhelming sometimes but make sure to balance it out with some fun drawings too:D

[golden sundial]

hii I like it!! I agree with darker values and also I think cylinder would need some adjustments on that part
overall nice job, I like the 1st pic the most!

[soft rapids]

Tyy! Yeah, I spent the most time on the first one and kinda got a lil lazy after that😅

[earnest heart]

Great job, blend it in more and I’d be perfect

[tacit beacon]

@golden sundial hey there instructor. I happened to draw a cylinder shape for an assignment on hand. Is it alright if I send that in and ask for advice?

[peak hamlet]

Instructions unclear, toaster is broken(i dw hear nuffin, i can already see the errors lol)

[fossil owl]

Last one was rushed bc I just joined the server and have to go out today lol
( Any and all feedback appreciated! 🫶 )

[red shard]

@bold heart

[glass kite]

Oh her it is

[bold heart]

Yo

[fossil owl]

lolll hi

[glass kite]

Wow hold on these peices looks epic!

[golden sundial]

hii if u drew the cylinder straight from this reference u can post it here, if not I think if u would better to post it into #978708583090892830 (feel free to ping me there)!

[fossil owl]

I wanted to fix these a little

[misty steppe]

What ive got so far

[tacit beacon]

Aight aight.

[small raven]

I was wondering when drawing the cube how I know where the vanishing point is?

[minor token]

[golden sundial]

hii to find vanishing point in the ref picture u would have to draw the line from each side of the cube and find it this way! example pic from google
for your own drawing it would be most likely estimate of vanishing points

[small raven]

Thank you!

[small raven]

I know I'm really late and hadn't had the time to do the last shapes
But it still was fun and challenging

I would really appreciate any critique

[golden sundial]

Hii I think u did a nice job, I like the cube the most because it looks clean and nicely placed in space!
The 3rd study has some issues with lines and proportions, especially left side of it