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  • Whale shark

    My attempt at a whale shark from memory, seems i got the dorsal fin too high up and made the centre dark instead if the edges.

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    Ihor, roydebasree84 and 8 others
    6 Comments
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    • That is a good start Patrick.

        • Ali

          Patrick this is a really strong drawing! 😊 The overall shape and proportions are looking great, and I love the soft shading you’ve created around the body.
          You’re also absolutely right in your observation, that’s a great sign of progress. For improvement, try slightly lowering the dorsal fin and push the shading darker towards the edges… Read more

            • Great job Patrick.

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            • Scales

              Hi all,

              Any advice for adding scales to my mermaids. This piece has been rather difficult especially the tiny eyes and getting them looking the right way with some kind of expression… i digress.

              How do we do scales?

              Wow
              Heike, larry and 4 others
              3 Comments
              • Het is wel heel mooi tot dusver😍

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                • Ali

                  This is going to be so cool, you’re really going to love the final result, I can already tell 😊
                  I’ll add my suggestion here as well, drawing is already very expressive 🌊
                  For scales, don’t try to draw each one fully. Start by shading the tail smoothly to show the round form first. Then suggest the scales using overlapping curved marks that… Read more

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                  • Great work…keep it up artist ❤️

                  • Cherries

                    Finished the cherry assignment was quite humbled by this one. Found it really difficult to do detail where there were no stalks.

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                    SiSwitzer, larry and 5 others
                    4 Comments
                    • Ali

                      This is really beautiful work, Patrick the cherries feel very soft and realistic, and your value control is strong, especially on the main forms. The leaf texture is also very nicely observed and adds a lot of interest to the composition 👏
                      For your next studies, you could push it even further by slightly deepening the core shadows to enhance… Read more

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                      • Echt een uitdaging hè die kersen! 👊🏼

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                        • Really well done, Patrick.

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                          • Très joli

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                          • Scale & Darkness

                            My original post

                            “Hi all, i want to start playing with some scale pieces and what to know what youve experienced in changing something from small to large and having to make areas darker to compensate for the increased size?

                            And in reverse when youve scaled down a drawing.

                            Thanks!”

                            The piece i scaled down in the end is a jaguar.

                            I am currently in…

                            Read more

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                            Ali, Alejandro and 7 others
                            0 Comments
                          • Scale and darkness

                            Hi all, i want to start playing with some scale pieces and what to know what youve experienced in changing something from small to large and having to make areas darker to compensate for the increased size?

                            And in reverse when youve scaled down a drawing.

                            Thanks!

                            • Ali

                              That’s a really good question, Patrick, and you’re thinking about exactly the right thing 👍

                              When you scale a drawing up, you almost always need to **push the dark values more**. On a larger surface, light and mid tones spread out visually, so if the darkest darks stay timid, the whole drawing can start to look flat or washed out. Bigger… Read more

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                              • Ian

                                Great question. 🙂

                                I would like to follow with another question. I am struggling with dark (black) areas, to get good dark black with my graphite pencils I find I am having to press way to hard and in doing so flattening the paper and also getting a high sheen. It also means I can not erase any mistakes. Any advice????

                                Thanks

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                            • My first Rhino

                              Hi all finished my first attempt at a rhino tonight, i call him Kevin.

                              Techniques from course ive learned so far and used here, scumbling to apply base layer before blending with brush and repeating to build layers, before finishing with back and forth strokes to try and add the skin texture. On the horn i used hatching before blending with a…

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                              Erika, Krissy and 7 others
                              7 Comments
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                              • ** back and forth strokes with alternating direction **

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                                • looking could Patrick. well done.

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                                  • Goed gedaan Patrick! 👍🏼

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                                    • Ich finde es auch gut 👍👍

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                                      • Ali

                                        Hey Patrick, this drawing really shows your learning and understanding of scumbling, hatching, and blending 😊
                                        Even if it did not turn out exactly how you expected, that is completely okay. For me, this kind of study means much more than a highly detailed drawing. It shows real growth and thinking 👍 Keep going. You are building the right… Read more

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                                      • My First drawings

                                        Hi all,

                                        My wife has been encouraging me to take up sketching, couple of youtube videos later was wondering how the f you detail fur. Found Ali demonstrating fur detailing on a cat with butterfly and here i am.

                                        Anyway its been a fun week so far, below is my attempt at an eye 12.01.2026 (i didnt listen to the video properly and just though any…

                                        Read more

                                        Love
                                        larry, Imran and 6 others
                                        4 Comments
                                        • Ali

                                          Patrick 😊
                                          This is such a lovely start.
                                          I really enjoyed reading your story, and your wife deserves a big thank you for that push 🙌 One YouTube rabbit hole later and here you are, that’s how it always begins 😄 For a first week, both drawings are solid. The banana already shows form and value thinking, and the eye has character and confidence.… Read more

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                                          • Great start Patrick, and a warm welcome.

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                                            • Welcome Patrick looks like you’re off to a great start you’re gonna love this course

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                                              • Thank you all, for the warm welcome and supportive messages. I decided to reattempt the banana exercise with some new tools I picked up.

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