Recently finished pencil drawing for a birthday present, worked up to A2 size from an old photo of the subjects from when they were children (without revealing ages I believe it was circa 1970s!).
I forget sometimes being so reliant on inks that pencil itself is a beautiful medium, especially when you’re working with a good range- I use B, 2B, 5B and 8B, starting with the hardest and working up to the softest, which corresponds with the darkest areas of the portrait. You need to be very careful when working with soft pencils as they smudge so easily.