[Janel Maples]

Alan,

Thank you for taking the time to respond and for your suggestions. Some of the points you made were identical to the ones my husband (my toughest critic) pointed out.

The first thing he told me when seeing it was "The background kills the painting"
You can't see it in the photo, but when seeing it in person, she looks like she is sucked into the background and the background comes forward.

I hated it, but he was right.

It took me a bit to build enough courage to completely block out the background and the scarf with a neutral color so I could start over and she jumped to the front of the painting. I'm glad I did it. You (both) were right, the scarf was overpowering her face.

I'm in thinking mode right now.

Thanks again,

Janel