I’ve been using Blender for years, and started taking this course back in 2015. Now coming back to refresh and get additional pointers on 2.8x version. I’ve already learned some new things just in Section 1! What I struggled with was finding something I wanted to create that didn’t involve editing the shape! Then the Abacus came to mind.
Evee Render:
Cycles Render:
Reference Image pulled into Blender:
Resubmitting render in response to a couple of things, needed to be a little brighter and there should only be 5 beads on the bottom part!
Resubmitted Cycles Render: