Okay, I think it's about time we get this show on the road!


I've sort of worked out a new way of doing things, but feel free to give me your comments and feedback - after all, I want this to be a collaborative group that makes us all get lots of good practice and boosts our skills.


I still think it'd be good to have particular areas of focus, so for the first month, we're going to focus on hands.


Everyone loves it when the hands come out just right on a picture, so let us try to make it more down to skill rather than luck. Draw hands when you wake up, when you're lying in bed before you go to sleep, while talking on the phone, watching TV, in every free moment you have between now and the end of May. Start today - I don't care if it's almost 2am and you need to sleep, just grab a pencil and spend five minutes drawing a hand. Reference your own, other people's, photos if you have one arm and no friends.


There are lots of pictures online specifically for this purpose, but here are some stock from dA if you need a start.
[link] [link] [link] [link]


Over the month, or even just in a big dump at the end, upload the drawing or pictures you've done into the various folders.
The sketchbook folder is for rough sketches (traditional or digital) that are like quick studies. For these, try to get a few on one image, as these aren't meant to be hi-res, finished products. If there are some that you really like and want to show off, get them tidied up and put them in either the Traditional or Digital folder as appropriate. I want to see some shading/different values or colour playing into these tidier ones.


During the month, I'll start a tally sheet on the front page of the group of how much you (that's right, individual tallies! ) uploaded. You'll get 1 point for every individual drawing you upload (so if you upload one sketchbook page with 10 hands on, you'll get 10 points). For each new medium you use per month, you'll get an additional 10 points.


At the end of the year (or maybe six months, we'll see how it goes), whoever has accumulated the most points will get a super amazing awesome fantabulous prize! I'm sure we can work in a runner-up prize too.

While you don't earn point for leaving crits, there will also be a prize for the member the others voted as giving the best feedback. If you want to learn more about giving feedback, this guide is a good place to start. [link]

So, how does that sound to everyone?

P.S. I've reset the members, so you'll have to sign up again. Sorry, but I needed to figure out who was active and who wasn't. I'm going to cap the membership at 30 so I can keep up with you all!