Somewhat Relaxed, 4/29/2016

Skin tone is burnt sienna and alizarin crimson , no ochre.  Was struggling
with shadow tones - at the last minute pulled some purple from the background
into the shadows of her left arm. 12" x 16" - 3 hours.

Relaxing, 4/17/2016

I'm really happy with how this three hour painting turned out! It's the first time
I've felt I had a grip on a workable portrait technique: 1) very quick charcoal sketch
2) quick thin monochrome to place the form 3) thin local color plus shadow with no
painting medium, just scrubbed in  4) last 1.5 hours modeling volume from a base tone
mix using plenty of medium.

Step 3) was new and gave plenty of grip so I could dab in two or three value layers in
nice gloppy paint! Three hours means strictly first thought best thought! 12" x 14.5"

Portrait, 4/15/2016

I didn't realize I was painting such a sad expression! Obviously, I'm still
struggling with skin tones. I'm using a penlight led now, so at least I can see
what I'm doing. I think the problem is I'm mixing for one area at a time,
which is ok up close but comes off blotchy as an overall image. So next I'll
try a traditional approach of starting skin mixes from a single, mid-value
tinted red oxide base. 12" x 16" - 3 hrs.

Portrait, 4/8/2016

Added viridian to my palette- very nice to shade skin tones. I keep getting

thrown by color temperature - painting under very warm incandescent and

then discovering in daylight I've been painting magenta skin! 12" x 16", 3 hrs.

Portrait, 4/1/2016

About halfway through the paint was turning into soup, so I stepped outside and
hit it with a blow dryer for a couple of minutes. 12"x 11" crop, 3 hours.