I tried out the Ampersand Pastelbord surface for the first time with this drawing and I'm sold on it now. It can take lots and lots of colored pencil layers and blends like a dream. It does take a lot of time to get complete coverage on the textured surface for the kind of realistic look I like, but I love the results.

So anyway, this is Sam looking suitably somber on a dark moonlit night.

For a look at progress pictures of how this piece developed, start here on my live journal site. Click on the "sam portrait" tag to see all the entries regarding this drawing.