what is your reaction to this? what you think?

[Fine-touch]

This is something that i recently worked on and would like to see your reaction to it.

[k4pka]

Next time be aware of the pitfalls of working from photographs, especially those that were taken with the flash on *shudders*

[Rblackmore]

Probably better than I could do, but looks a bit flat :/ Other than that, looks good.

[ivow]

Your tone doesnt look deep enough, youve got a 'black', but youve then got massive areas of near white, you need to add a range of tone to make the drawing look less flat. This is an absolute Key to pencil work, because this type of drawing is 100% tonal.

Then, your line work is very OTT for this type of pencil drawing. I would assume (if im wrong ignore me) that youre trying to get your drawing to look realistically lit, and if this is the case you should have NO like work left after youve finished the piece, even if there are lines in the work, like clothes, you should be using a very light line at first. It looks like youve just drawn the line in one go with a lot of pressure on the pencil. Basically in places with a line like the shirt, you should be drawing the line in using the areas around it too, not just drawing a line with your pencil.

And i certainly wouldnt say theres anything wrong with drawing from a photo. I really get annoyed when people tell me im no good because i work from 90% photos. Not everyone has the money to pay for life drawing classes, or the friends and family who are prepared to sit for you. As long as the photo has natural light and youve got more than one of the same subject (for accurate work) then i think its fine for a general drawing.

(If you think im full of poop take a look at my sketchbook to see examples of what im talking about. I work in just pencil for nearly all my artwork. I dont post my ceramics etc on CA)

[ivow]

Looking at your pic for longer i think youve got the flash on, or a lamp focussed on the face. I can make out shading on the face, but its not obvious. Try to take another piccy with more even lighting. It may be the way youve taken the pic thats making it look flat.

[Uziel]

The linework flattens the whole down.
Try to work with soft edges.