portrait of a girl

I redrew this a couple of times because I was not happy with the result at all.

The drawing shown below was my first attempt, I used it as an experiment. I wanted to find a way to make my pencils look blurry and dreamy. My experiment succeeded, I used a piece of tissue paper to blur out the pencil.

My second attempt at drawing this girl started off strong. I really loved the shading and the form, but as it progressed it lost its likeness. If I could, I would go back in time and stop myself before I continued drawing this because I love this first draft so much.

Here is where the drawing started to lose its likeness. Though at this point it is still very pretty.

And here is the completed version of my second attempt. It's not a terrible drawing, but it is more stylized. When I started this drawing I was hoping for a more accurate and realistic look.

Though I love the drawing, the shading, and the hair, it didn't look like the reference photo and left me unsatisfied.

So, after my second attempt, I decided to follow the reference photo more closely.

I love the shading on the face in this drawing. I feel like I captured the beauty of the portrait.

What I would have done differently:

I would have paid more attention to the hair. As I look at the reference photo I see more detail in the hair that I feel would have made the drawing come to life.

I also would have refrained from adding the harsher lines around her neck and face, it would have helped with the shading a lot more and create a more seamless look.