Looks great my friend. i love how you put the value shades on a white patch. It looks like a comic strip. The pear is talking in values. On the right side you did an wonderful job off separating it from the dark background. One small thought: the shadow at the bottom has wavy lines, I wonder if simplifying it, similar to the darker shadow you already have, might make it feel even more cohesive? Just a thought, I'm still learning too, so take it with a grain of salt!

Looking good, nice work simplifying the shapes of the values. For the sharp edges of the highlight's shapes, I'd make those lines lighter, so they're the same as your light halftone that's surrounding those shapes. Keep it up!!

Nice work! I'd just recommend pushing your darker halftones a bit darker, and your lights a bit lighter! Getting some pencils with different hardness will definitely help with achieving that more easily!

Excellent job recognizing things to work on and executing that new knowledge! Self critique is a very valuable skill to have. Nice work!!

Great work on your pear! I would recommend simplifying the shapes of the shadow's edge more. Some parts look like you've drawn the texture on the pear's skin, instead of the light and shadow falling on it. I'd also take another look at the shadows; there should be a core shadow, and then the reflected light, which will be a lighter shadow half tone. Adding that darker shadow will help define the form of your drawing! Keep it up!

Looks good, what a fun shaped subject too! For this exercise, make sure that your highlight is the whitest part of the drawing. Even the lightest parts around those highlights should be shaded in a very light tone. I think you could find the shape of the reflected light in cast shadow, and darken the shadow around that as well. Great work on finding the different values and cleanly dividing them with sharp edges!

Using a blending stump is not cheating! Play with your tools and get curious! Also, it looks like you have a good grasp on simplifying the shadows and getting core values established. Great work!

Lookin' good! You have a great dark shadow tone there on your value scale, I would use that and darken up those shadows on your pear so it matches the scale more!

Nice work! You've got some core values established, shaded evenly, and the construction, as a whole, is well-done. For feedback or as a suggestion, I would recommend darkening your values more. Don't be afraid to really push those darks as they will strengthen that illusion of form and turning planes. I'm no expert, but since your cast-shadow looks like it's at a 150° angle, I imagine the angle might've affected your read or visual analysis on the values. If that's the case, perhaps using an angle that supports bolder light-dark contrasts might be more helpful to you as a an artist working on their fundamentals. I've been told fractiously by a painting professor that compositions with subtler lighting is useless to focus on for beginners and even intermediates... though he was a un-supporting professor, there's some truth there. Bold contrasts are easier to work with than subtler ones which require a sharper eye and surgical application of gradation shifts--both of which are, I imagine, unnecessary right now (but, of course, whatever your focus is you should work on). Whether that applies to your composition, or not, I don't know, but the advice here is relevant anyhow. Regardless, overall I think your pair has come along nicely and you're, doubtless, on strong start for this course, seeing as this is the first assignment. Good work!