A drawing comes alive not through outlines, but through light and shadow. Value is the range from white to black. Contrast is how sharply they meet. Squint at your subject: where is the lightest light? The darkest dark? Start with just three values (light, mid, dark) and watch flat shapes turn into form.
The ABCs of Drawing: A Beginner’s Guide to Seeing with a Pencil the guide to the abcs of drawing
The brain wants to draw an “eye” as a symbol—an oval with a dot. But real seeing means noticing the curve of the lid, the shadow under the brow, the highlight on the iris. Turn your reference upside down to trick your mind into seeing pure shapes. A drawing comes alive not through outlines, but