I was hoping to finish this painting before Sept. 3 so I could enter it in a competition. I am disappointed to say that it isn't going to happen. Too many problems. Here you can see that I have begun facial shading. Unfortunately my blending technique has removed some of the skin tones and am now going to have to go back and paint them back in. Actually I had to do the same thing on the "Portrait of Kathy", but forgot.

On the last 2 portraits I have been using a Lanaquarelle watercolor paper roll (51"x 11 yds.) that is cold pressed 300 lb. I have had it for many years but don't use very often unless I am trying to save money. The paper itself creates problems, the biggest of which is that there are random invisible marks that only show up when paint is applied. Not fun. Additionally, it is like blotter paper. It soaks all the colors in too fast.

Sorry about that. I just needed to vent my frustration. I will work on it more tomorrow, or work on a different area.