This drawing is of a pool in a stream, and there was a log laying in the stream close the near side. I was tempted to draw the log very close, with about a third of the visible river between me and the log. However using the proportion techniques, it was clear that in my frame, only about of a third of what I could see of the stream lay beyond the log, and two thirds on my side of the log. I think this observation helped me to capture the depth of the landscape a little more accurately.

It was quite challenging to draw the negative space, because I kept wanting to draw the shape of the flamingo and had to check myself to return to the negative space. But on and all was an interesting exercise

I was not sure how this would go but sometimes forcing yourself to draw moving animals can result in a favorite sketch. I tried to capture the different poses of the vultures. I sat on a convient log and drew for 45 min. I also took photos.  Later, I fixed hastily drawn sections. I tried to use measuring to get the proportions right. I looked at negative spaces. After a while, my hand/eye coordination improved. I colored my flamingo negative shape drawing to jazz it up.

Great tip! I knew my proportions was something I had to work on. I used it in this activity and feel like it really helped. I used a photograph so it was easy not to have a moving object. I tried it later on a squirrel and that guy moved way to fast!!

I think with more practice I will definitely be able to have better proportion in the field. It's a good guideline to make sure everything is more accurate and looks like a more professional drawing. Also, when the drawing is better I find it to be less distracting with reviewing the notes and information written down in the observation.

I challenged (and tortured!) myself with making a drawing of a picture of a Broad bellied darter  I made last year. The complexity of its body with  its very specific wing shapes and delicate maze pattern was overwhelming.  In addition to getting the right proportions, finding the right mutual angles between  the wings, the body and the reed  was a particular challenge. Concentrating on negative spaces between those parts fortunately guided me through this minefield…

I think that this technique is really helping me get the right proportions depending on what I'm drawing. This technique is helping me capture my subjects more accurately. I think it is always good to have this trick in your sleeve because it can really help make your drawing much better. For me, it is easier to measure proportion on objects that are tall and thin because my wrist feels weird being sideways and it is a bit awkward trying to measure things from side to side with you pencil. Measuring slanted angles on the other hand is much more difficult for me, and I hope to improve.

I was not able to go outside but I have this orchard in bloom.  Negative space was really helpful.

Unable to go outside mainly because weather conditions, I looked up to old pictures and did the task sugested. Proportions with this technique is quite accurate, and even if is not by the milimeter, gives realism to the drawing. I tried with different objects and for me all objects are good for it, although choosing where one takes the measure can help a lot. My flower is a "starish" shape but not in a frontal view and before all I took the proportions of the petals, stem and leaves. All the drawing went from there.   

I redid my marsh wren using proportion techniques and also did the snail shell drawing.  then I drew a towhee based on a photo a friend took.  I worked on proportion and had to draw it several times.  Then i decided to add the rust color of the towhee and it looks a little strange when i scanned it.  Anyway using my pencil or fingers for measuring proportion is great.  I tried it when i walked in the park just to get an idea of size,  and I'll try it an outside drawing next.  

The negative space and proportional measurement practices are more difficult.  I've used the arms length measurements before but wasn't sure what I was looking for when I did it.  I used that process on drawing the barn owl from a photo I took last month at a Sportsman's Show we went to in the area.  One of the locals is a birds of prey rehabilitator and she comes to many events near where I live and I was able to get some good shots of a barn owl as she walked with it near me. He was absolutely beautiful.  The negative space practice was pretty easy for me, I enjoyed this lesson a lot, it was lots of fun.

Is very useful because help you to have another perspective of things. Yes. Yes because all is perspective.

I had forgotten that proportion trick. I know I used it a long time ago. Thanks for refreshing my memory.

I found using the measuring proportion technique very effective and gives me a great tool to make sure my illustration are more accurate and proportionally correct.  

I call this, “Ok, you can look now”  learning the proportions trick helped me a lot to get close to the shape I was drawing  

I used the proportion technique to draw two marsupials that were outside my tent at a recent campsite in Northern Tasmania.  I used the length of the head as my initial measurement.  It made me realize that the Tasmanian Pademelon is a very round animal!  It also has a proportionally larger head to body size, which might be because this was a very young animal, but the Bennett's Wallaby was an adult.  The negative shapes helped to draw the legs more accurately than I ever have before!  I live in Tasmania, so have tried to draw these species a few times before but have greatly improved with these techniques.

Houseplant, old x-mas tree. free-style sketches.

The tools of negative space and proportion (measuring), I believe are going to make my drawings much better.

The proportion trick made a difference to my sketches by eye. It helps rough the image in a bit more accurately so that it looked more like the subject. I loved that simply using a pencil and marking along the way is the only tool you need. Proportion is easier to measure when there are distinct parts of the subject.

Before this study I thought I was seeing correctly but the measuring technique proved I wasn't!  This was a great exercise that really helped me. 

Using a hand to close around your better eye [or have a small, packable telescope] instead of simply squinting for a your first, immediate view of your field object; or use one piece of paper you stash in the back of your journal with its center cut for you previously with a square or small round you can squint through.

Measuring proportion and using negative space were very helpful in making the drawing more accurate. Because it is still very wet and cold here, I drew from a photograph of a flower I had seen in a Maine forest. Measuring proportion seems to be very useful for drawing parts of plants and animals and for getting their positions more accurate in their settings. I’m still pretty inexperienced in sketching and drawing, so I’m not really sure yet where these techniques would be more or less helpful, but I’m excited to keep practicing and learning.

Using the negative space and measuring is very helpful.  I know this is a good way to help gather information for identifying birds etc. so it was great to see how to apply this to sketching.  Appreciating the surrounding area really helped keep my sketch in proportion.  Thank goodness for erasers!

This proportion thing is irritating - BECAUSE IT WORKS - and I'm usually too lazy to do it. But when I do it makes my drawings render more accurately. I did a freeze frame of those Red Foxes from the last lesson's video and tried the "number of heads" method and stuff looked better. It helped me realize the slender length of the parent fox versus the shorter, tighter form of the  youth fox. I'm buying into measuring proportion!  I also used some negative space to capture some of the interaction between the two animals. I like the way the instructor asks me to "be gentle" with myself and also to just go for it. Helpful. I've destroyed a few pages of my book but also have some that I'm proud of! I got this course as a birthday gift and it's one of the best I've ever received!