To simplify I think you’ll have to take a few steps back and be patient with the learning process. It looks as though you’re very focused on what you see as an outline and you aren’t thinking below the surface to define the structure.  What might help is to think of approaching a drawing as though it were a sculpture. First you start with a very large block and carve out the biggest planes possible and get a very, very basic shape. Cylinders, boxes, spheres, etc… This is where all the goofy looking blocky heads or cylinder arms/legs come in to play. They are very useful to start with for a number of reasons…like in the event you have some perspective wrong or some measurement doesn’t work, you can move that easier than moving something you spent 5 hours detailing. There are a number of ways to learn how to get better at structure, it’s not a one size fits all. For me learning via the Bargue method helped a lot, so perhaps doing Bargue copies is something you can look into, I’m pretty sure Stephen Baumann teaches this method via his patreon if you’re looking for something other than youtube.   But, in the end what I’d recommend doing is learning how to break things down to they most basic shape you can find (even hair!) and learn what is underneath (anatomy). Also, very important is learning to create the illusion of dimension without needing to shade. I’m sure you can draw a basic cube and with no shading you can understand that it is a cube, yes? Well, we want to think of a head the same way, we need to know what is beyond what we see to create that illusion. We might not necessarily draw all of that information, but it’s important to understand what is going on. Hope that helps.

Hi Malcom. I would suggest simplifying. If you look at Steve Huston and Lane Brown’s shadows, you’ll see they work really well because the large shadow shapes are done first. You really want to capture that separation of light and dark where the planes of the form change from light to shadow. Often they won’t even add any other shadow detail, instead just flat shading or parallel lines. It’s also easier to do with a soft lead or charcoal and newsprint if you have them available to play with. Your drawings are good, they’re just inconsistent, looking s bit more like copying than understanding the forms in space.

How about doing some studies of simple objects, like spheres and cylinders, in a shadow box, i.e. a box painted black on the inside to rule out accidental reflections, with a single light source? Post the results here!

Hi Malcom, I did this a few years ago but I think one of the last lessons in the figure drawing course is on shading. However, from personal experience, I would say don't conceive of shadows as something undefined, blurring, especially if you are sketching. Unless there is a lot of diffuse light, shadows have relatively sharp divisions. To learn, when I was at school, they made us shade simple geometric solids: a bit boring but very effective. Starting immediately with a face or body can be frustrating. However, the general advice is: first simplify the shape of the object you are trying to shade as much as possible and define the shapes of the main shadows. At the point where a part of the body or face prevents the light from hitting the surface immediately next to it, you have a cast shadow, which will be very sharp. For example, the shadow of the eyebrow arch on the eye is very obvious. Start perhaps with very simplified shadows: one light and one dark tone, then move on to three, four, five. Basically, it is better to keep it simple.  5 tones (two shadows, a neutral and two highlights) are enough to make a realistic impression. Anyway, watch Stan's lesson, it's very clear.

Hey Malcom, this kind of rendering your talking about Alla Steve Huston, is not really based on the reference you have here. It usually results from a single light source. I did a quick example of how the rendering works, and I hope it helps some. Try to find reference that uses one light source, it will make things much easier. Keep drawing :)