One thing that really helped me while working on this piece was thinking about the face as different planes. I start by figuring out where the light is coming from, then I look at which parts of the face face toward or away from it. That helps me decide where to put lighter and darker values instead of randomly adding shadows. I practiced this idea while painting this piece, especially around the cheeks, nose and eyes. I'm a 13 year old artist, and getting an XP-Pen tablet has been a dream of mine. My family has to be careful with money, so having the opportunity to participate in an XP-Pen challenge like this means a lot to me.