The Late Great Robin Williams.
The very beginnings of Bob Marley
The beginnings of the great Frank Sinatra. Charcoal/Graphite on Vellum paper.
I always start with the eyes.
Wrinkles, Wrinkles. Very time consuming
Sometimes I use various methods to get a perfect reference to draw from.
Mother Teresa, again the wrinkles are my biggest challenge in attempting photo-realism.
This shot shows how I take a photograph of my work in progress to get a better view of any changes that might be needed as I refer back to it at a later time.
The trick to the darkness of a piece for me, is layering on the Graphite slowly to get the proper effect.
Brando in progress. At times I enjoy drawing from smaller reference photos more than closeups.