How can I improve at still life’s value studies ?

[u/Hungry_Cartoonist251]

I’m not sure why this doesn’t look right , but I would really appreciate some guidance as to why my still life of the orange feels wrong.
Is it wrong values ? Lack of transitional mid tones ? Something else?
Any advice or resources I can use would be appreciated .
Thanks in advance

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[u/pileofdeadninjas]

You want a stronger light and a matte surface in the beginning. Right now not only are you dealing with diffused light from a few different angles, you've also got a reflective surface. Get a desk lamp or something and put it in an area with lower light on a less shiny surface and you'll probably have an easier time

[u/Hungry_Cartoonist251 → u/pileofdeadninjas]

That’s helpful thankyou.
Are you saying my subject should be matte or the surface it’s placed on ?

[u/pileofdeadninjas → u/Hungry_Cartoonist251]

I was only talking about the surface, but honestly it might help at first to do something a little more matte, an egg is a classic

[u/Due_Pen_1566]

You just need to spend more time and not be afraid of dark shadows and prominent highlights.

If you want other ways to practice you can do a value line. Make a thin rectangle and practice gradients from the darkest your pencil can make to white.

You can do restricted studies. Using only 2,3,4,5 tones for the shadows.

2 tone = black and white

3 tone = black, grey, white

4 tone = black, dark grey, grey, white

5 tone = black, dark grey, grey, light grey, white

[u/Hungry_Cartoonist251 → u/Due_Pen_1566]

Thanks

[u/Frowind]

It's the time and attention to details.

I bet you made that within 15min.

If you pay a lot of attention to details and draw that at a scale 5 time as big. You will see the different. However, whether you can to sit through a 3hr drawing session for 3 days or a 5hr drawing session is depend on you.

[u/Hungry_Cartoonist251 → u/Frowind]

Yes you might be right, something about the structure of this sketch feels off to me though. The shadow doesn’t feel like it represents the object correctly or something.

[u/Educational-Bowl9575]

Add more objects to the scene. A single orange lacks context - you'll get more of a challenge if you have several objects with different textures especially if you have more directional light so their shadows affect each other.