I’m struggling with light and dark, especially at small sizes, getting the full range of value. Wonder if I should work larger? Use a harder pencil? — I’m using hb on these. Start lighter? Maybe my 70 year old eyes are part of the problem? Can’t see detail like I used to be able to.

I like to collect sea shells and beach stones.   I am  finding it is difficult to use the marks for shading and to create the real shape of the objects.  So I need to practice “making the marks”.  And I can see that I also need to work on on defining the darkest darks and lightest lights.

chiaroscuro 

I am beginning to enjoy drawing, I’m beginning to see things differently when I look at them. I was captivated by this bluebird at the nesting box so I took a photograph and then drew this while looking at that.  I have a long way to go before I can remember something I saw and draw it later. This is fun. It wasn’t at first, it was new and intimidating. I want to work on how things fit together size wise and making things look three dimensional.

I am definitely more comfortable using these techniques with simply shaped fruit rather than more complicated shapes.  I think I need to work on using the different techniques together.

Getting more comfortable with this medium. I do have a question: how do you protect your pencil drawings from smearing?

This drawing I did of a fawn shows three dimensional effects - including the reflected light as the jaw turns under the head and the cast shadow of the head on the neck. I was careful to draw in the direction of the form. The original drawing is a little more distinct and the darks are darker. The scanner lightened and blurred the drawing a little. I'm sorry  don't have Photoshop now to correct it.

This was a good exercise and also challenging.  Will continue practicing to develop 3D skills.  I found the lemon difficult but the pear was a better attempt.  

This was fun! I like working with shadow and adding 3D effects to my drawings. I drew a banana and a tangelo. :)

I followed Fuller's course [and all the info her more experienced students offered], work as she suggested and have fun, be comfortable and not be too self critical. I've enjoyed what I gained, so far, but I've yet to complete the class. Since summer ends in central New England rather quickly, my perennials will survive. The last time I was able to sit outside with my sketch book and watch the birds enjoy that view I was able to do some planning for what was to come. Then the world [except for the birds I can feed in the winter] went wacky. Holly

I always thought that the difference between a tight conifer cone and one from the same tree that had opened up had to do with when they fell off the tree. These two drawings are of the same cone on two consecutive days. Bringing the cone inside, where it warmed up and dried, made it start to spring open. Much more of a challenge to draw! I still haven't gotten the scale patterns very well, and need to work on its looking cylindrical, but it was fun to try drawing the differences. 

Wow!  My attempt was with a cluster of Bananas. Here are some take aways. 1)  Dull skin not very reflective. 2) Indoor lighting cast three shadows. 3) The natural green around the stems was difficult to differentiate from the shadow , at least it was from this noob drawers stand point. Drawing image was saved PDF so couldn't upload.  I will convert the image and share in the next couple of days.

I'm having trouble finding the right balance between drawing and suggesting detail. On my pine cone, I found I couldn't actually draw what I saw--it just seemed too complicated. So I sketched it pretty quickly and I'm fairly happy with how it came out. I labored over the oyster shell, though, and got all twisted up trying to find the right degree of shading to suggest the contours. Not very happy with the 3-D effect of the barnacles. Anybody have any thoughts on how I could capture their depth better?

YInitial attempts at 3d object. Moon snail.Another attempt at 3d with an apple.

My first time drawing a 3D object! I have never paid attention to the light and dark values of anything before, so it was fun to see everyday fruit and veg from a different perspective.

I was pretty happy with this fat little lemon. It had a really shiny skin, which made the shading a little easier to get.

Capturing the shading on something that's highly textured was a challenge for me. Each little nub on this Osage orange fruit had its own shading, which I don't think I was successful at getting right.

It looks like a walnut! It looks like a walnut! The tip about practicing with fruits and veggies is a game changer. Too cold to take the journal outdoors this weekend. 1.4 degrees F tonight. I think I will stay with the nuts, seeds and produce indoors! Sticking with the various methods of shading, understanding value and practicing chiaroscuro for a few weeks will keep me occupied and feeling more confident. Thanks!

Also w/ my .005 Micron, a white breasted nuthatch creeping down a tree (from a photo).