One example
 

Here are a couple of shots showing the way I painted this 48" x 36" oil portrait.

Finished whole
 

This is Dawn finished.

The light on my subject was complex and very colorful, the wall between them isolated the painting from the subject, the light on the subject was true light - mixed lights 5,000k bulbs plus 4 - 4' fluer bulbs so it would appear coreect when viewed normally.

Detail showing color
 

This shows the color in detail.

Tim:

One very important thing about painting from life is the size of the studio. Clearly, you had some room to place your model on a stand, light her, and still get far enough back so you could see and paint the full figure.

Can you talk a little about studio size and what sizes you feel are optimal for painting from life?

Also, was the bird alive or just stuffed?

And,

How long did you do your painting sessions?

Good questions
 

That studio was quite large. I built the wall you see which allowed me to view both the subject and the painting side by side from 18'...I put my junky stuff behind the wall (props etc.)

The bird idea evolved as I realized that by virtue of the internet I could find about any kind of bird (stuffed) that I wanted. I began to research and found a really well regarded company that sold some very exotic birds; this is a Lady Amhearst Pheasant.