Studying with William Whitaker

About 2 years ago, I attended a painting workshop in SLC taught by William Whitaker. It was a wonderful experience and I felt like I learned more about classical painting in that one week than I did the entire last two years of my college study.
And recently, Mr. Whitaker has been so kind as to take me on as one of his personal students. I'll be spending time in his studio once a week learning and soaking up everything I can about his painting process and how to improve my own skills. He has wonderful insight on not only the technical side of painting and drawing but on the spiritual side as well. And it goes without saying, but his work is pretty good too.
We're currently work on perfecting my charcoal technique where I draw on a toned paper and adding white to bring out the highlights. I'm focusing on being very careful where I place the white so that it's not overdone. Here's an example of a work in progress....