Well done Valentino! I like the radiant warmth in the darks. Your palette is interesting, and you are introducing me to a couple of new color names. Is the Cyprus Orange a type of half-burnt ochre? I see Williamsburg makes it. Also I am unfamiliar with Transparent Pink Gray. It sounds interesting.

Garth

Yes, Cyprus Orange is kind of half-burnt ochre, but a bit darker than Old Holland's. Transparent Pink Gray produces only Doak (to my knowledge), and it is very useful when it comes to lowering the chroma of red family of colors while at the same time cooling them down (unlike the burnt umber, which keeps the color temperature).
It is also great gray in its own right.

Valentino--

Very powerful! The close-value modeling within the shadow is just enough...very hard to paint detail in the shadows and still maintain the integrity of the overall shadow shape without over modeling. It's very sophisticated and restrained.

Great portrait!

I keep coming back to look at this -- unique and beautifully done! The starkness of that pale blue sky and the face in shadow conveys a strong sense of being at the beach -- or at least somewhere outdoors and open. Really nice.