The Ultimate Drawing Challenge (part 1)

Recently, I found a community on SKOOL named Mastering Realistic Drawing. In this group, Christelle Makusha presents a 28-day initiative called The Ultimate Drawing Challenge, designed to rapidly boost your drawing abilities.

I chose to participate, and after just the first 7 days, I was astonished by the progress. Read more about the beginning of my journey to improve my realistic drawing skills.

Why the this Challenge?

I have always admired artists capable of capturing the tiniest details and textures in their drawings and paintings. Realistic drawing is a valuable skill to have, that also benefits painting imho. As I'm continually seeking to enhance my abilities I enjoy participating in workshops and challenges.

This specific 28-day challenge offers daily lessons, exercises, and feedback from other artists. It is well-organized and feels manageable, aiding in maintaining consistency with daily practice.

The first 7 days...

Following a brief overview of the essential drawing tools, it's time for drawing exercise 1: the "before drawing". As a test, I suppose, for Christelle to initially assess the participants drawing skills. I'd say it's not too bad as a starting point 😅

1. “Before” Drawing (“Egg”)

2. 📐Finding The Exact Proportions (👁️ outline)

Lesson 2 introduced me to a new technique for achieving accurate proportions: measuring.

Honestly, I prefer this method over tracing, which we used in summer art classes, or the grid method.

{Although this final method is effective for enlarging images, removing the grid lines afterward can be troublesome. (If you look closely, you can still spot them on the La Experiencia mural as well...)}

In the third lesson, we shifted our focus away from the eye to explore the values of graphite pencils and their usage. In this case 12B | 8B | 6B |4B | B |HB | 2H | 3H | 5H

3. 🎯Understanding The Values (“Ball” and grey scale)

While doing this exercise, I realised that the quality and brand of pencils significantly affect the outcome. For example, my pencils seem to be darker compared to Christelle's.

Of course, skill is also a factor... 😅

Next up: use the previous lesson to add shading to the eye with different types of pencils (4), then blend them and add more layers (5) to achieve a more realistic drawing. This lesson has taken the longest time of all so far... But it is starting to look like something now!

4. Understanding the Values Pt. 2

5. Layering And Blending 👁️

Finally, adding all the details such as the eyebrow hairs, eyelashes, and all the subtle features on her skin… Lighten up some shades here and there and blending again...

Day 7 🔥Detailing

And here we are! I'm pleased with the outcome and feel more confident in my realistic drawing skills.

Moving on to the next 21 days… to keep practicing consistently and progress towards completing a full portrait...

As with any skill, regular and consistent practice pays off. After this challenge, I'll continue with my acrylics portrait workshop 😃

If you are also looking to improve your painting / drawing skills, I recommend trying a structured challenge like this one. It provides clear goals, practical exercises, and a supportive environment that makes learning enjoyable and effective.