I AM staring at you, but remember, you asked me to create a portrait

These are today's preliminary sketches.

I never thought it would be so awkward to observe my students. It is hard to look at them these days without blushing as I am getting caught in the act of creating observational drawings. Today I finally resorted to asking for a photo, just so I could complete my work without the self consciousness of staring. The problem with this is that I am not comfortable rendering from a photo, I cannot get the sense of depth that I can capture with observation.