this looks really good so far! I envy those that can make drawings look so real

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"What is this, a missile launch?"
"Are you coming or going? Or.. coming, and then going? ..Or coming, and staying?"

You can piss off a king. The worst he can do is kill you. Don’t piss off the pope. He can send you to hell. Nobody likes hell.

WOW i hope u finish tht soon

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ummm..

Thanks! I'm sure you can do it too! It just takes a veeeery long time, so you need lots of patience.

I hope so too!
My friend's birthday is next week, so hopefully it'll be done by then!

and smooth untextured paper, I'm sure. I've always used sketchbooks, so I never can get really smooth natural skin, even with a blending tortilla. (lol I know they are called tortillons but i call them tortillas )

--
"What is this, a missile launch?"
"Are you coming or going? Or.. coming, and then going? ..Or coming, and staying?"

You can piss off a king. The worst he can do is kill you. Don’t piss off the pope. He can send you to hell. Nobody likes hell.

You should try using bristol smooth sometime then. It's quite nice for smooth textures. LOL.. For me, it doesn't matter if it's a smooth paper or rough paper, I still can't blend with tortillons very well! I prefer blending with my pinky finger. I know it's a big no-no in the world of graphite artists, but I do it anyway (I'm just a rebel that way).

Have you tried using kleenex or other tissue on the tip of your finger when blending? it helps absorb the finger oils and makes for a smoother blend
Bristol, IMO, is probably worth it but it *is* more expensive than the normal canson or, as I use, Strathmore.

--
"What is this, a missile launch?"
"Are you coming or going? Or.. coming, and then going? ..Or coming, and staying?"

You can piss off a king. The worst he can do is kill you. Don’t piss off the pope. He can send you to hell. Nobody likes hell.

I use kleenex sometimes, but I find that it ends up lifting some of the graphite. I use whatever is available. For this drawing, I am using tortillons for spreading the base tone of the hair, but for the skin I use blending stomps and my finger (very lightly though). I'm still hopeless with the blending tools. I was trained to blend with pencil alone.

Yeah, good paper is pretty expensive, but it's nice to use occasionally. I mostly just use my sketchbooks really. I like my cheap dollarstore sketchbooks because I can draw anything without worrying about how much it cost me! Sometimes end up being really good drawings, though, and I regret not using my good sketchbook!

You're lucky they have cheap sketchbooks where you live. Although I suppose I could get some at like maybe Kmart or such... but that probably won't be for a while, since my sketchbook still has plenty of blank pages. My brother in law gave me two really lovely hardcover bound sketchbooks, but I haven't had the courage to use them yet. I feel that if they were to contain one scrap drawing or practice page, they would be contaminated. Or some such thing... perhaps.. less lovely.

--
"What is this, a missile launch?"
"Are you coming or going? Or.. coming, and then going? ..Or coming, and staying?"

You can piss off a king. The worst he can do is kill you. Don’t piss off the pope. He can send you to hell. Nobody likes hell.