WIP. Double Portrait. Day at the Races.

I'm working from a photo. I think it is always a bit of a difficult start when working on more than one portrait together. I kind of muddle my way through constantly looking and adjusting shapes as I proceed. Half way stage it's always ugly and messy and you do think to yourself, will I reach the end with a reasonable likeness and a reminder of the day for the person you are painting it for. I do have confidence in my ability that most of the time I will be able to achieve this goal. A view I didn't hold for a very long time. When it's at the ugly and messy stage you should never be put off as it's about finding your way through. This is done by continually observing and adjusting whether it's from a photo or life. I do use different methods of work depending on what i'm working on. Here, I thought I would show some stages even the ugly stages as I am just about at the half way point. Here is the photo I am working from. I loosely draw freehand to start getting something on the canvas. I'm not looking for any likeness at this point. I'm just thinking about getting the shapes and looking at some scale. So I'm looking at it here and my thoughts are, the proportions are out. The next picture you see below are the adjustments I've made to both arms. I've made the longer and the look more in proportion to the heads and bodies. I stained the canvas and began to mix a palette. Here, I am looking to start building some structure in the faces, again, I'm not so worried about a likeness at this point. I'm also working on both faces simultaneously. The formation of the knee needed some adjustments and I think I adjust the position once again further into the painting.  Getting some colour down. Darks and mid tones on the skin. Still all in the rough. Background has been painted. The couple are standing on a balcony but to put the balcony in the painting was complex and it would have added nothing so I retained some elements of the original background and left others out. This Is my half way point. Areas to work on. Portraits need finishing the lights and blending of areas need attention. Hair colour and detail. Hands need to be formed. Garments need completing. The background needs another coat of paint. The clouds and trees need some work. I also need to paint a shoe. I'm happy with the likeness and feel by the time I finish, this will improve. Again, I will keep observing and adjusting until finished.