Ha, what I'm doing is glorified tracing. I couldn't sketch someone's likeness to save my life. Keep up the good work!
Don't sell yourself short, man. I really dig your stuff. Bit of trace work or not, you pick features and shadows to the best advantage. Let us both carry on~ \[-_-]/
I wanted to tell you this earlier but somehow didn't, so here it goes: what you said about your drawing technique being sterile and stuff is nonsense

in the end drawing something always comes down to mimicking objects, lighting oder just simple shapes etc. ...even in the most abstract forms. but the artist always puts his personal style and movement into it, which is clearly visible in your drawings! so naturally they have a lot of heart and soul (which you can see) and are very unique
Very true. It's all how you interpret an object. I love seeing how these pictures turn out after being run through the meat grinder of an artist's mind. And, I'm not sure about heart and soul in my stuff, but they ARE full off coffee.

Now, let's see some more of yours!
I like the minimalist style of H.Pro's pics. They look like really deftly done sketches.
I mean that in a good way, like it comes naturally. You seem to be able to really capture someone's likeness in just a few pencil strokes. It's really impressive.
Haha. Well, thank ya. All you guys are seeing are the cleaned versions now, though. The originals have guiding lines (cross bars for the eyes and mouth, etc.) and I've been very focused on getting the proportions right by pencil measuring, with varying success. I can't shade for shit (obvious in Mac's pic)(sorry, Mac), so I've been keeping it more simple which also seems to look better, so yay!
Well using reference is not a bad thing. Especially when you're learning. I heavily rely on the photos given to me or else the pictures would be extremely inaccurate. My real style would show. But it's really good practice for me, so I like doing it.
you can see more of my work at:
http://inodrev.tumblr.com
And would it be a good idea to start a tumblr or something to archive all these amazing works?
Yeah, def good for practice. Essential, really. This thread has been a real good work out in getting back into that swing. But people who can free draw with correct proportions and lighting always amaze me.
And maybe OP should set up a tumblr for all this goodness.There's some real standout work in here. After checking yours out (love the animated headphones one from before and the April 7th commission!) I think it's a great idea.