How to Draw Neck

Step 1 - Depending on where the light source is coming from, there may be a cast shadow on the neck from the chin. This is the case with my drawing. I start by laying down an even wash of 3B graphite in the shadowed area. How do you know how dark to go with this shadow? Compare tones on the face with the shadowed area. I see that my shadowed area is about the same tone as the cast shadow underneath the nose. The shadowed area will be darker as we near the edges on both sides. I have also begun working on the shoulder on the left side. For the hair I decided to fade it out at the bottom. I think this is a really classy, artistic look in portrait drawing. I attain this look first by drawing the hair at the bottom with a 5H pencil. This will give me my lightest tones and the tones that I need to transition down to. Then I go back up the where I left off and use a 3B, getting lighter and lighter as I near the bottom. When you reach the bottom it should be a smooth gradient from dark to light. 

Step 2 - I move on to the chest area. I start by laying down an even wash of H graphite and blend it out. Then I add some darker tones along the outter edges where the hair is. Just as I did with the hair I am blending this area out at the bottom.