Done using some oil pastels chalk. Trying those dramatic non-hollywood posters.

Michael Mattesi covers this topic in one of his videos: https://youtu.be/3sI3sYitpQs

what I do, although I am not an expert, is use the guidelines for eyes, nose, mouth etc, It is important to start with the basic shapes first and then when the proportions are organized you can add the details. keep it up!

The serial artists I've followed through life have all had their days of 'misses' where it comes to likenesses of a character over and over and over.....the factor I recall making them most comfortable was to get a model reference ingrained in their heads that, thought it may not have been absolutely spot on perfect with what they were drawing, it did allow them some "anchor points" to land on. The nose was just a "check mark", and the eyes a horizonal line with two black diagonals...etc. That and, well, lots of sketchbook work. Good luck!

Nice studies Uku! As you said the first one looks a bit off, specially the forehead shadow, wich is too vertical and straight, as well as the shadow on the neck wich feels unatural maybe because of the "inserstion" you made it in the jaw. The 3rd photo looks fantastic apart from some perspective issues like Steve pointed out, and the ear seems small compared to the rest of the facial features, this can be avoided by drawing a line between the eyebrow and the nose, to place the ear. The 4th photo is also very nice, but the shadow of the cheekbone is pushed too far right, I don't have the reference models you were using but I belive it should be closer left. Keep up the great work!

Damn, those are some good studies! I wish I had your determination. All of them are great, even the connections, except the 4th one in the 7th photo, that connection isn't anatomically possible as is too closed together and angled. A more subtle angle and it's already a great fix. Keep up the great work, you are already a great arist!

Nice work Pedro! As you said you are testing out some new digital features, so my advice would be to work more on your lines, doing some draftsmenship exercises, since drawing digital can feel very different from drawing on paper. Also the clavicle is too low, it usually sits on the start of the shoulder. Keep up the great work!

Cool work, I think one thing that could help is practicing more with drawing consistently sized boxing turning in perspective, and using a system from someone like George Bridgman or Andrew Loomis may help.

Hi Brett! Nice stuedies. I can see you exagerating some forms for more intrest and thats cool. For now I think you could simplify your lines to "C" "S" and "I" shapes, making it easier for studying, as I see a lot of edges and points in your drawing. Now if you already feel comfortable with simple gesture you can start applying some indication of anatomical features, such as chest, shoulders, feet etc. Hope I could help, and keep up the good work!

Those are very nice tips! I don't think I have anything to add in terms of photograph, but I think you could sometimes consider scanning, as those A4 flatbed scanners are so cheap these days, you can even get a very decent one for office use that has great colour! Epson photo scanners are great in sharpness and colour (make sure you get the LED one instead of those old florescent ones), I've used two of theirs and they work wonderfully. If you do traditional art a lot, do consider invest a scanner, it will make computer touch-ups a lot easier. I'm currently using an A3 sized one from Epson as I draw bigger now, but the same idea.