Portrait Study #22

"Portrait Study #22", 14 x 11 In, Oil on Museum Board

I generally spend not more that 1.5 to 2 hours on a portrait study. By the next morning, some of the paint is dry and I like working wet-in-wet, so at the end of the day, I have to call it finished. Sometimes in the morning it's wet enough to completely scrape and start over and I have done that more than once! Other times I try to "fix" whatever is bothering me about the painting. But that is often what takes the life out of it--a tiny fix can change the entire painting, for better or for worse.