[Tom Edgerton]

Jeff--

Two things, quickly:

I'm big fan of high-key drawings, such as Ingres, Holbein (the younger), etc. If you push the darkest values such as hair, shadows on the back, etc. up into a middle value, the mid-light to light values also need to move up the scale somewhat toward lighter values. Put more simply, the halftone and light values in the face are somewhat heavy for the value of the shadows at this stage, thus flattening the effect. Some of the lights in the face need to be established with paper tone and no pencil modeling. You'd do yourself a favor if you look at Ingres pencil portraits--they're breathtaking.

Though it's discussing oil painting, John Sanden has an excellent video on hands. Two points he makes are: keep the lines between the fingers lighter than you think you need, and to paint what the LIGHT is doing playing across the forms, rather than overstressing the anatomical details such as knuckles, veins, etc. The key to success with hands is simplify, simplify.

I realize this is a work-in-progress. Why not re-post when you think it's finished for more feedback.

Good luck!