From Krenz and Erqiao (KK)

Practice book

Standalone exercises from seven lectures, filed by what they train. There’s no order. This page shows where each one lands in your own drawing, so you can pick one up and know what it’s for.

The whole, in Krenz’s words

Krenz · Learning map 1 · 00:05

“The purpose is to awaken more of the graphic memory that remains available when creating, and to extract simplified shapes when looking at reference, so that we are not entirely led by the subject.”

When he draws an invented figure, he pulls in a different skill at each moment: flat pieces from memory, then proportion and slope, then volume, then detail.

Krenz · Learning map 1 · 01:29

“Even drawing this one figure uses knowledge from many directions. I keep retrieving that knowledge, and what I retrieve differs at each stage.”

Each area below trains one kind of knowledge he pulls in. That’s how an isolated exercise connects to your illustrations: it stocks one stage of drawing.

Red labelThe teachers: a quote or a source line with a timestamp. That is the source.

Blue labelMine: structure, summaries, notes. Not from the source.

PracticeA teacher assigned it or fully demonstrated it.

From demoHe demonstrates the method on his own work. Making it a practice with your own reference was your call.

PartialReal practice, but the source skips a step. The page says which.

ExampleA worked demo to read, not a drill.

The areas

1 · Seeing relationships

You keep a sharper eye for proportion and slope. It shows up when you notice a head has drifted upright, or push a pose’s attitude on purpose.

PracticeLarge-to-small study
PracticeJudge first, then overlay
From demoPush a pose’s angles

2 · Shapes you can remember

You keep a set of pieces you can call up. It shows up when you block a pose from pieces, or read a busy reference through shapes you know.

PracticeThe polygon pieces
PracticeMemory redraw
ExampleThe witch · the suit photo · the sleeve

3 · Space and construction

You keep the ability to turn things and attach things. It shows up at an angle no reference shows, a hidden table edge, a shield on an arm.

From demoInvented figure: flat → volume → attachments → detail
PracticeTurn a pose to a new view
PartialThe same object from several angles
PartialA scene through its perspective

4 · Inventing and designing

You keep the habit of making your own simplification instead of borrowing one. This is the illustration act itself.

PracticeFit a subject to a circle or triangle
PracticeExtract parts and recombine a motif
PracticeKeep the silhouette, change the inside
PracticeTrace another artist’s transformation
From demoCharacter design from a brief (the rooster)

5 · Light and value shapes

You keep families of fold and shadow shapes. They show up as cloth and shadows that read. No colour.

PracticeFolds as flat value shapes
PracticeLight and shadow in black and white

6 · Picture decisions

You keep a way of deciding what a picture shows and what reads first. It shows up when a character becomes a finished piece.

From demoPresent a design
From demoReading order and value plan
ExampleSparse and dense, rhythm

7 · Quick sketch and gesture waiting for your list

Your own methods for low-energy days. No teacher verification needed.

My own2-minute gestures built from 5–7-line polygon pieces

Picking what to do

No order. “These things interweave back and forth” (Krenz, Learning map 1, 01:00).
Adjust difficulty. “When you feel your ability is sufficient, try a more difficult one. If it defeats you, return for a while to simpler practice” (Krenz, Shape lecture, 02:37).
Scale. “One drawing a day is enough, or one every two days. … This is not something to practise only for a short time” (Krenz, Learning map 1, 02:47).

My noteAny day, pick any practice. If something in one of your own drawings bugged you, pick from that area. Low energy: area 7.

What the sources don’t give

They show these skills being used in new drawings. They don’t give a way to test long-term retention beyond each exercise’s own check. This book doesn’t invent one.