I bet it took you a while to create that picture, a lot of little creatures and I like they all have different expressions of their faces, different emotions.
I can understand what you mean with using another paper to protect the drawing as accidentally you may smudge your drawing, actually I try to do my drawing from top to bottom to prevent it but it is not always fits and you need to do something on the sides or center first.
Was interesting to learn that you also using blending stick to make surface smooth. Wonderful result and really funny, especially one in center :)
Thank you very much @stef1! Yeah don't know how many hours but it took me some days of hard work.
I think you should try using the paper. For me it's impossible to plan the artwork from top to center as I go all over the place :)
It was something I learned after some years of working with pencils and I liked the smooth results it gives.
Thank you! :D