3 hours, change of style!
 

Hi, trying to get as loose a style as possible with this one.
3 hours, mixture of hard and soft pastels.

Not sure whether to finish at this stage, advice welcomed!

Oh that's really very good, Margaret!! I think the shirt is marvelous - the way you have the background blue helping with the form. I really enjoy the sensitivity of your marks, and the variation between the scumbled marks (which show the paper's texture) and the more rubbed-in marks (which don't so much). It gives such a good feeling of the skin's subtle undulations. And obviously you draw so beautifully - you have such a tender sensitivity for the face. What's exciting too is that my current work has been taking on similar traits (although it's taken more like 3 months and not 3 hours to work out) and so it is very revealing to see your particular conclusions. I am so pleased to see this! Thank-you for posting it.

(I am enjoying Munch at the moment - there's apparently a very good film about him (has anyone seen it?) - so I thought I would post his Self-Portrait with Burning Cigarette (1895; Oil on canvas, 110.5 x 85.5 cm, which I thought was relevant)

Thank you so much for your comments and also for posting the Munch painting It's always great to see what's inspiring others
My own recent experience meeting Ken Paine was tremendously inspiring

Margaret, it is very difficult to help you decide when to declare this piece finished.
The work is so personal, and reveals an intense, almost feverish activity on the paper which makes it interesting and captivating.

If you'll be adding more marks, personally I would like to see more structure in the shoulders, which are less solid compared to the strong volume of the head.
Does this photo take in all of the paper? I think that the drawing would benefit from a little more space around it, especially above the head.
Thomasin I saw the Munch exhibition at the Royal Academy a couple of years ago, a real treat
Ilaria

Very nice! I like how the warm areas are contrasted with the cool of the paper.

It is very hard to give advice in this case, since only you know where you want to go with this work, only you have the picture in your head when you first set out. I personally like this very much, and works of this type in general that are very intimate and show a lot of the author--they remind of, say, the Rondanini piet

Thank you Ilaria Carlos and Michele!

To answer your question, Ilaria, no, this is a bit of a close up, still working out what to do with the background although I think I'll leave a fair amount of the blue paper showing. I'll definitely add to the shoulders to stop him floating too much

I'm trying to be bold with my mark making to maintain a sense of energy; sometimes it's hard to stop it descending into chaos

I like it very much! For me it is finished.