Continuing my stroll back to fundamentals, here's another photo study. On my previous portrait, values proved difficult which is why I decided to work in black and white for this new piece. I've also expanded my tool set to include some smudging this time around although I have to admit I have no control over that thing. It might sound silly to mention it but I'm a firm believer in limiting one's tools to allocate more bandwidth to the topic in focus. Other things I attempted were painting straight in without a sketch as well as keeping a strict hierarchy of detail to guide the eye.
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Photo reference: @earthsworld