I began the day by redesigning a sewing pattern so I can make the blouse I want. Since I had no pattern, I had to search through about four drawers full of patterns that I have collected since I was a teen. The very last pattern I looked at was the only one that I could possibly adapt. Let’s hope it works! Then I worked on my mother and child. The baby’s dress is eyelet so the work is extremely detailed. Also, white is not so easy as it looks. then, since I was working with white already, I started on the brights for my great grandchild’s portrait. If you are following this blog to learn this indirect method of portrait painting, you will know that after I transfer the drawing, I use the same dark paint to soften the shadows and refine the transfer. I allow that to dry and then I paint the brights. These are not called highlights. I put highlights on at the end. This is almost like sculpting a statue. Using your best soft and fine brushes, apply the titanium or a mixture of titanium and flake white with care and finesse. Study your photo reference or your model and follow the flow of the light. Where it is soft, be sure to keep the paint thin. Where the light is strong, paint this in a more solid but not heavy manner. I always keep my beginning layers minimal if possible. For example, I do not recommend trying to paint the over all hair with solid colors. I only place a few strands of the dark hairs in order to establish the pattern. Each layer can take on a few more applications. In this way, your hair will turn out looking much more natural. So, with the brights, think of this as painting the brightest rays of sunshine first. We can refine this and then cover it with a halfpaste that I refer to as skin. We can also apply the halfpaste directly after this application of brights, (be sure to let it dry well first). Then we can continue to refine the brights to improve the accuracy and likeness. After this dries I will modify and refine all the features and shadows, being careful to keep the value light. We will intensify the depth of value and hue as we get into the painting further. I do hope you read the blogs carefully but if you are very observant, you can learn a lot just by looking. That is how I learned and the work I was able to see was finished. It was not presented as progressive work in progress. Enjoy and learn. Adapt what I show you with your tolerance and ideas. Enjoy, Shalom. Diana