I have questions. 1. Did you use a grid for this, or strictly freehand? 2. Is that white charcoal making the highlights? I really like the handling of tone.
Cheated😥 Traced the outline.
No charcoal, but used Caran d’ache luminance white and various cool and warm greys too.
Hmm. So far my attempt to put white onto a black background achieves nothing.
Tracing an outline IS NOT cheating. If it allows you to achieve your desired result, you still need to do all the work. I would say, in this case, you have achieved your desired result, as we can clearly recognize Sydney Poitier ( 
just kidding). Great job in representing the wonderful Morgan Freeman. I love it.
Thanks. It did take a lot of work, drawing every individual curl of hair. Should change the topic to mixed media, I suppose, as I used a number of greys in coloured pencils, as well as different graphite pencils.
I would have liked to watch over your shoulder as you worked.
Beautiful portrait. The texture details are awesome.
Tracing the contours is not cheating. You have to do the work of making the the picture come alive. Great job!
Welcome 
and thanks for your kind comments
Thank you for your comments
One of the teaching methods that Matt uses to transfer an image to the paper is to trace it, another is to use a grid. I am intrigued by your rational regarding giving yourself and edge or advantage - who, or what, are you in competion with to use this edge or advantage. After using a grid, or tracing, we still have to draw the contour lines, shading/value etc.
Please let us end this discussion, as it is getting unnecessary heated.
Not everyone is good at drawing accurately. At the end of the day, it is all about enjoying a hobby for the majority of new artists like myself. Commercial art is a different matter.
I feel everyone should be able to express their opinions freely, and the differing opinions should be respected. I find it helps me grow and develop.
By the way, I learnt about tracing with graphite from Matt’s lesson 8 ( transferring images) in his Coloured Pencil course, which he then used in lesson 18 in the watercolour pencil lesson. Also used in lesson 5 of portrait drawing in the Pen and Ink module.
Totally agree with you MikeinPeru. The difficult part is establishing the contour of the face, the color selection(s), and shading so the final result resembles the subject. Job well done Rajeshwar!!
I think your Morgan Freeman portrait is terrific. I’ve only attempted 2 portraits: 1 tutorial effort and 1 that was my own creation. The hard part is establishing the facial contours
through colors and values, Job well done!
Thank you for your encouragement
Thanks again Kitt225 for your kind comments
Morgan Freeman jumped right into my brain, when I first saw your portrait. Great work and keep on drawing! When I give it a try, you wouldn’t even recognize a human being.
Thanks Buddy for you comment. I did use graphite tracing to get the outline right 
That explains a lot, anhow, you still did all the work by getting the values right in place. Looks great!