Michael, it's charcoal. It's ground charcoal applied with a sock or a large bristle brush. I "pulled out" the highlights with a kneaded eraser, and I used a 6B charcoal pencil for the darks and hard edges and a 2B charcoal pencil for the darker mid values. This might explain some of the mistakes that you've pointed out in your reply. I think I pushed the darks too much in this one, which might explain the darkness on the nose in relation to the shadow on that side of the model's face.
I really appreciate you guys responding and pointing out some of the shortcomings of this piece. There are things that I'm still not seeing that stand out to better trained eyes. I'm still new to charcoal, so with time I'll refine this technique as well as correct the basic mistakes made with the values and composition.
Again, thanks for pointing it out. This was very helpful.
