/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

I think i am getting pretty okay at drawing portraits from photos, but it feels a bit cheap or like I am cheating myself.

What is whatever skill I have worth if I can’t apply it and draw as well when working from life?

Just copying from a photo is also starting to feel a bit boring and predictable, like I am just following a set formula and I know exactly where it is going to end when I start a drawing. There is not a lot of excitement in that.

In pic related I tried to do some weird hatching thing where I go beyond/across what I am actually shading so that it runs out onto other parts of the face, - just to inject some excitement into the process, I guess. But I think I still ended up sticking to closely with what I am comfortable with and with the idea that I should end up with a “pretty” drawing.

I like the idea of having very chaotic shading/hatching, and then still having a face appear in that chaos somehow, pulling the elements of the face out with a sparingly, considered line and tone here and there. But I think I need to push myself more out of my comfort zone. Maybe take up a medium I haven’t tried before?