Ugly Duckling to Swan?

You get to be the judge on this one!  I haven't shown a portrait progression in a while, so I thought I'd put on my brave (maybe crazy?) hat and show you this latest one that's STILL IN PROGRESS.  Remember (pretty please) it's a far cry from finished and keep that important fact in mind as you view.  Ahem.

I'll preface by saying this painting is being added to my wedding portfolio and the subject made a beautiful bridesmaid.  It's up close and personal as my style (as advertised) is "intimate modern portraiture."  I'm toying with giving a hint of a fluted Greek-like column behind her, but it will be a mere suggestion.  The background is evolving in my head and is truly not decided upon yet.  Wisps of hair across her forehead, the teeth and lips, the all-so-important eyes have had the absolute barest of attention and will, in the end, reveal the lovely swan.

I'll begin with the latest session:

She's beginning to emerge with her own particular loveliness - this last session finalized a few things that I actually felt pretty good about.  Her skin tone is just about where I want it now. . .along with her underlying bone structure.  Sometimes I'm so surprised at what I DON'T see when drawing the human face/figure and it honestly takes me a couple of sessions to clear the cobwebs and finally make progress.

Here is the session before, a few days ago:

Notice how I've painted the shadows/structure of her dress so that I can later paint over it!  It's my road map and can be quite time consuming when you paint in layers, but it's all okay when you know your destination.  Here there's been some work on her hair with no highlights - and here you'll also see a lack of "roundness" to her form compared to the later session.  

The initial stage:

This is where you could just put the brush down and walk away - wondering why you give painting a go at all!  This might also be a good time to talk about patience.  Truth told, I seem to have it in spades when it comes to painting. . .I sorely admit that it's often scarce in other areas of my life.  Sigh.  The beginning is just that - the beginning, with a dose of scary thrown in.

I might add that after I put the brushes down at the end of a session, I rarely go back and visit with my evolving painting until I'm fresh for the next session.  I know some artists who nearly take their paintings to bed with them, but I personally choose to take the break and let my imagination and thoughts about the painting take over.  That seems to work best for me as revelations tend to come as I'm falling asleep!

Thank you for going on this particular portrait journey with me - I'll be posting subsequent sessions and the final very soon!