I drew both the pear and the portrait. I did my first attempt at the portrait without watching the demo or hearing any drawing tips. I tried my hardest to "simplify" but my biggest issue in art has been being unable to do so which burns me out. I drew the second portrait after drawing the second pear with proko. I took using straight lines and very simple design as literally as I could. And honestly? I'm really proud of how the second portrait turned out. You can see how much more simpler, cleaner and proportionate it looks. Any feedback is helpful!

Gave them another go while watching the demo. They look a bit better though obviously much of the improvement can be chalked up to watching what he's doing. I'll practice some more while working on the rest of the course.

the left one was before the demo. the things taught in the demo were very helpful but i struggled on both drawings with filling out the spaces/values the most. should i draw the portrait again for practice or should i continue the course for now? critique & tips are very welcome.

The first one I completed before the demo, but after the pear demo. I rushed quite a bit so the shading is a bit off (was trying to finish in a single sitting), and not as "blocky" as it should have been. I wanted to redo the exercise with a different reference and take my time like Stan said we should be. I really took my time with mapping it out first. Then getting the two-value drawing took a lot of time too. I think I spent a total of four hours on this exercise over two nights after work. Simplifying is such a fun challenge!!! I kept smudging all over the paper. So it was hard getting out the light halftones from among all the smudging. Also, any tips on getting cleaner shading? Is it just more practice? Is it my pencil??? (accountability, blame the pencil lol.) I feel like my shading is so coarse and rough. Not sure what I should be keeping in mind.

It's not finished, but I didn't want spend more time on it.

I wasn’t able to complete this task before the demo, so this is the one I worked on after watching it.

Before demo and with with demo with demo took from me 3hour to finished .

I tried the exercise after watching the video, but I tried to make my own designs for the shadows and highlights. I tried making it a shade lighter than the previous exercise. It doesn't look like the photo.But it was fun to try again.

I enjoyed the exercise, and I’ll keep practicing with different references. 😊

I had no business doing the level 2 project but I wanted to try anyway. I did one before and after the demo - just like I did with the pear. I could probably spend 5 more days on this, erasing things and making it better. But I am calling it. I am mentally ready for more instruction. I feel like I am already making improvements.

I tried this without watching the demo. I know I did not get the proportions  correct. I hope the demo shows me how to fix this..

I have put pencil in my hands after 25 years leaving the art college. Its a restart for me.

Just uploaded my second project ✏️ What challenged me the most this time was simplifying the drawing. I kept wanting to add more and more, and it was tough to stop at the right moment. Another big challenge was deciding which shading belongs to which polygon. Honestly, I feel like I mixed them up, and that made it even harder. I also experimented with new pencils: 4B, 8B, 10H, 4H and HB. With the 10H and 4H in particular, I noticed something curious — when shading, the strokes looked like dark specks or pigments, almost as if the paper’s texture or relief came out more. This only happened with those two pencils, and it’s especially visible in the shirt area. The value is very light, but the texture is very noticeable. Still learning, still pushing myself — but that’s exactly why I’m here 🙌

This is my first attempt, I was really struggling with values. Any advice? Thanks

This is my first attempt.

My second attempt at simplification for the portrait. It's much cleaner than the last one.

Very tough, and it takes patience, right? i chopped off the top of his head by accident, and completely forgot to put his eyebrows in until last ...

I opted to go with my own photo, as I couldn't find any inspiration from the default. After watching the demo, I should have simplified more, and had more clarity in my value segmentation. Any feedback welcome!