What a difference
 

Marina,
What a difference the background made and the few minor adjustments you did to the hair/skull. It's done. Don't touch it!!!
It's a lovely piece for you to show potential clients.

Patty

Marina
 

I can see a few small changes that I would make but I won't mention what they are because I also think you should stop here, I can only say that I,ve had so many drawings end up in the trash because I've over worked them.
This is a stunning drawing your edges are amazing and the toned background and adjustments to the top of the head I think have brought it to completion.

Quite right, Chris
 

What is there to critique about this? It is lovely.

Thank you all!
I adjusted again few things like toning down high lights in the hair ( it's always a temptation to make them lighter than they should be)

But this time, I consider it's finished !

Marina,

Sorry I didn't see this lovely drawing! Simplicity is refreshing for an artist. Her face and hair are so sensitively drawn. Something i've alway liked and admired about your work, aside from your approach to allegory and meaning, is the way you balance the impression of meticulous attention to detail with a very visible mark, or stroke, that reveals the way your painting or drawing was made. In other words, it feels finished without being too polished.

I like the changes and the darker background which gives the drawing depth and atmosphere.

Marina, I just spotted this also - this is haunting and so sensitively executed. (You are "trailing off" the bottom of the drawing the way that I also like to draw head and shoulders portraits. I like the combination of mass and line, the sense of movement and caligraphy that it gives to form - I suppose this is a matter of taste, which means that I very much like yours.)

Simply beautiful Marina. You also have mastery of the "beautiful line".

Jean

Marina, this is clearly you ! I am not sure if it is a commission but definetely you made the subject yours. Your technique is just so perfect that it hides itself behind these intense eyes.
Ilaria

Alex,
thank you. I think I was more meticulous few years ago, I could have become a photo-realist... But it would certainly have been too boring for me. Now, I focus more on the entire picture, on the balance of value massing, before entering in the details. I like more and more playing with the materiality of the medium . There is no secret recipe: practice, practice , practice...

Linda and Jean,
thanks a lot. In this drawing I decided that the line would be present. My natural tendency is to work by mass, but I admire lines in other's works so I pushed myself a bit to combine the 2...(and it's sometimes very hard to resist to nature!)

Ilaria,
I'm glad you like it. There was only 2 things that I was sure about since the beginning : I wanted a white background ( which is a failure) and I wanted those eyes like 2 black marbles.
No it's not a commission ( a sample for an auction ) and yes the subject is mine.

Captivating
 

Marina,

This is really fabulous. That face is so very beautiful and engaging. And thank you for posting the earlier versions - it's so instructive for us to see your process leading to this successful completion.

David