Beginner trying to understand form and light

[Cider]

My drawings are very flat, and I'm trying to improve my understanding of form. I did a long study of a bookend this week, but I've looked at this drawing a lot over the last couple days, and I'd like to see it through fresh eyes. Can you tell me the problems you see and suggest areas I should be working on in future studies? Thank you!

[element1988]

I think this is pretty badass... I don't think it looks flat at all, you showed the form well imho. The only thing I would say is you could have pushed the values a bit more. Right now the left eye is the darkest part of the drawing but looking at the image I'm not sure that would be true. If the light was coming from the top left it would leave a pretty dark shadow in the mouth and under that thing hes sitting on.

It would probably help to ground it if you gave it a cast shadow, though I'm not sure how much you would see of it with that angle of light.

Still think its cool though

[Swamp Thing]

That's far from what a beginner is capable of man! You understand light and from pretty well, and telling from your sketchbook, you go the right way damn fast.

Abour critique: All I can say - It may comes with the photograph, I can't tell how the picture looks when seeing it in real, but right now it could be eventually darker in some edges. This mainly counts for the frontleg's shadows, while further away shadows could be a touch softer, but photographs/scans are usually very unforgiving with values too, so I'd count my critique as nitpicking. Aside from that, white backgrounds can be cruel when it comes to value of contrast.

[Cider]

Great feedback--thank you both! I can see now that I need to be more careful with relative values.

[humboldt squid]

I think you're at the stage where you need to think about stroke direction when you render a form as well - the direction of your strokes should describe the volume of the object, rather than being all in one direction like you have here.

[Cider]

That's a good suggestion, thank you. If I'd done that here, I think it would really have helped emphasize the forms in my head.

[JeffX99]

Really nice job! It looks a tiny bit squished but that's a hard thing to tell without seeing the actual object and setup. To help establish volume you should try to "draw through the form"...meaning when laying in light construction lines you should include the lines on the other side of the form you can't really see. Try to "lay in" the entire volume of the subject so that it feels like if you moved around it would be three dimensional.

For future studies I would start combining multiple objects in arrangements. Start looking for interesting compositions, light and shadow patterns. Also start to include some indications of the environment, table horizon, etc.

Great job so far - keep it up!

[Cider]

Awesome, thanks for the advice JeffX99! Now that you point it out, I think I see the squished quality. I like the idea of laying out the forms as volumes rather than 2d shapes; I'm not sure why I didn't think to approach it that way, considering my goal. You've given me some great ideas for study--thank you!

[Cory Hinman]

You don't have to settle for neutral lighting either. Give yourself an edge by setting up a single light source; a strong light like a small desk lamp close to your subject. Create interesting patterns of light and shadow, don't just look for them.
Also, I think you employ the parallel hatching technique very well, but it's true having your strokes follow the form they're riding on gives you an advantage in conveying that form.

[Cider]

Thank you for the helpful comments! Actually, I did use a desk lamp, and I even tried to isolate the subject from other light sources. I can't blame the environment for lack of interest; I think it must be a poor understanding of composition.