>>6026018Anon, you really should stop going to M. Irma for advises, "or else..." (Didn't knew; I'm pretty sure most of lead's toxicity is exaggerated; and I wouldn't be surprised that the body actually has means to cleanse itself at least to some degree).
>>60260491. Try drawing the subject with pencil by constructing it from cylinders. Draw all the ellipses, draw through the form; make sure everything is aligned, that the ellipses are placed in perspective (if you have no idea, just go watch a vid on ellipses, this is usually covered)
2. Make a few thumbnail sketches with 2/3 flat values to make a better composition. For instance, a dark background would help making the candlestick pop, and the reflection pop too.
3. Reflective surfaces are tricky. You can try approaching them by keeping things as simple as possible: squint, identify major abstract shapes, and copy them without thinking too much, then squint a little less and keep iterating with smaller shapes. The result after the first iteration should already be enjoyable to the eye, even more so at a distance.
