I found it easier to create the various light and shadow areas of the sphere than it was with the irregular round shape of a shallot. I used hatching, cross hatching and contour hatching along with some blending to try to achieve the roundness.  I struggled with the shape of the shallot as it was harder to pick out the components of chairoscuro.

I still don't find anything easy about drawing.  I believe I still have much to do to overcome a perfectionist trait in me.  It's still difficult to narrow the gap between what my mind wishes to do & what my hand does.  It's not comfortable finding oneself in the midst of this struggle; but I'm not giving up.  I will continue plugging along...  rather--scratching along.

I tried to find the easiest image to draw- a lemon.  The highlight was obvious, regardless of the angle and so was the cast shadow.  I struggled with shading the values of light, shadow, and cast shadow.  Cast shadows look like a band of darkness, and I seem to struggle with which direction to shade.  Blending with my finger helps cover some of the harsh transition lines as I try to practice the different pencil pressures.  I don’t feel comfortable yet, but I am not afraid of the page anymore.  I want to try and sketch and journal everyday to improve.

Still lots of exploring to do with the different techniques. Would like to excel at chiaroscuro : )

I'm starting to get the shadings and seeing the dark and light. Right now I would like to work on the pressure of my pencil... It seems to be another level of shade and light.

I am definitely a beginner at this!  I wonder if I should somehow draw in the general outlines first.  When I do not do that I find that I get involved in one small section and make too many marks so that, in the end it looks kind of muddy.  Also, the drawing tends to get lopsided or out of proportion. But, when I draw in the outlines it makes it hard to do highlighted edges.  Still working on the types of marks to use for different textures too.

Of all the new techniques you have put forth for us, I like most the BLENDING.  At least for me, it has a nice way to cover/hide many of my sketching sins.

Not always easy to identify the different values .  Trying to squint to see more clearly.

I'm still a bit frustrated that my drawings don't look exactly like I would like them to look. I certainly can see how the shading could work just am not quite there.

Harder than I thought but hopefully you can tell it’s a spaghetti squash. Something I want to keep practicing and observing.

 

I understand much more how to use light and shadow to create a 3D effect.  It seemed like a mystery or some artist alchemy before, but now I see it is just a skill of observing the basic shadow elements.

I loved to learn the mark-making techniques, the value scale, squint test and chiaroscuro. I'm fascinated by how much ligh and dark can transform a drawing that, at first, looks "plain" (not 3D)! I need to practice light/ dark more, though! I find it much easier with sunlight, during the day, than drawing at night with artificial light; that's what happened with this banana. I'll give it another try, during the day :)

I can't believe how much progress I made in such a short amount of time. Applying the various techniques doesn't come natural (obviously), but I really enjoy the process of thinking hard and also making mistakes. I'm very excited and I feel more confident with each try.

Struggling with the actual drawing and making it look real. Working each day will hopefully improve that. Also need to work light to dark

I really like the techniques you showed us. I like the options of using the hatching, stippling, and blending. The Chirascuro is hard for me to do. At first I couldn't even see it, but now I am starting to. This is something I need to work on.The squint test has to be the coolest thing ever!!

The mid tones, seem to be my struggle. I have a heavy hand and removing pencil can be an issue.

I found it interesting to practice the chiaroscuro technique both outside in natural light and inside with filtered light. The notes from this lecture were very helpful.  I was pleased with my drawings and more comfortable capturing the light. 

  It was difficult for me to capture the gentle curves of a tomato and still show light and shadow.  It had so little actual contrast that too many lines seemed too many.   It seemed overworked.  Not a good subject for this topic.  But the idea of chiaroscuro is excellent.  I liked the cloud attempt better.

I don’t find it the hardest thing to find the shadow, highlights, etc. I am getting a bit more confident using various shading techniques, like cross-hatching, that I have used before some. I think I should work on making shadows a bit darker, so the highlights seem lighter.

I can recognize the highlight, light, etc. Blending the different light is difficult. I an not a natural.

This course is AMAZING! Whilst I'm not exactly confident nor super comfortable making the first marks, I now feel it's okay to start and that I might even be surprised by what's possible. This is an empowering and exciting feeling! I loooove blending as it's so forgiving, I was surprised by how good scribbling can look and how simple hatching can be so efficient when there's limited time. Wow. Who knew I could draw a chilli?!