Tito,

Yes, this is sound as it is. But I think you should go for the glazing experiment. Better to learn on a good foundation than a shaky one.

Whenever I feel that I might go backward by going forward, I remind myself, "This is just a piece of canvas." Little to lose, much to gain.

Best wishes, whichever way you go.

Thank you all for your comments.

For the most part I used several sittings with the model in front of me under a strong artificial "daylight" reflector. I did take some reference photographs, but they came out with the orbits of the eyes completely black and did not help me to do the eyes. First of all, I had decided that the eyes were the important feature in this particular person and tried to do them well.

Regarding his hair, this man had had brain surgery a year ago and he combs his hair forward to cover up his surgical scar. He likes this painting as is and he calls it the "General Robert Lee's portrait".

This is an experiment to me and by using glazes of color I might lose the painting but like Chris says, "what the heck, it's only a piece of canvas". I understand now why in the old days of the atelier system, the Master would not allow his students to use color until they could manage monochromatic paintings. Achieving correct values by using color has been always very difficult to me.

Bravo!

Not afraid to lose something you know you can do, and you are prepared to take the next step in painting. Good Luck!

Post the pictures, even if you fail. An interesting failure may be a good thing to study for your future projects.

Peter

Photos
 

Tito, I'd make sure to get a good photograph of this and then continue with your glazes. This is too good to lose forever.

Jean

I'm not afraid to lose my grisaille as long as I have access to the model, because I can paint him again if I have to. I promise to display the end result of my experiment, good or bad, so that we all can learn something. I will start applying color this weekend.