That’s outstanding work! It’s inspirational! It looks like you used an eraser for the lit highlights in her hair. That’s a wonderful technique! I love it!

Have you ever used a smudger for blending? I love using them because you can build wonderful variations of blending, like darker shadows within shadows and the effect is of smoother gradations and overall softness. It works really well when you use it on human faces. But I love the crosshatching effect your shadows and darker shades!

Thanks, dear Lunatica. I did pull out lighter hairs with a kneaded eraser and used a white chalk pencil for a few strands. I also tried to get some definition in the hair by drawing in a few darker shapes, which made some of the lighter hairs stand out. I never drew hair quite like this before. It was slow going but engaging.

I used a smudging tool here and there but I wanted to see if I could control the pencil well enough without it. It probably looks coarser than I realize, given my mediocre eyesight.

Edited to add: I got those darkest shades with Staedtler Mars Lumograph black pencils--6b and 8b. They don't get shiny like pure graphite.

if you want to go back and look.

I’ve always admired how you render hair. It gives your self portraits more body and weight. You really do a terrific job!

to produce something like that.

If you've seen my posts from a few years ago, you know how much I've improved. I keep pinching myself; this seems like I couldn't possibly have drawn it.

I feel like this one is the beginning of a new phase in my art, like I rounded a corner.

I'm proud of my progress on this one, but a lot of credit goes to the photographer. It was a beautiful reference photo.

This and your recent self portrait have a softness and ethereal quality. 💖

What a beautiful compliment.

That is stunningly great, you have a real gift. The emotion in the eyes, I can feel it. Thank you for sharing what you have. I can barely keep a straight line with stick figures. I can’t stop looking at it. Keep sharing with us.

Such a kind reply; that made my night.

Also: I bet you could learn to draw if you had the right instruction. A light bulb went off for me when I first read Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain. That was decades ago, and I've learned a lot since (especially lately), but that got me started.

I will check that out. I was a draftsman for 8 years and did caricatures of fellow students and teachers while in college for jokes but that’s it. So I have used my hands to create. I used rapidograph ink pens on Mylar with French curves and drafting triangles drawing maps of county private property for tax basis. Pre GIS and computers. I’m a life long guitarist and performer so have some creativity inside. But I have always admired true pure drawing talent. My last Division chair was a pencil artists. He gave me one of his really good ones, of early Stevie Nicks. This work you posted really hit me. It is amazing and like I said the emotion in her eyes and face, is kind of what many of us feel like during this time in the world. Thank you again for sharing it. You obviously put heart and soul into it, and with your latent, it came through.

Just my $.02 worth.

It was really an exercise because I had taken an online portrait course and I wanted to practice what I learned, but I'm kind of gobsmacked at how much better it is than any of my previous work.

The hair seems to have a touch of gray, the lips are perfect and the crosshatch on the lapel is subtle and real. It really is great.

way to illustrate. The gray paper using black and white conte crayon is so much fun. I love the contrasts and highlights. This was the easiest way to illustrate using a neutral background. In Art School, Parsons, this was what most of my teachers used in our lessons. I wasn't able to find "Fashion Pads" for years and years.

I applaud your rendering and the use of this wonderful medium. Most of the greatest artists used this method hundreds of years ago.

I might never go back to white except for gesture drawings.

my kneaded eraser. It is wonderful to use it on Toned Gray. Kneaded erasers have been overlooked as a great way to create the highs and lows. I'm sure you already know of this gem.

I used it a bit in this drawing, mainly in the hair. I also used it to knock back the whole drawing after I blocked everything in: just formed it into a tube and gently rolled it over the whole drawing. That was a new technique for me, something I learned watching an online demo.

Beautifully done, you can read her thoughts looking into them.

You know, I wasn't trying to convey emotion but sometimes just observing something and rendering something infuses it with meaning. Lots of credit to the photographer; it was a beautiful photograph I was drawing from.

Tis in the eyes of the beholder.

TY, femmedem.

I also had very little interest in drawing or painting or any kind of art when I was younger, but oddly now that I'm an old broad, drawing is something I want to learn...and learn because it will support other creative endeavors like painting and digital graphic design. Thanks for sharing.

There are tons of good online resources. I've learned a lot from Stephen Bauman, Cesar Santos and David Jamieson of Vitruvian Studio. Books are good but I learn so much more from watching demonstrations--something I didn't get even when I was in art school in the 80s.

Still think you're not all that grumpy.

never ever bragged??? All I can say is WOW. Very impressed. When I first saw it thought eastern European.

My drawing has come a long way over the last few years but this one is a step or two better than any of my others.

You are a talented artist!

Beautiful work!

Btw, I like your knight. I thought you did a good job of painting a medieval figure in perspective--not easy!

Portraits are so difficult, regardless of the medium. Great job!

I appreciate the compliment.