Months have passed and now that my exhibition is over, I can return to this oil painting. Occasionally I had a chance to depict more detail within middle stages.

There were some considerations that needed attention such as the painting’s dimension. It differed from that of the original drawing in pastel and charcoal that the client had admired. More elongated in shape (to fit into a specific wall space) the effect of transferring the exact image meant that the composition looked too evenly layered.

Part of the image is incomplete as textures required more layering of tone and colour. While an oil painting will never look like a drawing, I have tried to keep a crisp line played off against opaque and transparent passages of paint. Below is a print of original drawing.

Gradually coming together but trying to resist urge to get too detailed and busy.