Panda

This is really good. I like the multi direction of the fur, his eye is great and I love the white whiskers against the dark background. The background looks ok to me, but an idea might be to darken it slightly at the bottom to show up those lovely whiskers a bit more and to vary the background. Me no expert Di but just an idea if you not happy.

Won't the graphite rub out with your finger to lose the pencil marks? I agree with Carole that darkening the background might serve two purposes - one of showing up the whiskers more and two losing the pencil marks. However, like Carole says too - I'm no expert so what do I know! Anyway - back to the drawing. Love the panda and the expression in the eye. Also find the way you have done the coat so effective, especially the whiskers. Another great drawing to add to the mounting pile.

No I did darken the background a lot from what it was. Donbe fairly light it didn't show the marks but the camera has also accentuated them. I have tried to blend it but they don't go away. It is actually darker than it appears here.

Why do you want to be rid of them? This is a pencil drawing, and as such, every mark is important and carries its own weight. The detail and form here is good, but perhaps as a composition there is a little imbalance; perhaps the head could appear a full two thirds way to the right...could be done with cropping?

A 6B or 8B would give the darken tones you might need.

I did use a 6B Ruth. The dark tones are there in the original they just don't show so well in the photo. which bleached it out a lot. Cropping is a good idea.