Getting back to basics-value

Hi everyone, I wanted to suggest that you try some graphite or pencil sketches. You don't have to do what I did, you can just draw anything, realistic or not but work on values. I grabbed a bunch of objects in drawers, desks etc and just added elements. Can you see the different textures I have, the fabric ribbon, the smooth pills, the bumpy part of the pen? I even pinned the note using a thumbtack although it would be impossible to thumbtack anything into my counter. I should make the counter darker but I ran out of time. Its all in the pressure you apply with your pencil. Remember that nothing is actually white unless its a highlight or sunlit so save your white whites for that special area. Everything is a value from light to dark. Play with the range you can achieve using your pencils. If you need too, take a picture and change it to greyscale on your computer. You will then see the values of the color and shadows that sometimes hide the true value of things. Mastering value helps you to master other things. It makes things look 3D, dimensional and can bring things forward or drop them back on your paper.  If my drawing just intimidates you start off with just shapes, circles, squares. Give them a light source and draw the shadows, the bright sunlight side etc. See if you can make your objects come to life without color, just with value! Learning value will help in every artistic thing you do!