Who are the artists that draw portraits of Black people?

I like to draw portraits of people using pencil. But how do I make sure the portrait doesn't look stiff or dull?

• I know having the person tilting their head, looking somewhere other than directly forward and letting there be a breeze in their hair can be such things that might help. Any more suggestions? I also sometimes draw two different portraits but of the same person on one piece of paper and try to make that work but the last one I did looks very stiff... And nevermind the colour it turned out horrible!

• Answer:

  As mentioned by the other post-ers, you're definitely being too hard on yourself.  Your sample portrait already shows good sensibility and draftsmanship. A couple things to consider. . . Line weight - while you show that you understand line weight's usefulness for separation, when your line weights are too consistent, IMHO, things tend to look more mechanical. Composition - cropping your drawings to a straight edge (at the bottom of each portrait) feels like an abrupt stopping point, especially since it's an edge that you created rather than just the edge of the paper.  Drawing the subject with a more naturalistic fade would probably be helpful. Drawing well is a skill that should always be evolving.  You've obviously spent a lot of time getting to your present skill-set.  But, never be afraid of experimenting! Good luck!