Simon Baker

hi! great start here!

the use of black and white in this picture is a good choice. it gives practice and idea as well as exhibits the shadows and emotion of his features well. i like the painting style. it's flowing and blends well while still giving depth to the grey scale.

the whites in his eyes are very bold. the difference between his eyeballs and the eyelids are too dramatic. it makes his eyes appear sort of alien or out of place. i'm guessing the goal was to make very soft lines between features? there needs to be some softening of the edges around his eyes. darker lines and transition will help. the white of his collar gives the same startling effect. it's too much contrast between his neck and the suit jacket. the look i think you're going for is achievable, but i think they might need some sharper edges and cleanup for the suit/shirt collar rather than it be soft, particularly on the right (beneath his ear).

on the same thread as the eyes, the pupils seem unfocussed, off kilter. i think you did a marvelous job with the irises. they're absolutely beautiful. they could definitely be made even more stunning with less dramatic schleras (whites of the eyes) and definition/transition into the rest of the socket and eyelids.

the hair on the right side (above his hair) seems hurried. the shading doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the pattern. i'm not sure about the lighting on the ear; i know the picture you've used as reference here, but off the top of my head, i can't really recall. the smudge tool (or something like that i think you're using here) is unnecessary to soften those edges. it might actually be better if you gave it some harder edges, or a darker background to not only not have him sink into the background greyscale, but give it more depth. he will look great with some harder edges where it's necessary.