You're Making Me Brush

For my commission, I decided to use charcoal, as it would be smoother and have more depth on the paper I had chosen. However, I noticed that the grain of the sheet was creating too coarse a texture, so I had to blend if I wanted to get  smoother finish like the one I have framed in my apartment, which is what the client originally wanted. So I thought I might have to go out and get a blending paper stick (I don't know what those are actually called. Just 'blender'?) but didn't want to wait until I got back from an art store. So I used brushes, which I had heard you could use on pastels and charcoal, and it worked out beautifully, and I discovered a new tool/technique to use!  Gah, you'd think Id have know after all these years of sketching. Anyhow, this is the charcoal sketch commission of Zenaida. I'm going to darken her a bit more and add more shadows to volumize the figure even more...