Peggy,
Thank you for your helpful information and for taking the time to critique. I hope to be able to work on the painting this week sometime, and I will post the update. The photo (I finally bought a camera) has been helpful to me as it made the value and transition areas more prevalent. I so appreciate and value your compliment on the painting.
You are so right about the difference between manipulating and controlling the paint in the two paintings. I couldn't put my finger on the difference. My stress level was way up while working on the plaid shirt and several other parts of My Favorite Human, but I learned so much and I am glad I had the struggle. That's why I like oil paint, it's the first medium that constantly challenges me and it keeps me from getting bored.
Sharon, thank you also for your reply and your concern. I learned about the PVA size from Gamblin's website, and I called them to ask about painting directly on the linen before I ever tried it. I was told that Robert Gamblin has developed this product for himself personally and that this is the surface that he also uses.
PVA (neutral PH Poly Vinyl Acetate) size is not the same as the old size that Mayer would be talking about. I was told that there is no problem whatsoever with painting on the linen as I have done. Here is the page on PVA from the Gamblin website:
http://www.gamblincolors.com/materials/sag.html. Quoting from the back of the bottle that I have: "PVA size will not tighten the canvas like rabbit skin glue does. If you prefer the color of the raw canvas, paint directly on the size without using a ground."
I am trusting that Gamblin knows what he is talking about.
Gina