You mentioned that you "usually hear about the neck," by which I'll assume that what you hear is that it seems long. I admit that it seems so to me as well, but I think it actually has to do with head size, as Daniel suggested. As I look back and forth between the painting and the black and white photograph, I get the impression that if the woman in the painting were to turn her head to face us directly, the head would be hardly wider than the neck. Yet in the photograph of the actual model, it's clearly wider.
Now that may be precisely the effect you intended, and I do not find it disturbing, only -- to apparently echo others' comments -- notable. It does lend an interesting -- and yes, "Sargent-y", look to the piece.
Just out of curiosity, I compared the head height to body length in the painting and in the photograph. The model herself appears to be no more than about 8 head heights tall, perhaps a bit less, but close to what is classically described as typical. (I'm not concerned here about "typical," though; I'm comparing the relative dimensions of the photo and the painting.) The woman in the painting is, in contrast, about 9-1/2, almost 10 head heights tall. It is, I think, that difference, using head size as the unit of measure, that has led you to "hear about the neck".
On the subject of length, the index finger on the model's right hand, resting on top of the belt, appears to be about an inch (or one joint) longer than the other fingers. I doubt that you painted it that way, so I suspect that I'm actually seeing a shadow shape, which might have been a touch lighter near the end of the finger, to better define the finger's length.
Extremely picky, I know, but you're obviously an extremely accomplished artist who undoubtedly values attention to detail (as is apparent from the beautiful works displayed on your website.)
Even with the limited palette, the color in the painting is very beautiful, rich and satisfying. The structure and marbling of the background are both interesting and compositionally effective. I wouldn't have objected if the lower part of the dress were lower in tone, though it is nonetheless a delicate and attractive part of the painting. I have to mention that as I thought about that, I held my hand up to cover the bright bottom half of the dress, and I not only liked the effect that it had of refocusing attention to the face -- it also had the effect of making the head not seem so small!!! Maybe those long long legs are the culprits.
Best continued success.
Steven
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