Portrait of Claire

The colours are not true to life in these photos and neither is the rough textured 

appearance. In short, the portrait is better than it appears here :)

This top view was taken after one two hour session. 

My easel was directly underneath a bright ceiling light

 and so I was shocked to view it at the end of the session in a dimmer light and saw, again, 

how dreary and dismal my colours were. 

I hate the brown/green background but the likeness is good.

This is after the second two hour session.

I have brightened up the skin tones, changed the foul background colour

and neatened up the features.

 It is so useful to see both versions together because I can clearly see that the relaxed facial pose of the first has been replaced by a tighter expression.

Is this because I "neatened up" the features and profile  ?

Does the highlighted upper eyelid alter the expression ?

Have I lost too many shadows (under the nose, for example) ?

I'll have to look at the painting again to see if these failings are as obvious 

as the photos show.