"A" Pencil portraits...OK, a lot of these are charcoal, not graphite pencil, but the idea is the same.  I try to draw a charcoal or graphite portrait sketch every day.  I'm hoping it will help my ability to closely observe people and other images and then render a good likeness.  So these are essentially practice sketches from my notebooks although I sometimes snip them out and give them to the subject people.  The ones that look more like their cousin than the actual subject, stay in the notebook.  My computer organizes them alphabetically, so here are some of the "A" listers.

AL and RL-  A mother/daughter pair- dyed in the wool Cape Bretoners!  Graphite pencil on sketch paper

AD was at her sister's wedding when I snapped a photo for this sketch.  Graphite on sketch paper

A and S- A lovely, young couple who live in our neighbourhood.  Both very athletic, he was an olympic athlete for Canada at the Beijing games.  Charcoal on drawing paper.

AMS - Flowers in her hair.  She too, was at HER sister's wedding. Charcoal on toned drawing paper.