Yes, Peter, what you see there is a soft box. I don't normally use it to light models whom I intend to paint from life. I usually use natural light and/or full spectrum fluorescent bulbs for that. In this case I wanted a very warm light on her so I used the soft box with a 250w bulb rated at 3200k.

Michele, give it a try. I found it to be a most rewarding experience and I am sure it will work great for still life painting. It wasn't as challenging as I had envisioned -- it actually made the work easier. BTW, those brushes are not so much new as they are well cared for. I take good care of mee brushes.

Good Student
 

Wonderfully learned lessons. I especially like the detail of this figure.

Site size is far easier since you are not changing scales. Artists don't do it because it's harder. However it isn't always practical. When doing larger compositions the artist would do a sight size drawing form a distant vantage point without moving his (her) position. The drawing would be then scaled up using a grid system. This is why you see so many preparatory drawings with a graph overlying it.

In addition to make it easier to visualize the developing composition and drawing, I found it empowering to trust my visual memory with carrying the information from the vantage point to the canvas.

While it would take a good deal more experience than I possess to pull off a finished portrait entirely by this method, I intend to continue exploring it in various contexts.

I am currently working on a piece for which the reference material is entirely photographic. When I start painting, I will treat the photos as I would the model, placing them at a distance and reading the colors from afar.

Very perceptive observation, Del, and this is precisely the goal of so-called "memory exercises", which are almost unheard of outside intensive regimens -- though I believe they've been mentioned on the Forum ("Steven, please use the 'Search Engine' feature").

But all work from life or physical reference is memory work, to some extent. You have to look away from your subject even if for a second to draw or paint what you "remember having seen". It's not that different from deliberately memorizing lists or passages to help you memorize speeches or outlines.

This seems like a useful topic for a demo. I'll get "right on it". (Look for the demo in about some number of months or marriages.)