sorry for the delay, my internet has been a pain i couldnt load MR properly the last couple of days for some reason so didnt post much.
i think like you said in the first post vehicles is a nice idea, since most stories/illustrations often have one in there somewhere.
narrowing it down to individual ideas i would like to try out:
train interior or exterior (quite common in manga and anime)
bicycle (another manga must)
motorbike (girl in bikini or otherwise similar clothes optional :P)
ermmmm nothing else comes to mind for now but i'd love to try out those. motorbikes are just cool, and have plenty of detail to copy and remember,so maybe that first, or a warm-up round with a toaster or something? that way we can adjust the workshop to improve it :P
i think we should look at this workshop like this:
-copy the picture exactly
-draw the picture, copying but use guidelines, trying to build up the picture rather than copy it
-draw at a different angle (perhaps still copying the original picture or another one?, using guidelines?)
-draw from memory, using guidelines
-draw from another angle from memory using guidelines
-change the picture, but drawing from memory (like make the motorbike have 4 wheels or big lights who knows)
-include it in a larger piece, make it part of a scene or use a part of the object in something else
probably in that order. the last 2 parts is a good idea, because most of the time you are creating your own version of objects, so you want to be able to change them and add or take away stuff to make it cooler, especially for a science fiction story with mechas and stuff, you make up the robots etc from bits of everything you have seen.
will we all try and work from the same selected picture like in the character workshops?
or select our own, which gives us the chance to pick something more to our own style?
hope this will turn out fun and helpful :P