No, it's not horrible at all. Creating something is already a meaningful step, and there's clear effort here in the hatching and line work. There's plenty of good things as: Good use of directional hatching to build form and shadow The hair texture shows understanding of how to create volume You're exploring facial structure, which is fundamental Technical issues to address: The nose perspective is inconsistent The jawline on the left side extends too far down, making the face asymmetrical The ear placement is slightly too far back relative to the eye-nose alignment I would review the portrait proportion and fundamentals by understanding its underlying forms and facial features. You can use the artword roadmap (portrait roadmap) to help you improve ! Rather than seeing it as a horrible drawing, see it as a magic thing to be able to produce something with only pen and paper. Keep drawing. Every sketch teaches you something.