Update

I've been nibbling away little by little at my symbolic self portrait and its slowly coming together, but still a very far way from completion. It may well take months before that happens. Its a large piece 22 x 30 on illustration board and rendered in graphite. I'm using a mix of mechanical and wood pencils to get the full range of leads that I need to make this drawing work.

Getting a good image of it has been a challenge from the start and I just can't seem to obtain a crisp image no matter what the light conditions. My camera doesn't seem to want to focus on softer greys which this is right now and needs a strong contrast for the camera to grab. I'm hoping it will be come easier as the drawing progresses.

The drawing was on my drafting table when I took the photo so the angles are off. The staff should be more upright and the horizon line really is straighter, even if it needs a little tweaking I think.