REALLY amazing artists: NOT my art....obviously

I just thought I would post some of my friends' work from the Sharpies. They are exceedingly talented and very inspiring. Two of them so far are going for NFAA to Florida for Arts Week!!

The jig is up

yeah...so i hid my concentration in the post below, because I was scared. Just highlight in the dark areas and it will magically appear.....

the concentration train

So...the concentration train is still parked at the station.


And the train couldn't start chugging because the conductor thought he was driving a submarine, not a train. Meaning, in my quest to "produce" a piece of art this weekend, I actually forgot how to paint and over analyzed the entire process.
My concentration idea, though it is probably exceedingly stupid, and I'm only posting this because Ms. McBride made me and she knew I would say this, so woo there goes my element of surprise,
I was wondering if anyone who generally paints in acrylics could tell me if they work their pieces holistically or sectionally, and if they go for accuracy as the piece progresses, in the drawing stage, or in the original painting layer.
but it probably will be portraits in some form, and I want to focus on people's characteristics. When one day I saw two teachers out of their element, the classroom, at a gas station and at the library, it scared me.
Maybe if the conductor sees how the caboose functions, the rest of the function of his train will materialize....
And there it appeared. The secret lives of teachers. It's actually the most embarrassing thing ever...and I still am so confused, especially since I can't seem to do art anymore. Realistic portraits in the foreground, contour for their secret lives in the background?
I'm not sure if that made sense, but anyone with suggestions about how they work a piece would be great. For some reason, I feel as though I need a formula.

close and far

So close, but yet so far, from stopping me from ruining my piece: thanks for the comments, but I had already marred the background.

So close is the deadline for the concentrations, but yet, so far am I from a decision (33 hours 14 minutes).