Here are some of my warmups. I'm not sure why in some, I lose the shape of the front face as it goes to wards the vanishing point. I start with a rectangle and the front face shape behind appears to look square. All feedback appreciated.

(If you dont want to read all this, go down to the summary at the end) What sketchbooks should I buy to draw with? I am a complete beginner but I have drawn from time to time. I think I like slightly thicker paper? I have these writing blocks at home and I like number 1 more(20g heavier) than number 2. So I guess I should go with heavier. But I have one problem. I was in a 8 week(once every week, so 8 times) drawing beginner class a year ago. And I remember hating it because the teacher never really taught us beginner stuff, he just had us draw still-life(without teaching us how yo make lines, hwo to shade, etc...). But thats not why I hated it. I remember feeling fear because I didnt know "how" to make the lines I wanted and "how" to get the still-life to my paper. Here is the thing I hated, I felt like my paper was different from the other peoples paper, like my paper showed through more, more white spots and I didnt know how to fix that. So I guess my paper texture was too rough? I had to smudge it out to fix it(and it still showed sometimes) while the other people didnt have to. [Summary] Short version of all text: What paper should I get? I like printer paper, a little heavier paper, but not too rough paper(I think?, probably like smooth)

i've got ADHD and can't focus if i don't have something else happening. i call them "hand tasks" and "brain tasks", and they tend to vary in strength. so if i'm drawing, that's a strong hand task, so my brain task needs to be quite low. it can't be nothing, because then my brain is searching searching searching. so i tend to get music, orchestral with no words for hard focusing on my hand task/my favorite playlist of pop/rock/etc for when i need to focus on my hand task between 60-75%, and a podcast or whatever for when my hand task is still the majority of my brain space but not by a ton (like if i'm coloring something or just doing random doodles to loosen up etc). but i do tend to do my best to have my secondary task be one that will support my main task so that i can actually do it.

i was "damaged" by critique as a child, when i was told i didn't have the """talent""" to do art, and shouldn't bother because i wouldn't get good at it. i fully believed that until the first time i heard that drawing was a skill when i was 27. i decided to try to learn to draw then, but i was trying all on my own via youtube and such and i had no opposing "voice" telling me what i was doing was right or good or improving. all i really had was this little devil shaped like my first grade art teacher telling me i shouldn't bother because i wouldn't ever be good. but my local art school has community classes, and i'm finally in a place where i can afford that kind of thing, and now i have another totally different teacher telling me more positive things. he's become the defacto angel on my shoulder. having this opposing voice to my self doubt has been immeasurably helpful to me, and now i welcome critique, i welcome someone looking over my work and pointing out where i could've done something better. i look at my own work not with a disparaging eye, but able to point out spots where i did something really well and spots i need to work on more. and then i just... go work on them more, feeling positive about the whole thing. i'm 35 now, so it's been eight years of pushing this boulder up the hill and hitting a slick spot and sliding back, but now it feels like the boulder got so much smaller, and other people have joined in to help me get it to the top. i still have bad days, but there are so much less of them than there were before. idk where i'm going with this really, i just kinda wanted it out there...