Art School: Beginning of Summer Term

I'm taking a Head/Figure/Quick-Sketch combination class this term at Watts, taught by Lucas Graciano.  It's been over three months since I last picked up the Conte 1710B pencil.  I was worried about the ramp-up time due to its idiosyncrasies -- but it hasn't been too bad.  Generally speaking, I feel like my draftsmanship is good, so my focus this term is working on shape design and nuance.  Those are tough things to learn because they can't necessarily be taught.  To help, Lucas recommended that I do some master studies this term.  I'll pick out a few artists I admire and work on those over the summer.

Here are my first two weeks of class.... Each was drawn from a live model in a little under two hours.

Laurel (Conte on newsprint, 14x20").

Sherman (Conte on newsprint, 18x20").