sketching these were fun, but also challenging with proportions and keeping the lines confident. I would love critique on the line quality!

Figure sketches from pinterest references. I should use relife objects and things for the next day

Redid my pear again after watching the critiques. I made sure to pay attention to the shadows and make them dark enough and give enough space for the lights to have variation

Oh my, I got critique'd. Thank you very much, guess I overthought the exercise it's not easy to keep it simple is it? I've a question though. This is for Felix's multiple pear platter exercise at the 15 min mark. There's bounce light reflecting from pear to pear which Proko mentioned but still considered it to be "shadow". He then shaded the larger part of the pears in the same value including said bounce light. Is this a stylistic choice? a limitation due to our palette? or is this also part of simplifying? I'm not quite clear on this. Thank you very much for showing me what I did wrong in my exercises will definitely do it better soon!

Redid the portrait and taking the time to nail the proportions made this time a lot better! I still need to work on making even tone and designing my value grouping

Redo of the pear assignment after watching Proko's demo of the pear. Getting the tone even is a challenge. I would love critique on how to make better shape designs!

Another redo of the pear, this came out a lot better once i slowed down and really thought about the shapes and marks I was putting down, getting an even tone is quite the struggle especially with harder pencils

Redid the pear drawing and was better able to have clearer value structure than my first attempt, but the shapes for the darker halftone feel too simple and I could have made a better design with my value shapes overall. This is a really helpful exercise and for my next time I want to convey the form how Stan subtly does with his lines in his pear

I tried one of the pears digitally, which was super helpful in working out the shapes and editing it easily!

Trying the 3 different shapes from level one - the 2 one is the smoothest but also having trouble with defining the planes any tips for what direction to shade?

Here is my submission for review/critique. I excitedly await studied guidance to improve my still-rough discipline. My background: I'm 40 years old. I started teaching myself how to draw in January of 2020. I had not drawn anything serious since I was 16 up until that point. I could barely manage passable stick figures. However, after stumbling across the Proko youtube channel, as well as the Draftsmen Podcast, I knew I needed to push past my fear of failure, and finally develop the skills I had always wanted. To be a skilled draftsman is my dream, and goal. I'm a disabled Veteran, and drawing has become an essential and treasured means of therapy. I one day hope to reach a level where I can impart what I have learned to others effectively. The level 2 project: I tried to just approach the subject with the Bargue Method as I think that has helped me break things down into simplified shapes in the past, and building from there. Values are a major weak point of mine. The fear of going too dark, and then trying to rebalance the shadows is real. I hope to better understand shading this year. My eye is obviously still developing, which accounts for lack of likeness accuracy, but I know that comes with time and consistent practice.

Finished level 1 and 2 simplification from observation, I would love critique on the value structure and how to improve organizing them

My second attempt at the level two portrait, dividing all the shapes was quite challenging but fun! Some proportions and shapes could have been better planned, but I will work on that my next attempt

Simplifying where the lights was pretty difficult, but I liked how the separation of lights and darks came out. I would love critique on how to improve balancing the values in the light family