Thank you so much for the advice!! I'm always catious about shading too darkly, so this comment was really helpful :)

You have a good idea with your drawings, and I can tell you are shooting for a realistic approach to these portraits. What you really need to do is step back and really look at your subject and see the details of the shadows and lines within the face. It's hard to explain. You need to spend more time evaluating what you are doing because you're plastering vague features onto your drawings. There should be a definite increase in qualtiy each time you produce a portrait if so. Don't be afraid to use dark shadows on your drawing when you see it in the image you're drawing off of. And all I can say is that you're in a good place right now! Keep it up!!!! I love seeing others draw :D