Final Version of Skylar
 

What with working full-time and then getting sick a lot this fall and winter, it

Head-and-Shoulders Shot

Here's the close-up, as best I could get it.

Hi, Julie,

On a quick fly-by, I'd say this is looking quite good but in order to get an assessment of the values you're going to need to give this a spray of retouch varnish. The darks (especially in the hair, where you've probably used earth colors) have "sunken in", or become matte or dull, and the retouch varnish will restore those. That's temporary, and eventually only a final varnish will hold those values for you. Wait a while, though, before doing a final, otherwise you risk a cracked varnish surface because the paint will dry more slowly than the varnish. How long to wait is open to lots of debate. If you painted very thin, a short time (days or weeks); very thickly, much longer (months).

Re: retouch varnish
 

Hi Steven -

I have a bottle of retouch varnish and hand sprayer - one of those old metal tubes that you put one end in the bottle and blow on the other end and it sprays.
My darks are very thin and have been dry for quite a while. My thicker lighter areas are still wet. If I just spray on the darker areas, will that be okay, do you think?

Yes, that would at least help. I'd drop by the art store and get a spray can of retouch varnish, though, so you can quickly hit the entire painting, which in turn is going to help make the values assessment more accurate.

I have one of those aspirators you mentioned but I've never actually used it. (Just seemed like a good idea, or neat gadget, at the time, I guess.)

The "thick-or-thin paint" caution doesn't apply to retouch (as opposed to final) varnish. Retouch is a diluted varnish that isn't going to form the hard, "crackable" film of the final. It's ideal for bringing up pigments that have sunken in. (Some folks also use it as a compromise "final" if the painting has to be delivered before the paint has dried sufficiently to take straight varnish.)

By the way, in cleaning up this thread earlier, I think I inadvertently deleted the photo image that you had in fact intended to post. Oops. You might wish to re-post that.

More to come
 

Thanks -

I'll get a can. The next shots will probably be done with a regular camera for better detail. I have to shoot using daylight, so it may take a few days until the weather is better before I can update.

A better photo
 

Okay, here it is after retouch varnish and using print film. It's pretty close to the original in value now.

closeup
 

Here is a closeup - better for the light areas than the dark. The first (digital) photos give a better idea of the colors in the dress, even if it is too dark overall - these new photos tend to not show any of that color.

Closeup
 

Well, I wanted to put in the reference photo anyway. Here is the painting's closeup.

Again
 

Here's the painting taken with print film. I added retouch varnish, but by the time I added some details and took the picture, a patch to the left of the hair started going flat again).