The Oil Painter's StudioDrawing is the foundational skill to a great painting…..
I swear by drawing sight size, in my opinion and experience, it’s the best way to get an exact likeness. It all begins with a plumb line. You could have a vertical and horizontal plumb line if you wish. I went with the vertical.
Don’t use a projector to draw, there are no short cuts to gaining skill. The only way is practice, a lot.
I searched for the best drawing materials and heard that Nitram was a great product, I bought a few packages and gave them a whirl. I must say, they are a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend them. What I really like about them is the paper holder, keeping my fingers from getting covered in charcoal. They also blend really well. Not all charcoal is created equally. I recommend using one brand and not combining with other brands on the same drawing. I tried this and ruined a drawing.
Tip*** Don’t smudge the charcoal with your fingers, I use a stiff round brush to smooth and blend the charcoal and a kneaded eraser to pick up the highlights.
For paper, I used Strathmore 500 series, tried both sides and I prefer the “wrong side” as it’s not as textured. I will be experimenting with different drawing paper, but for now, I still have twenty sheets to draw on.
I hope I inspired you to pick up a piece of charcoal and draw, it really is so mesmerizing!
Happy Drawing and let me know how it goes!
The Oil Painter's Studio 
you will now need to elaborate on this method, i am sure having a piece of paper and a plumb line doesn’t enable one to draw that good, perhaps the method of your measurement/proportion may help some newcomers along the road, for instance, do you use an outstretched arm with pencil?
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