I thought at first that this might be missing the mid-values. But when I'd adjusted the paper to near-white, I was mistaken. There's a lot of good work in this. It could be refined in a few places, but that's nothing that experience won't fix - and fairly soon, I expect. I do have a couple of sugges...

What an excellent opportunity, Jean! My initial thought was I'd like to see her face. Overall, the drawing appears to be a little flat, and her face is lost against the background. Then I thought I'd let the auto functions in Affinity Photo have a go at adjusting your image - then I backed off the s...

I was a bit sloppy at the end of the drawing. That's a human tendency and very understandable. But it's a good lesson for next time. I usually determine the depth at the guideline stage. However, I have plenty of examples of where I've changed my mind during the actual drawing. Sometimes you need t...

I've had this in my mind for the past few days while I've been setting up and running the workshop... and there really isn't much to comment on. It's a thoroughly good and characterful drawing. What follows is personal preference, and not a criticism. Shiny and not shiny (like this one where the ref...

Thanks, Brenda. I've had the most marvellous time with you and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have another Weekend Workshop on May 18/19 - DRAWING ANIMALS. But, as I'm in my own studio, we can alter that to suit everybody individually. So, if you're thinking "Heck, I'd rather it was FOUNDATION",...

Thanks, Maggie. But that's what I'm, here for. So, make use of me, and just post whenever you need advice or a critique... or just to show off .

I've allowed Affinity Photo to do its "auto" thing. So, this might be a little darker than your original, but I can see and appreciate it more clearly. MAGGIE-Leaves on barn.jpg I think this scores highly on all counts. In no particular order: THE WOOD It's devoid of blunt ends, which simp...

Enjoy your Easter! And we'll talk more about this then. But I will just mention that your reference is just as I thought it would be. In this case, adding shadows creates body and a greater sense of reality - especially when you have a reference where none exist.

First, that's an incredibly beautiful, and masterful, photograph! OK, they're rocks. ;) I don't want to dwell on them, but I have been wondering why I thought they might be breaking waves. The visual clues in the reference to them being rocks are: They have broken, soft, or indistinct bottom edges. ...

I have not yet used fixative. It was fun to work with Ozzy. The pencil was not always doing what I wanted. But I must be patient and keep on practising. Practice is all you need. Eventually your muscle memory will be complete, and you just draw intuitively with very little thought, or none, given t...