Marina and Janel, thanks for your kind words!
Janel, I'm glad the strokes look fresh. I build the paint up in about 3 layers, not that I count them or anything, it just usually turns out that way. If I don't like a certain section (if it looks labored over or if the brushstrokes don't look the way I want them to be), I wipe it out and try again. Even if the paint is partially dry, wiping out with a paper towel smoothes it out and gets off any thicker strokes so it's easier to paint over without getting muddy.
I left a lot of the underpainting showing in the rosebush. I first used sap green (dark but transparent) mixed with burnt umber and burnt sienna. On top of that I added thicker paint only where I needed it. The figure of Nan was done in thicker, more opaque layers.
Actually I have done a few WIPs here that might show the stages you are referring to. They are:
http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?t=7475
http://forum.portraitartist,com/showthread.php?t=6922
http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?=6260
But you might have seen these already.
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