Third attempt. Using regular pencils now, sharpened as in the video. Only used the staedtler leadholder 4B for the terminator and finishing (darkening up some spots and drawing a hard contour on the focal points (poopa and her shoulder)).
The dark side is still relatively light, but I can't really go darker unless I want to spend 2 hours using the tip of a pencil rather than the side. Exaggerated the flow in the back on purpose.