In the past I've had a hard time with direction of light & shadows & such. Hopefully this lesson will help my brain pay attention. Here are some sketches from recent lessons.

This has been fun! Blanc paper is no longer scary, it's quite easy to start drawing. Chiaroscuro is quite challenging to get right if light comes from two directions. Also, when there is lots and lots of small details, I find it difficult to choose the ones that are essential for the big picture.

Trying to capture the light on an object. For this I tried to take a picture and work from that. 

I am feeling better but still not very satisfied with my sketching. I think the key maybe practice, practice, practice.

I'm definitely feeling more comfortable putting marks--I was especially happy to learn of stippling and scribbling--on the page during these "indoor" exercises.  I am able to take my time (read "erase") and as the subjects have not been alive so far, I am relaxed and not pressured.  But I am already wondering how I will be able to apply the techniques and put them all together in the field!  I imagine reverting back to unrecognizable, out of proportion, single line drawings with no depth in my haste to capture my subject!  Maybe I'll stick with leaves and trees!  That said, I appreciate the pacing of the course so far and the manageable, bite-size lessons that facilitate student successes.  The instruction is clear, the goals achievable, and Liz's enthusiasm and encouragement comes through.   Many thanks!  

It was really fun to experiment with the various techniques, though some are more efficient yet some are more time-consuming. I also had to be patient with the process observing the structure of each object. It was also quite rewarding after trying the techniques for different kinds of objects, and learn more about they are formed ! (For my exercise, some are physical objects, some are photos I found online.) One thing I found not always easy was to select the "right" technique to represent a texture realistically — especially hard for the peaches with the tiny fuzz. Also, sometimes I got lost in the drawing process, and overlooked the general light and shade! This happened for the cloud...After all, scribbling was so indulging...

I enjoyed using all the various sketching techniques.  I don't really care for the o5 mechanical pencil that goes with this course.  I find I resort to a 6B frequently because it just takes too long to get the darker values I am trying to achieve.  I like the concept of the mechanical pencil, but am going to order some with softer leads.  Overall I am really enjoying this course and am getting out and sketching as much as possible.

My attempt with an apple from two different angles—one from the top and one from the side—was much more difficult than I thought it would be.

Found these mushrooms in the woods near where I live. Fungi are simple-looking yet amazing organisms! It would be interesting to sketch them again as they wilt and live through their life cycle.

I really enjoyed experimenting with chiaroscuro - this was new to me. I need more practice on choosing what type of marks to make. When do I use cross-hatching? How does stippling affect chiaroscuro? I will work some more with still life to discern light and shadow. I liked the squinting technique. That was very helpful for me. I had some trouble catching the reflected light. 

I enjoyed scribbling and feel that might help me loosen up. As a long-time pen and ink artist, who often has had such intense control of the medium, I just feel the need to relax with my art more.

I don’t have a good idea of when to apply which method of indicating value. I think I need to take a drawing class in conjunction with this class.

Enjoyed the build up and practice with each technique. The squint up exercices really helped. For Chiascurro, I used to switch pencils (from H to 6-8B) to obtain darker tones, now, with practice, I kept the same pencil and achieved the light and dark effect. Happy! It will be much easier when I draw outdoor.

I need to practice more on all of these techniques How do I move to the nex  t part? I don't see any link beyond "submit"