Hi Jean,
Here's a detail, though I'm not sure with the pixelation if it shows much. To get the smoothness in these drawings I'll lay down a value for a particular area, almost always using a very sharp point (my trusty electric pencil sharpener is always at hand). There will be a certain roughness to it and I may see some individual strokes. So I then go into that area and "hit" all the little light spots to bring them in line with the overall value of that particular passage. If I keep doing this, I can get it to look smooth as velvet. It's tedious work - I feel a bit like a surgeon when I'm in this mode - but, for me, the end result is worth it. I kind of just "zone out" when I'm doing this kind of rendering. I will, of course, often step back to see what I've done and where I'm going.
My goal is to achieve a kind of "glow" by really nailing the values and the transitions between values. For me, it's all about values and edges. Nothing more than that. As I see it, subtlety is beauty. I love doing portraits because there is a universe of subtleties that is a human face. Subtleties of lighting, value transitions, edges, highlights, as well as the expression, emotion of the subject. It's my job just to notice as much of that as possible.
I do think somewhere down the road I'll get tired of working this way and opt for a looser, "less fanatically contolled" way of working. It's very time consuming and, at times, downright boring. But so far, I'm pleased with the results so I keep doing it.
David
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