It's a bright sunny day today. After an initial walk this morning to the farm shop (hoping they have some Christmas Cake left) I intend to spend part of the day completing my portrait painting. It has got to the point where I am keen to begin another painting. Below is a scanned image of work up to date. I need to finish painting the top, putting in some ribbed detail and work a little more on the background, although I don't want to over work the background. My only disappointment so far is that although the face shape and detail is accurate the overall skin complexion is too dark. The subject had a nice tan, with quite brown bits and very white parts where the light reflected - I don't seem to have captured that well at all. The other problem is that there is a quite a smile about her face which I haven't captured. I have managed the creases around the eyes but not around the mouth and am at risk of overworking the mouth.