Struggled w the rooster. This is tough

I feel like I'm still having trouble with basic lines, are there any supplemental things I could try to keep practicing? I want to do this, but it's too hard.

First assignment. Im completely new to drawing and have been copying alot. Any sugerencias I really appreciate it.

Here are my attempts for the three referece images. I think I struggled the most with the hand... :l The penguin was probably the most fun to do.

Here are my 3 submissions for this project. Still a lot of room for improvement… Funny enough, one of my biggest problem is to stay within the page… in other words, amongst other things, judging proportion is still very challenging for me.

I think my pencil is too dark 🤔