(I'm only skipping where I've already commented)...

Another intense portrait; the woman has very intense eyes and an equally intense gaze. She appears to have emotional depth. The overall brown tones are infused with reds, which 'raises' them somehow (rembrandt, as you may know, loved to infuse his backgrounds with red, or red underpainting, and it warmed up his backgrounds considerably). Her crimson red lips make a wonderful accent and contrast. And that man---god, he looks like people I studied with, and even some in my family. You get very ethnic looks in these: ethnic only in relation to the mainstream of american culture (they wouldn't be ethnic in their culture of origin). This man looks Turkish or perhaps Eastern European. If you've ever seen the films of Sergei Paradjanov, you might see faces like this in his films (he was Ukrainian). I love the long nose and the thin but intense mustache. And such intense eyebrows (and a head band). (He looks a wee bit like Einstein.) I just can't help but think of the films from the Baltic states in Europe (Kusturica, Paradjanov, and others). A very intense pairing: You were capturing very concentrated gazes and presences in those days. And your oil pastels were used unapologetically for their thickness and smeariness. Strong use of your medium. (And I haven't thought about barrier paper in an eon. I never drew on it, but I did use it to separate art papers in my closet...)