Here is a critique a student sent to me from the lesson on Gridding the Human Face.
You’ve has done a pretty good job and I definitely see a resemblance. Isn’t gridding amazing? You drew the shape of the eyes pretty well and got the placement of the eyebrows correct, and good job on the ears, which can be tricky.
You have good value on the sides of the nose, but I would like to see you continue the value very slightly on the top of the nose. It’s true that there is highlight down the top-side of the nose, but the value is still flesh-toned, which is a darker value than the white of the paper. What I do is shade the whole nose to the correct value then lift out the highlights with an eraser. Much easier.
There is also a faint lighter value on the right-hand cheek (the viewer’s perspective) as the cheekbone protrudes out from the face a bit. Then there is a darker value down the whole right-hand side of the face since that is the area farthest from the light (although you can see a very faint reflected light on the jawbone. If you squint it will be clear where the values need to be tweaked.
Don’t forget the shape of the throat as it also protrudes out from the neck, giving it interest and dimension.
I would also suggest blurring the hair at the hairline so it doesn’t look like a wig has been set on her head. That’s where the skin can be seen through the hair so from far away it looks undefined.
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