Portrait Request

A request from an anonymous student in my Creative Writing class. Heavy referancing with the face based on a picture on my cell phone she sent me with the request. The origional had her laying down on the ground... I think. I tried doing it with her hair sprawled out like it was, but had a difficult time getting it to look right. For some reason this was easier, so after asking her permission, I finished it with her hair acting this way.

Man, do I love using Ebony pencils for shading. For some odd reason that I have yet to fathom, I had done most of her hair using the same shading technique as I had used on the skin, resulting in an irrepairable cartoon-like look on a realistic drawing. It took me a good while to repair the damage best I could, but pencil erases only so much. The hair was also done without a referance of any kind, so I think that may have assisted in killing it.

Please feel free to harshly critique; the purpose of me doing portraits right now is to gain experience and improve.