Another portrait of Tayla - charcoal and carbon pencils

This is just a relatively quick drawing I completed this afternoon while the munchkins are sleeping (and they still are - bliss!) but I thought I would post it here as I tried a couple of new things.

Firstly, I used Bristol paper, A4 size. This is very smooth thick paper and I like the charcoal on it as it is smooth and very easy to blend. Will be using this more I think, and I think it made it quicker too. Secondly I pretty much did a few lines and smudging for the clothes and I like the effect. And thirdly I tried scanning the image rather than taking a photo and I think it may be better. What do you think?

I get so frustrated at how grey the white paper comes out on the photo whereas this seems pretty white still. But does it come through as clear? Any thoughts or hints on what settings to use with scanning would be greatly appreciated. I tried a few things and then ended up 200dpi on the 256 Greyscale. But are there better options???

Also, quite a number of artists whose blogs I read have been choosing a Word for the year and applying that to their lives. I've been thinking a lot about that and think I have my word, so will be back with more detail once I've done more thinking....