Your approach is so soft and subtle, very beautiful and fun to watch it come together. I think maybe I got distracted a bit by some minor details I should not have been giving much attention to, particularly in the eyelid. I am having problems with the left eye and the shape of the mouth, I think the eye is too large and the mouth is maybe too large also, some of the shape is a bit off. I also notice the neck is too wide, I haven’t put as much time into that area as I have the face but I believe I can adjust most of these things as I go on to the next step to refine the shapes. I’ve never used charcoal on a pencil drawing before so it’s a new approach for me. Instead of willow charcoal I have a container of charcoal dust from when I sharpen my nitram sticks that I used instead though, just smeared some on with my fingers very lightly than made sure to wipe my hands so I don’t leave little prints everywhere.

Hi Stephen, Well I have to admit that my first attempt at Olivia went a bit awry at the end - I lost all likeness and couldn't get it back before I lost the surface of my paper and my patience - so I put it down for a bit - bought some better paper and had another go - I tried a different pose - and I think I have reached the point where I lost it last time - I think it is still too pale, but wondered what your thoughts were, before I go any further. I'm also struggling with the background - as you can probably tell, I put some willow charcoal at the back and then lost confidence and rubbed it all out again - any pointers as to how to go about this would be appreciated. Thanks Jo.

...and here a few hours later, is my first 2/10 value lay-in in the shadow areas. Any pointers would be helpful - I'm not sure about my eye placement, but when I measure it out it looks to be OK, but when I stand back, I am not so sure

Hi Stephen, I have been meaning to start your course for ages, but got waylaid with other stuff - then I got "gifted" the last two parts for helping with some website feedback for Stan, and so I have dived in. My first thoughts on watching your initial block in - was "how on earth can this take so long?", so when I started to draw, I had your video running in the background and I kept checking to see how far you had got compared to me, and guess what - it took me about twice as long as you to get to this pre-values stage! It was a good thing to do though, because it kept reminding me how fast and softly you move your pencil... anyway, I have got this far - I have used Olivia_5 as my reference. I think my use of my blending stick has been less useful, I'm not sure I've really given myself much information about hard and soft edges as I should have... any thoughts you have would be welcome. Jo

Hello Stephen, I have done some work on this assignment, but am confused about a point. 3h04min into the video, you mention, that now would be the time to address the vertical and horizontal alignment of the features. I am way earlier in the process and already have the feeling, that it is way to late to change the position of the features... In the second picture, I realized, that her tilt was wrong, and tried to correct it. Now, the general head shape is proportionally incorrect. How would you make changes that far into the drawing, with so many layers already added. I am off a bit here, and a bit here. I have the impression, it's time to start over?! Best wishes, Andre

Hello, here is my thumbnail attempt. I feel like I didn't get the gaze direction clear. While trying to just block in a basic tone, I couldn't tell the direction of her gaze (source is the photo #11). Trying to work that out interfered with keeping it simply and I started fiddling. Any hints?