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3:12 PM, Wednesday October 7th 2020
Your insects here are well observed and well proportioned. The cantharidae is probably the best of the group. I see issues with construction throughout however, which is the focus for these lessons.
The biggest issue here is that many of your final lines aren't conforming to your initial forms. For example, the top of the grasshoppers head clearly deviates from the inital ovoid you laid down for it. Same with the dragonfly's head. Remember: these aren't just guidelines that you're gauging proportions based on, free to ignore or deviate from as you please. They're forms that you are constructing these insects out of. You can build other 3d forms on top of them, or you can carve out of them. But just drawing an entirely different form occupying the same space ruins the illusion of space.
One issue that's probably contributing to the above one is that you're not contouring your initial forms. The sausage warmup isn't just for fun. It's there to reinforce the techniques you'll need for the remaining lesson. For every initial form you lay down, you need to be putting at least one or two contours around it to reinforce its volume.
My last, and more minor, criticism is that you're overdoing your lineweights a little bit,
Next Steps:
Do 6 more insects. The first 4 of which should be made out of only 3d forms. No texture and no detailing on these. The point is to reinforce the techniques for constructing these insects, not to make a pretty picture. It may help to revisit some of the sausage/intersecting organic froms from L2 as well for warmups.
The final 2 insects you can detail to completion. Don't forget to apply the same techniques you used for the first 4 though.
3:12 PM, Saturday October 10th 2020
Thank you very much for this well thought out critique. I see your point clearly now and will take the advise to heart with another six insects.
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Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens
Like the Staedtlers, these also come in a set of multiple weights - the ones we use are F. One useful thing in these sets however (if you can't find the pens individually) is that some of the sets come with a brush pen (the B size). These can be helpful in filling out big black areas.
Still, I'd recommend buying these in person if you can, at a proper art supply store. They'll generally let you buy them individually, and also test them out beforehand to weed out any duds.