Playing with a Sharpie Pen and a Pencil

I'm trying to practice my shading.  I finally figured out what a tortillion is used for.  They make it so easy to blend the graphite pencil.  A tortillion is just, tightly, rolled paper that comes to a sharp point at the end.  They come in various sizes.  I watched a tutorial once on making them yourself, but they are so inexpensive,I don't know if it would be worth it.

Here are my recent attempts at shading.

I'm pretty pleased with myself, actually.

Peace,

Cyndi