I think these are good and also a big improvement in the second one! It looks like you understand what the goal of the task is so the only thing I can think of is to try and make the planes sharper without having the contrast lines show through. Also you can try and stylise the shape more so that the pear is not as symmetrical. But I think this is just picking at details and you are ready for the portrait one!

First off, I think you did a solid piece here :) you can really tell you have drawing experience before you, and you really applied the main takeaways from the demo in regards to value grouping and distribution. I do agree with what you are saying about simplification. Squinting at the image (or blurring it) always helps to get an idea of the general masses--no details for distraction. Something else I notice is the middle value seems a bit unclear to me, whether the group on the right of the core shadow is meant to be the third or fourth darkest value--which also means to ask if the large lightest grey area is divided into one or two (or three?) values. I think ensuring a more even tone throughout would both help with the clarity and also remove separations that can further take away from the simplicity of your determined groups.