[Chris Saper]

Dear Julia,

It is a pleasure to see this lovely portrait, and it is at a strong stage of finish (at least the way I would finish it) so that the comments I have are very subtle ones.

First, I like the dominant reds. I think you have been very successful in introducing just enough cools to offer temperature relief, without disrupting the harmony.

I can't comment on the likeness, not knowing the subject, but the drawing looks solid. The amount of red in the cheek on our right makes the trun very gradual, so you will need to judge whether this is correct based on your knowledge of the subject, or whether you want to extend the cool in the shadow to ourright to sharpen the turn. I can see that the actual turn of this cheek has the strongest and warmest color, based on the sunlight source, which is right to do.

With regard to the ear, I agree with Michele, check the shape and whether you wish to leave the silhouette edge with this degree of sharpness.

I like the background. It stays in the back, provides a sense of setting without being too literal, and produces a sense of movement in what might otherwise be a somewhat static pose.

The only area I might suggest that you revisit is the shadow tangent that is happening where the background dark meets the hairline silhouette on our upper left.

I have those same little "What color is this?' marks on the corners of all my pastels, too. From these I anticipate where you will end up placing your mat, so once the mat is cut and temporarily placed, be sure to go back in to see that the red leaves don't form a pointing tangent at the edge of the picture. One last thing, place the mat before you place your signature.

Very nice job!