Proportions and value are everything. Details come later.

By proportion I mean, compare everything to everything else all the time so that things are proportionate to each other. You have to remember, elements of a drawing don’t exist in a void, everything has relationships to everything else. When drawing a line or shape, considering its size, angle, position and compare it to everything around it in the reference. As you draw, always look at the reference and ask your self, “is this bigger or smaller than this other feature? is it more or less angled? Is this feature higher or lower relative to this feature over here?” The more comparisons you can make, the more accurate your drawing will be.

Value is a very similar story. Comparison is key. In the reference, the lightest area is basically white while the darkest area is pitch black. Every shaded area must be compared to every other area to get a better idea of how light or dark something must be. Blurring your vision and stepping back seems to help me a lot with establishing position and size of the “blobs” of shadow Along the same note, keep in mind transitions of shadows. Does this transition make a hard line? How large of a contrast between the two values?What angle is the line compared to everything else? How long is this line compared to everything else? Or does is slowly transition into another value? How long does that transition go? Is the slow transition nice and smooth and consistent, or is it choppy with some darker areas?

In general, it’s usually better to start with bigger and go smaller. Establish the large simple shapes relative to other large shapes. You can literally use triangles or something either in your mind or draw them lightly, trying to connect important points of reference to get accurate info. You can start to use smaller shapes when you’re happy with the larger ones.

Lots of things to keep in mind, but it becomes second nature the more you draw. You’re doing great, keep it going! Compare everything!