For the hair I looked to artists like Peter Paul Rubens, who gave impressions of hair, rather than fully detailed hairs. The image I used as reference had a very high contrast, with that the individual hairs weren't as defined and with that, with my skill set I attempted to give the impression of hair. If I were to have detailed it further it might distract from the face itself. For the current artist I looked at Nejwa or sketchydxls on Instagram for her pencil portraits. Her portraits use a lot of values to give them depth, well blended to make them look smooth, sure they are common techniques but she puts them to work well. In this piece I wanted to specifically work on the details of my face. The shapes of it. I did this especially well in the nose and mouth area, though the left eye and forehead leaves much to be desired. With having jankily detailed hair, the shadows of said hair onto the forehead look off as well. Overall, comparing this to my self portrait a year ago I feel I've come a long way, though it leaves much practice ahead. I captured the expression well, somewhat of a daunting stare, I had taken multiple photos before hand and this was one of the highlights. I plan to continue doing graphite portraits throughout my portfolio, expanding my skills, only I need practice in between. This portrait took me 6 hours to complete, so in plotting out how i'll time doing each piece, I know I can get them done in a day or two, towards the end of each month. I want the portfolio to be a journal of my progression in capturing the details of a face in a way that gives them shape and personality.