Chris, thank you so much for taking time out to give me a good critique! I agree with everything you observed about both weekend paintings. And yes, I knew the source photo of my baby wasn't very good
I don't know why I picked it - it was late and I was anxious to paint something right then and there.
There are a lot of issues with my mother's portrait. It is weird, but to me it looks like I painted it from a photograph. I believe I was in a hurry and missed some critical shadows, as you pointed out under the chin and in the scarf. Yes, she was actually wearing the scarf, but I failed to make it look like it fits in the picture. I will go back and re-work those.
Thanks so much.
Mara