New Portrait from Life - Olga

My current portrait is a formal pose of a beautiful woman named Olga. She carries herself with grace and regality. She is wearing a silk blouse of an elusive color - I guess I could describe it as "mauve" - and for this particular portrait, I am including one of her hands in the painting.

My block-in took a good portion of the first hour this morning. I am using a 16" x 20" hand-primed linen canvas, toned with burnt sienna and ultramarine.

Once I was happy with her placement on the canvas, I started refining my drawing - I toned down the hair, laid in folds of the blouse, and smoothed out some of her features, keeping my colors and values subtle, since the canvas sucks up most of the paint's luster on the first few layers anyway. Here she is so far:

New Portrait from Life - Olga