I have some problem making shadows look real - they seem too harsh. Any suggestions? I also need work on the distinction between showing value and showing surface texture. 

It is getting a bit more obvious where light and shadow appear on an object.  Now, to work on the gradients of shading.  

I  found it very difficult! Need more practice... the hardest bit is how to show the difference between details of the object (coloured lines on the apple) and the hatching to show darker zones.

Nope. I think I'm kind of thick on where to use the shadowing. I'm fine on a bit of fruit, but say something with feathers? Gak!

Yes, it was fairly easy.  I am feeling comfortable.

I am a little more conscious of the six different techniques in sketching for added dimension. Practice will perfect the technique. I sketched the bufflehead, the crow and a small bunch of  red grapes on a dish. 

Yes, I’m feeling more comfortable. The course encourages me to draw more frequently and, as with anything, the more I practice the more comfortable it becomes. I like the way the course offers a step-by-step progression. I’m familiar with some of the topics & techniques, but the way each builds on those that came before provides fresh perspective. Also, by focusing on technique and tools the results become secondary. This frees me up to experiment and learn more.

I'm starting to feel more comfortable.  I've been noticing the lights and darks in nature more.  I'm still working on making marks to represent those lights and darks.

I am definitely feeling more comfortable putting marks on the page, and the squint test is VERY helpful. I tend to rely on hatching and scribbling, so I'd like to try expanding my experiments with cross-hatching, stippling, and blending. I have also been relying on photos rather than going out in the field, so now I want to try sketching in situ, perhaps in the early morning and evening when the light is from a striking angle to practice chiaroscuro as well. 

Acorn Squash with natural light from the window. Imperfections are hard to draw! 

  It was easy to see the reflected light and highlights on smooth surfaces like an apple or pepper, but the orange was more difficult even with the squint test.

The squinting technique definitely helped me to distinguish where the shadows fell on the artichokes and to not be as distracted by different colors. For example, the artichokes had purple, brown, and yellow on them in addition to shades of green, so squinting helped me ignore the colors and just look for light and dark. I used a couple of different shading techniques and that really seemed to help add texture as well as depth to my drawing. I want to keep practicing different shading techniques to create more variety of middle tones and also to get faster with shading overall.

My observing skills are improving with you directions. so far I have just used the graphite pencils, except for the clematis that I had sitting on my desk. I used watercolor pencils. Will you please give me a critique and suggestions? thanks

While I see the light and dark, I have difficulty putting marks on the page to reflect what I see. What do I want to work on? Everything! Practice, practice, practice.

I can see that the photographing accidently put more chiaroscuro on the page. I love this technique. This strawberry would be better in color.  :-)

The sketching part was easy but the blending and shading was a little difficult. 

I have trouble with the overall shape.  I find drawing hard work.  

To work on ... value scales ... to "draw" out the crescendo!