Thanks everyone for the kind comments.
Luca, I don't have any shots of it in progress. I just didn't think of it. I'll try to take some on the next piece. Good idea. The paper is just a cheap (50 cents) Strathmore charcoal paper - just what I had lying around. Not great but it worked ok...I guess it's time to place another Twinrocker order! Thanks!
Marina, I shot this - and 156 other students!! - with a single, Photoflex studio light with softbox (using my new Nikon D200 camera with this great portrait lens - I love my new camera!!). The photos were all taken for all my students' self portrait project - and so now I also have a lot of reference material for my own portrait studies...