Still life in tone using colour

Maybe I'm running out of interesting subjects but I chose to draw  the mug we keep out toothbrushes in (mysteriously I have 6 toothbrushes, with me and one son living at home, and his brother and sister at university, who do the other 2 toothbrushes belong to....?)

The mug with a tube of toothpaste and my favourite round mirror for which my grandmother made the pewter frame.

Coloured pencil. Not sure that you, the viewer, who doesn't know how lovely the mirror is get this even when I crop it

Also the mirror dominates the picture, so maybe I leave the mirror out

which is a bit dull, or use pastel on paper with some sort of wood chip from the Paper Mill at Apsley

Not going anywhere here until Sue, one of my cats, decided to sit behind my arrangement

She moved before I could finish, but this I like (and I love working in coloured pencil)
As ever I'm worrying whether this fulfils the brief. Is there enough variety in tone? I found a box of chinese bowls which looked good for a subject

I didn't put the juggling ball there but I thought it added something so I drew it too

I used pastel on black paper, the view through the window lets it down.

Is this better? I should have chosen a plain background or left the juggling ball out completely.

• What aspect of each drawing were successful and what did you have problems with? I had problems with layout and subject matter for both exercises. I like the objects I chose but they might not make sense to someone else.

• Did you manage to create a sense of depth in your drawings? What elements of the drawings and still life groupings helped to create that sense? The oblique angle of the sewing machine and the roundness of the bowls which caught the light created depth but the kitchen impliments and toothbrush arrangements were very flat.

• What difficulties were created by being restricted to line or tone? I found it hard to create a sense of solidity in the line drawings. Tone is easier because it makes objects seem more three dimensional.

• How did using colour affect your working method? Colour is tricky, I want to be representative and have to restrict myself to a limited palate to make the whole arrangement work. I like working on a black background but it can be difficult in artificial light as it seems to distort my choice of colours and the resultant image can be a bit psychedelic