You've already gotten great critiques, so I'll just say... that is a VERY unusually rough bristol. Who makes it, out of curiosity? For the future, look for "smooth" or "plate" bristol, smooth being... smooth, and plate generally being extra smooth.

Hey, @Richard Barkman! Awesome job!! I see you already received plenty of helpful comments, so I don’t wanna get too long, but I just wanted to drop by and say that I love the stylistic experimentations you’re making! The broken shapes and vigorous, dynamic and loose abstract strokes bring up an interesting contrast with the rendered forms. On the other hand, I also feel that the anatomy of the back muscles isn’t quite accurate. I made a few notes on the image attached. I know you’re currently studying anatomy, so no worries if you still need more time to strengthen your grip on it - I’m pointing these out just as things to look out for. Maybe one suggestion would be to try some anatomical tracings over your references in order to figure out the underlying structure before going into a more developed rendering. Personally, I like the thick black outlines on some areas as an element of style (and it does remind me of Steve Huston’s work), although I agree that it’s also good to explore some lost edges (which I notice you actually do already in other parts of the drawing) and use outlines carefully so they won’t weigh too much or compete for visual attention against the strongly lit areas. Other than that, just keep going! I can definitely tell you’re moving in the direction of growing your skills even more! Hope you’ll find this helpful. Keep up the good work. 👍

Hey Richard, Nice drawing, and the rendering isn't that far off. I will agree with some of the critiques you have already received, but have a few more. I did a quick diagram over your drawing to show what I see, I hope it helps :)

Very nice drawing, I like the composition and I can tell you put alot of work into the back muscles. I agree with what everyone else said about outlines so I wont add anything else. One thing you can keep in mind is that the core shadow is softer on more rounded planes. In places like the butt and the right leg, the core shadow is very harsh, making the features look cube-y. The harsh core shadow does work well in places like the foot and the right tricep where the plane change is more intense. Once again, great work!

This is your drawing? uhhhhh this is flipping awesome. Legit. This is good work. You've got your shading down, what you need to work on slash study is Lighting. Basically your ability to create form with light is still really good. I can tell you started out with your major lights and darks. But you loose it by overusing your darkest darks and your lightest lights. Your refracted lighting could use some work. Id say in this type of drawing don't use a dark outline on the figure. Instead get creative in finding ways to create that edge of your form In other ways. Its important to lose the edge sometimes. You started to do that with the swooping dark lines and this is a nice technique too. Losing the edge lets the mind do some of the heavy lifting and creates a pleasing visual effect. (I quickly edited your art to show you what I mean.) This next part I wrote as an after thought. Supposing you want the figure to be dark like in a darkened room. You would want the lightest lights to also be darker, You wouldn't see a bright white like this. She could have black as the darkest dark and white as the lightest part but I think in this case you would have to sacrifice most if not all of your mid tones. If there was any refracted light it would be very subtle and almost not noticeable. Once more time: Study lighting, you've got shading down.

Great job on keeping up with art that is meaningful to you and not just practice. That is super important to keep motivated. I agree the texture of the paper is a bit distracting. I've found that if the paper has a lot of texture that I need to increase the size of the piece so that the texture is not as prevalent. Also, the women looks very muscular, almost masculine. Was that intentional? The outline around the entire figure really flattens out the form. You have some chance to incorporate lost edges on the light side of the figure but the outline keep it flat. Other than that I think it's a great drawing. I like the contrast it's very striking. Keep working and keep posting!