Assigning value is hard but practice sessions like this are helping. Most helpful has been to focus more on the negative space.

I would say the two most helpful techniques refining the sketch were  proportion and negative space as not only in the drawing but also in the adding details of the seagull sketch I was doing. The shading helped with depth and bringing out the wings.  Proportion was so helpful in getting body length, head and legs in sync.

I really have trouble with depth. 

I am learning so much and renewing some of the skills I acquired in art classes decades ago.. 

My polished lizard

Putting the techniques I've learned was lots of fun.  The easiest for me to use was proportion and negative space.  The hardest is shading.  I still have touble seeingwhere the shadows are and  I have trouble using the right technique and getting the right value.

The techniques I found most helpful are proportion, negative space and breaking the subject down into shapes and relationships.  But I find myself using all the different techniques at different times.

I am concentrating on working quickly, adding detail later during commercials on television. I viewed a Chevy truck commercial a number of times getting a little more detail in the quick sketch each time because it was a very amusing story. 

I find the proportion tool useful as well as simply going back several times after stepping away a bit to add more detail. The more values (light, medium, and dark) shades I give the drawing, the more 3D it becomes.

It is tough to be in the field and trying for the full gesture drawing before the subject leaves.  The Cedar Waxwing flew in a blink but in that moment, I could not see the flat shape of the top of its head.  The feathers seemed tucked down as it flew.  Does anyone know why this bird has a red spot on the tertial feathers?  What adaptation could the red color be for and in only one small spot?

I continue to battle proportions in my viewpoints but feel better at observation details. Short strokes help a lot. Always willing to walk away from the drawing and then come back to refine again and again.

Still sometimes dealing with proportion of viewpoint. Sketchy lines approach has helped me over the course rather than just aiming for shapes. Still working on the details always...

Gesture Drawing Exercise:  Not much detail just a basic outline, I didn't really get in any shading and proportions of parts are all wrong. Refined Drawing:  I was able to add a lot more details to this drawing.  I had to do a lot of fixing of proportions and shading of light and darks.  The proportions still need work I think, there are still more details that I overlooked when I took a step back at my drawing.  It was fun though!    

I have learned more about balancing proportion. Looking back at my sketches I can see where measuring makes a huge difference. Blank space has made a difference  

I am pleased with my progress, knowing that I will never be an artist. All the skills have been useful to me. I taught biology and zoology and always told my students I flunked art. I think noticing the open spaces has been very helpful.

Took  a quick sketch image and tried to make it better.

I’m happy with this. But there was a lot of rubbing out !! 🙄

The points I jotted down about drawing skills helped a lot to do this drawing. I felt more confident when I started drawing. Using sketchy lines made it easy to depict subjects on paper. Looking at negative space is more naturally now. The challenging aspect of the drawing was the proportion/ Yet. by measuring techniques it became more easy. Looking at negative space helped so much.

The proportions were so wrong on my gesture drawing that I ended up nearly redoing the entire drawing. Looking at negative space really helps.

I think looking at the negative space has been the most helpful.  It's something I didn't think about before but it has really helped me get my proportions more accurate.

I feel like I still need to work on shading to create depth and contrast. I think putting in more hours would help! I found the squint test to be the most helpful. I'd never really thought about using a technique like that to see the lights and darks when drawing.