I took the original photo and blew it up to approximately the same size that I am working on, then printed that out and am using that as my reference. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe it will be ready for Facebook in a week or two.

Look for the "sparkle" in this photo

See all those reflections and highlights? You'd have to save them at the very beginning of your pencil drawing and work around them. In watercolor too, but in oil or acrylic you can paint them on top of the darker colors as you near the end of the painting.

What a struggle to get this far! I've spent quite a lot of time working this over and am still not there, but I'm getting closer. Took your advice, Phyl, and made her eyes and glasses larger and also spread them apart, changed nose and mouth slightly, changed left cheek, changed hairline, etc. I'm going to keep working at this, but may have to use the grid.

Five Times and Counting

You can see the progression below--from the first draft through successive revisions. I'm getting closer (I think), but I'm missing it somewhere. Comments?