Awesome, dude! I was looking through your old work and you progressed a lot. You're handling better your shapes, you are designing your values with more intention and also your proportions gotten more consistent too. There's two things that I think you can improve. I would like to suggest that you study the Reilly rhythms to relate one side of the face to the other. There's a few minor incongruencies here and there. It's nothing serious, it's stuff that you'd get away in a comic book page for example, but in a portrait we spend more time looking at the face...so studying Reilly rhythms would help you lock the shapes of one side to the other. Studying the Asaro Head and the skull would help too and also improve your knowledge of structure. The other thing is how you're handling hair. Observe how more experienced artists draw thinning hair. I like to group the shapes and using a stump to create lost edges with the background. It's kinda the same thinking Stan uses to draw eyelashes (Review the video of drawing the eyes) But again, man. Congratulations. You worked really hard and it's paying of. Keep drawing and best regards

Very cool, very organized. Keep Going! Best Regards

Hey, Sita. I think the main problem that's preventing you to understand this bones is that you're trying do draw the bones as they are instead of simplifying the forms. Also I don't think you're placing the landmarks accurately. In the second picture, I didn't saw the reference but the placement of the Acromion seems weird. It seems small and in the wrong place. I would like you to suggest that you do this tracings more simply. Just focus on the landmarks. Review the part video and the pdf where Stan talks specifically on the placement and movement. Also try to repeat the pose your self (when is possible) and find this landmarks on yourself. With the bones in the back may be more difficult but you can always find the bones in your shoulder and clavicle. This bones allows the arms to move forwards, backwards, up, down...so they are not always in the same place and it's important to understand this subjects from various perspectives. Again focus just on the shoulder bones and how to find them on the surface. For now forget muscles, head, the rest of the figure. After that try simplifying these bones into simple 3-d forms. Try using the 3-d model and drawing from different angles. Again simplicity is key. Watch Stan's examples and pay attention on how he does it and then try to come up with your own solutions. Also, practice drawing the 3-d form of the rib cage. Since the shoulder bones are on top of it, it helps to study both together. Don't get discouraged as this, as far as bones are concerned, is a very challenging part of anatomy to learn. So keep drawing. Best Regards

Hey, James Nice studies, Most of them a solid.Proportions are good enough. I see a few issues with the line quality but nothing too serious. I think you're still a little shaky drawing ovals and circles. So practice drawing using your whole arm no only the wrist. Your lines will become more confident as you get more mileage under your pencil. Answering your question. You will find more on the placement of the oval on the video on extreme angles. But, let me try to give you something until you watch the video. So in perspective the farther something is from us the smaller it will be. By that logic if we are looking up to a head we are seeing less of its top, the upper thirds will get a little smaller and therefore the oval will be higher. If you can't picture yet, drawing from the 3-d model may help you a lot visualizing it. Keep Drawing Best Regards

Hey, Hirsch Personally I never had any problem with the Conté Pierre Noire, but I heard countless stories like yours. Honestly I don't think is a quality issue. These are very fragile pencils. So bad shipping, careless handling sharpening the wrong way...all of these may lower significantly their lifespan. There's not to say that they are perfect. Some times you come across bad batches. The advice that I give regarding this matter is to buy from art stores that you trust and that know what they are doing. And once you got them be really careful with them (never drop them on the floor, they'll break inside instantly). About your portrait of Morgan and Nicolai, I'll group my critiques together because I have the same feedback to give about both. Both are nice jobs but both have proportional issues faces are elongated, eyes have different sizes etc. You are doing a good job separating the light from the dark but I think the transitions are too hard and you're leaving these hard lines in the light there are not mixing well. So work in your edges and try to think more in term of shapes than in lines. Talking about Conté, some draftsmen say it's the best tool for you to draw like a painter. Finally, I think your work is lacking in the lights. Not that you need to add thousand of halftones and overwork it. No, in fact the stronger point in this 2 portrait were the separation between line and shadow. But I really think your work would benefit if you design better the half tones in the light to show more form. The exercise that you simplify the portrait into 4 or 5 values would help you a lot in my opinion. Keep Drawing Best Regards