Couple Pics of my 4th Photorealistic Pencil Portrait

Hey everyone.. Here are a couple pics of my 4th portrait I just completed on 10/10/11. I am still not great at it since I have only been doing it for about a month and a half now so if anyone has any tips on how I can improve, please let me know what I can do to make them better. I hope everyone likes them and please feel free to comment.

This was done on a 11x14 Strathmore Bristol pad with a smooth finish 100 lb. acid free 300 Series paper. I used a variation of pencils; Derwent 2H, H, B, 3B and 8B. For the fine line detail I used a Pentel Graphgear 1000 .3mm mechanical pencil. I also used a tissue, a q-tip, and a couple stumps for blending and a kneaded eraser.





This was done for a friend of mine at work to give to his girlfriend for Christmas.

good work.i like it, is there more to be seen?

You've done a fantastic job here Craig but you must lose the heavy lines,use an eraser to tone them down.Main focal points such as Eyes,Nose and mouth need to be pretty good,under the childs Right eye the shaded area needs lifting upwards,nose needs toning down and the nostrils are the darks not the septum.Front of the tongue? Lips need toning down.
Don't forget to get high contrasts,darks and light..this will make your artwork more 3D.
Don't be discouraged,you're really doing well.

I agree with Russ's blunt, but none the less, good observations.
I would add one other though, the childs left iris is way smaller than the other.
Using a stencil would help you to get the proportions right in this instance.
But, that said, this is an excellent drawing, really well done.
Hopefully you will take these criticisms with the intent with which they are intended, and keep posting.

It's really great! As said by others, the one pupil is a little too small. The lips are a bit too dark but you really captured the look and expression of the baby (what a cutie!).

Unless it's my monitor, your reference photo looks like it would be hard to get good detail, so that makes your drawing even more super!

Thanks for the comments everyone. And Larc-Romeo, I don't take it as critisim; I look at it as helpful tips to improve Nonso - I have 3 more pics that I have posted in another topic. It's under drawings on the 1st page. It say's "New 2 the Site. It was a little harder for me to do this one because the pic is so small so I free handed everything. I don't know how to do a grid drawing yet I always saw those stencils in the store but never knew what they were for. I didn't even think to put 2 and 2 together and think about drawing the pupils with them! LoL! Learn something new everyday though so I will have to get one next time I am out. A couple questions.. 1) Russ - you said use an eraser to tone down the heavy lines; what is the best eraser to use for that? A kneaded? And is the best way to draw the line and than just tap the eraser over the lines to lighten them up? 2) I tried making the top lip darker and the bottom a little lighter cause I was reading one of Duey's tutorials. It didn't work to much for me though..LoL I thought they looked to dark. What is the best pencils to use for the lips and to get the creases looking just right? Russ, you said the right eye needs lifting upwards..What do you mean by that? And do you do that with a stump or q-tip?

I really appreciate all you taking your time out and helping. All of you are giving me good tips and I am learning a lot. I just wanted to say thank you once again.

Yeah but Russ, it looks like it does in the reference photo too. If it's the area I think you are referring to.