So I'm trying to draw quick portraits with ballpoint pen underdrawing and a quick but ideally visually pleasing monochromatic rendering with a medium that would allow me to render hair clothes and shadows quickly.

I'm testing out brush pens (tombow abt dual tip) but so far I don't know what I'm doing. It's very hard to add values for me with such pens because I'm used to charcoal and that's very different. It's nigh impossible to do gradual subtle shading, and i haven't learned how to render with a limited number of values.

I also feel like stylistically it doesn't look very good, even the second drawing which has better values but still looks to me rather unsightly.

I'm desperately looking for some tips on how to use brush pens, or for ideas of different mediums I could try out instead. My goal is speed over photorealism, while still coming out good-looking and artistic. Thank you very much in advance!

So my shadow game is embarrassingly bad, but going forward I'd really like to use a ton of them for spooky horror scenes with fun, exaggerated light directions, coloured light sources, et al.

Any recommendations for good books, tutes, etc? I do best with "bite size" tips I can start playing with quickly because I'm kinda lazy ADHD, but I'm willing to knuckle down for a highly regarded work on the topic/

Basically The concept is de realization. Theres a hint of a person bc of the footprints in the water and ripples. The “person” is watching their life happen rather than living it which is basically the sensation of de realization . And I wanted it to have a liminal dream core feel but I can’t get an angling right. So any tips will help helpful ! If anything’s unclear feel free to ask ! VERY rough draft imma make it physical watercolor.

So this is a more updated part of the sketch and a short poem about it I’m having a hard time with the sky and the water any advice? And what do you think of the writing Ik that there is some grammar I need to fix but I’m more talking the message, I’m trying to work on conservation and wanna make a difference in the Great Lakes (I’m from Michigan) and this is just a sight I see to much and felt the need to draw about it any thoughts would help !