I'll say this about Alex, without coming to his defense but simply stating fact: Some of his sketches are very well done. The color rendering of the ink cartridge is one of them. A few of the sketches in this thread are really nice even if the subject matter is sophomoric. His execution in some of the other sketches is less so. I think he has a talent for illustration and he shows some improvement from one to the next which indicates to me he learns from the coursework he takes. My advice to Alex is to draw with firmer less tentative strokes even if it means buying softer leads. A straight line doesn't have to be perfectly straight- it can be communicated by it's boldness. Less of the tentative multi-scratched lines to form one line or, if necessary, use a hard lead to sketch out the form using that multi-line method then follow the line with one decisive stroke from a bolder medium.Try to draw each line in one continuous motion even if it means erasing or trashing the paper. It's a matter of training your arm and hand to record your minds bidding.

And Conquistador- you did post very publicly about being anally probed by the Doctor with Marty Feldman eyes.