Beautiful work as usual. Of all types of medium pencils are my favorite. There is just something powerful I feel with observing pencil work that I don't experience with paint... Not to say one is better than the other, but I can't put my finger on it.
I strayed away from pencils once I came to grips with oils. However, I have come to appreciate them again and they now sometimes are an important part of my paintng process.
I have heard several artists say the same thing. Makes sense to me!
The pencils force you to concentrate on the correct values for the image.