This two-minute video shows how I drew a penguin — my penguin — using basic shapes to make an outline of the form and then shading it in.

Click To Play

The only decent tutorials I’ve found on this subject so far are from Drawspace.com, where you have to sign up to view the lessons. Annoying, yes, but at least it’s free. Here are a couple good examples of combining shapes to draw something:

• Seeing Shapes and Proportions
• Seeing Shapes of a Horse’s Head

I’d say the end result was decent, considering how little time I spent on it. But I’m planning to do a lot more practice like this next week.