Christina Ricci Charcoal

This is a charcoal wash sketch from a class I'm attending at Scottsdale Artist School. The class I'm taking is on Monday nights with a local professional artist by the name of Bill Lundquist. The class is called "Capturing the Drama of Charcoal Wash Portraits." The class is 3 hours long and this is the product of the first class. I've never really worked in charcoal before, particularly vine charcoal. Bill provided photo reference that we could use and I chose a picture of Christina Ricci. I mention this because I did a particularly poor job of capturing her likeness. I'm not distraught by this, but I am focused on making sure each drawing is better than the last. Although this is a relatively quick sketch, I'd like my next drawing to reflect my ability to manage the lights and darks better, refine the edges and capture a stronger likeness. Part of my struggle in this class is that Bill is encouraging me to use a comparative measurement system and to use a "Chain of Puzzle Pieces" approach to the drawing. Typically I follow more of an "Envelope" approach, deciding on the outer limits and working in. Bill had me start with the left eye, develop it to a satisfactory level, and use that as the "measuring stick" for the rest of the drawing. This class is also fun in that he works quickly. I'm used to spending anywhere between 15-30 hours on a portrait drawing and this one was done in 3 hours. As the name of the class suggests, the technique we are using is a combination of painting charcoal powder with water and brush, in addition to using charcoal pencils/ vine charcoal sticks to draw the face. This interplay of soft / suggestive, and precise / descriptive is what makes drawings like this so much more engaging than a photograph. My next session is tonight. You'll be seeing the results of that class soon!