Starting with your arrows, these are flowing quite well through space, although you do have quite a few of these that are making really sharp, tight turns. While there's nothing against that in the instructions, for the purposes of this exercise it is better to have more wide, sweeping turns (like we see towards the bottom right of the page). This can highlight the kinds of issues we see where the spacing between your zigzagging sections might remain a bit too consistent (rather than continuing to compress as we look farther away from the viewer, as perspective ought to cause them to behave).

Moving onto your leaves, I think you've mostly done a very good job with these. You're conveying a strong sense of flow to each leaf, capturing not just how it exists statically in space, but also how it moves through the space it occupies, conveying the forces that apply to it (wind, air currents, etc.) and making it appear like a form that is three dimensional, but light and in motion. You also did a good job with a lot of the smaller details - you didn't overdo them, and while texture (like the veins) should always be drawn using cast shadow only (you do use line), you're not outlining those features as many beginners would.

There is one key issue that I'm seeing, though it's rather minor. When you add more complex edge detail, you tend to zigzag the new edge back and forth around the simpler edge from the previous phase of construction. As shown here, you should be adhering to the simpler edge as though it establishes one limit (rather than having your more complex edges dance to either side of it. Specifically, you want it to be as though you're taking that simple edge and nudging it slightly to create the little ripples - meaning each bump is drawn as a separate stroke that comes off of and returns to the simpler edge.

Moving onto your branches exercise, you're missing one important aspect of the instructions. In this exercise, you are meant to draw your first segment of an edge from your first ellipse, past the second ellipse, and fully halfway to the third ellipse. Then, you start your second segment from the second ellipse, follow along the last section of the previous segment, and overlap it directly so you're basically using it as a runway before shooting off towards its next target. This ensures that the segments flow smoothly together, creating the impression that the edge is made with a single continuous stroke. There will be visible transitions initially, but as you get better, the edge will appear more and more seamless. The way you're approaching it now, there is an extremely noticeable break where one segment stops, and another one begins.

Moving onto your plant constructions, these are largely coming along fairly well. I do have a few small things to point out, but you're doing a good job of drawing your marks with confidence, capturing a strong sense of flow in your leaves and petals, and your constructions are generally quite solid. I just have a few quick things to point out:

• In this drawing, you started out by laying out an ellipse to define how far out each petal would extend. You then went on to largely ignore it, or at least not strive to adhere to it very closely. The thing about constructional drawing is that every single mark you put down is a decision being made. You established that the radius of your petals, and so that answer has been given. If you then go on to give a new answer to this question (as you did when drawing the flow lines to their own particular points), you offer a contradiction. As contradictions build up, the viewer's suspension of disbelief is gradually undermined, similarly to how when telling a lie, someone will pick up on that fact as your story stops lining up entirely. It may survive one minor contradiction, like this one - but as they accumulate, the viewer can only be taken so far. Long story short, even if it results in you not adhering perfectly to your reference image, stick to your story. Once a decision has been made, adhere to it. Adhere to the previous phases of construction above all else.

• On this drawing, not so much a mistake but an opportunity to discuss something. You've drawn a lot of contour lines here. Some of those contour lines were important, because the top section of the cactus has a strange profile where it dips in. A contour line is a good way to demonstrate this. That said, as you add more and more of these, they stop being as effective. Your first contour line may be extremely impactful. Your second will be much less so, and your third may not have any impact at all. They have diminishing returns, and it's important to ensure that you're aware of the specific task each mark you put down is meant to accomplish, and to think about whether or not it is the best mark for the job before drawing it.

• To that point, it's worth mentioning that contour lines that define the relationship between two forms (like the form intersection lines) are vastly more effective than contour lines that simply run along the surface of a single form. In your cactus drawing, you could have potentially gotten away with just drawing the intersection lines between the forms, and no additional contour lines.

• The last thing I wanted to mention relates to your last two drawings. Basically, you ended up drifting from focusing only on cast shadows (which is correct) to mixing them up with form shading, which back in this section of Lesson 2, I mention that I don't want you to get into. There's the fact that when working with fineliners like we do, mixing in form shading tends to get really muddy and confusing, so it's just a bad idea given the medium. But also, when given the option to work with form shading, students will often start to drift towards relying more on it rather than constructional techniques to try and sell the illusion that the things they're drawing are 3D - and it has weaker results in the context of these exercises.

So! All in all, your work is looking pretty good. Just be sure to sort out your branches exercise on your own, specifically how the segments are meant to join together. I'll go ahead and mark this lesson as complete.