Back to Basics - Sketch Dump 3

One interesting way to practice drawing is to take an object and draw it in outline, draw it again in mass and then combine mass and line in the last one. My drawings below aren't in any particular order, but each subject is drawn three times. I would draw the outline, then take the charcoal and put it on its side and go to town on the paper- making really dark marks and trying to flesh out the shape and negative space around the object without making any hard lines. For the last drawing, you combine the two and give the line gesture some shading.

Back to Basics - Sketch Dump 2

Here is another exercise where we practiced ellipses. That strange unicorn horn shaped thing was some sort of strange ceramic object. As you can see on the right hand picture I started to use shading with the conté crayon turned on its side. Don't be afraid to sharpen your conté or charcoal stick to a long tapered point or use the side of it. Even try breaking it and a square edge! It becomes fun to play with and experiment with.

In this picture we practiced drawing a bunch of cubes with 2 point perspective. I think that my teacher only may have thought that one of these was successful at proper perspective. I think I tended to make my squares look like rectangles or give them a 3 point perspective instead of 2. I also tend to exaggerate how tall the top square plane is. I would make the top of the cube longer, as if I were looking down upon it from a higher elevation. But I think doing that is pretty normal for beginners, so don't be surprised if it frustrates you!