I'm still trying to get faster at sketching faces, but although speed is an asset, the most important part is rendering an accurate depiction of the subject. I envy artists who can sketch a great likeness in just a few minutes, but I know, of course, that putting in the hours practicing is the only way to improve. So I practice, and practice, and practice...
These sketches were done back-to-back in under 30 minutes, during a busy day of sketching, cleaning and renovation work:

©2015 Jennifer Georgeadis. 17.5cm x 25.5cm, sepia drawing pencils on sketchbook paper

More portrait work on black paper:

©2015 Jennifer Georgeadis. 12cm x 17cm, coloured pencil on black paper

I'm using the black book as a dark tonal ground for anatomy drawings (also good practice for thinking in the negative):

©2015 Jennifer Georgeadis. 10cm x 14cm, graphite and coloured pencil on black paper

More work in my new black book... I'm experimenting with drawing with the white ball-point gel pen, and liquid ink with a nib pen to see what each one is capable of and what the limitations are:

©2015 Jennifer Georgeadis. 20.5cm x 20cm, ink on black paper

I recently rescued a very old, leather-bound photo album from getting chucked in the trash. Initially, I wanted it for the beautiful textured leather cover, but it occurred to me that the very substantial black pages would make a fantastic sketchbook. I bought a couple of varieties of white ball-point pens, and also some white Speedball acrylic ink to use with my nib pens, and got to sketching. I could do this all day!

©2015 Jennifer Georgeadis. 21cm x 23cm, ink and coloured pencil on black paper

One of my personal challenges in doing portrait work is to get faster at it. This piece was done quite quickly (for me, anyway), and although rough, has some parts I'm pretty happy with:

©2015 Jennifer Georgeadis. 17cm x 14cm, digital charcoal

I love portrait references with strong light sources. So much to work with!

©2015 Jennifer Georgeadis. 17cm x 14cm, digital charcoal

I'm using tonal paper to continue practicing speed and accuracy in my portrait sketches:

©2015 Jennifer Georgeadis. 6.5cm x 8.5cm, digital graphite

With these portrait studies, I broke down the stages of rendering into several steps and used loose gestural lines to suggest features:

©2015 Jennifer Georgeadis. 20cm x 13cm, digital graphite

Brushing up on my portrait-drawing skills... It's been too long!

©2015 Jennifer Georgeadis. 14cm x 18cm, graphite on sketchbook paper