There will be many layers after this but try to realize that with the grisaille and now this first layer of flesh we have set a pattern. The pattern will guide us and we must learn to see in our mind’s vision, how we want the skin to look. As we paint more subjects like this, our approach will become more natural. We will know what colors and techniques we need to accomplish a certain look. My students take notes and sometimes feel a little uncomfortable about that but I tell them that when I was first teaching myself, I also took notes. I might do a certain thing that I hadn’t done before. If it looked good, I wanted to remember so I made a note and kept those together so I could find them. Even an artist who is greatly gifted must learn and so each experience with a portrait is a learning experience. It is very true that the best way to learn is by painting, a lot! Diana