First submission (ever, far as i remember). was harder than i expected, and i'm not sure how to deal with local values (the stem is darker than the pear, but they're both in the light...). anyway, it's a start. expect to find in a few [insert plural time unit of choice here] that if i come back and do this exercise again, i'll see a vast improvement. know that it's the journey to celebrate anyway, but i'm still excited at the vision of drawing better than now!

burnishing is the breaking down of the paper tooth by repeated rubbing with 'tool'...makes the paper smooth

the BLACK ones from Stad...they blend charcoal and graphite

i'm surprised you only have 1 lead holder. i inherited 4 from my dad (a draftsman) and have a couple different hardness leads available at the same time...

so, how do you deal with adding details with pencil and keep from picking up the graphite powder on side of your hand...and transferring it to other places?

DON'T SNEEZE!

nose looks too short on drawing...

Question: How important is "custom" brushes, how many is "needed" and how do you decide on the set to use? It seems odd that there are hundreds of brush sets available for purchase (and thousands of 'free' ones) and as a new user, it's greatly confusing to see the choices... Thanks for the information. Dale.

here's example of folds online....https://brightlightfineart.com/six-types-of-folds-when-drawing-drapery/