update: hair is done.I did find some additional tile pieces in another shade of brown to add some more dimension and reduce the contrast between the light and dark brown. I wish I had more shades of brown to make it look even better, but that is what I had to work with and I am not going to change it yet again.
I started on the face and we will see how it turns out. The ear is not exactly what I want it to be. After 4 tries of making it look somewhat like an ear, I quit. I will start on it again this morning, and hopefully with better results.

Another update. The arm is done. I changed the flow of the tiles to give it a more realistic appearance and I am happy with the result. The shirt is done. The hair is partially done. I added more highlights, but it still needs some work. The helmet is done, but is not quite acceptable, as the two blues need a bridging color and the grey on the bottom needs more definition.
I am hoping to finish the helmet, face and hair today. Keep checking back, as I am going to try and post daily updates.

Progress report on the mosaic today:
 hair partially done, after changing the tile colors numerous times. The last picture shows the original colors I used, which did not give it the effect I was looking for. Also the shirt is partially done. I will be adding some more highlights and switching some of the dark brown out with the lighter color. Some of the highlights look too chopped off. Extending them will give the hair more dimension and make it look more realistic. I might also add a 3rd color to the helmet, since the 2 blue shades are too different. Maybe another color that is closer to the darker blue to blend the light and dark will make it look better. Unfortunately I do not have any tiles in that shade, which means I will have to make some first.

A bit more work done on the first panel: the skin, the shirt and the helmet are partially done. Tomorrow we will start on the hair, which will be done in the same type of regular tiles as the skin, but in waves.

Managed to get part of the tile strips cut for the different skin tones and hair colors. While the rest of the mosaic is done in an irregular pattern, the skin will be done with square/rectangular pieces to create interest and movement

. I have employed the same method in one of my other mosaic projects called "The Classics in Pieces". As you can see in the second picture the whale and the boat are done in a regular, linear fashion, and so is the giant octopus on the opposing side of the table.

A little bit more work done on the panel. Today we finished the shadows on the girl's shirt and part of the bicycle helmet.

Here is a photo of one of my helpers, hard at work. She is still smiling. Let's see how long that lasts after days and days of clipping tiles ;)

Set up the mosaic at Agua Fria H.S. today. We have been busy making tiles in colors we needed for the mosaics, but could not find in stores.
Worked for just a few hours and finished the shorts on the girl on the first panel.

Here is a picture of the first backer board panel complete with the black and white glass mosaic boarder. Notice the two left corners have an area without tiles, as the new Avondale city logo is going to be placed there. There will also be 2 more logo tiles at the opposite end of the mosaic, to make it symmetrical.

Panel #1 is ready to be turned into a mosaic. I finished mounting the enlarged drawing on a piece of cardboard and also finished the black and white glass tile border on the backer board this morning.
Here is a picture of the enlarged drawing, mounted and ready to go