This is a picture of Cornerback Ronnie Lott. NFl hall famer this picture was taken. November 1, 1981 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played for the San Francisco 49ers. This particular picture was done on Toned Gray. 400 Series / Best
I used charcoal pencils & color pencils. And graphite pencil.
I tried to make this particular pictures stand out because we all know . Ronnie Lott is the best at his game. And what he do.
The toned gray was the right call for this. Something about that middle value lets the highlights punch through without fighting for attention. I've tried working on white paper for portraits and it just eats the structure, you end up chasing contrast instead of building the form.
The mix of charcoal and graphite can get muddy fast if you're not careful about layering. I wrecked a piece last year trying to blend them too early. Sounds like you got the balance right here, especially if you were after that standout quality.
That grip on the secondary material choices. Charcoal for the jersey texture, color pencils for the uniform details, graphite holding the structure underneath. I've watched people try to force one medium to do everything and it flattens the whole piece. You let each one do its job. The toned gray base doing that much lifting means you weren't starting from scratch on every value, just carving the light out of what was already there.