Dan

[Karin Wells]

Good job on the face Chuck. But it looks to me as if some of that light may be creeping too far into the shadow side of the beard area?

Meanwhile, get rid of the texture in the background and make an interesting pattern of light and shadow that will frame and enhance the face and add to your composition. It will also be easier to find and lose edges with background value chages.

Since we're moving right along, let's take a second look at the shirt. Pardon me if I repeat myself, but this is important...

Lighten the shadows on the left side of the shirt as they fall in the center of light and cannot be that dark. No shadow or dark will appear very dark when surrounded by light.

Also, no light on the dark side will equal the intensity of light on the light side.

Your reference photo is a pack of lies as your shadows appear much too dark. Paint what you know - NOT what you see in this regard.

You're on the right track - keep working!