[Chris Saper]

Hi, John,

I think that the new vs old samples are worlds apart, and that your new piece is so much on the right track.

I should just mention that although I give examples in my book, every single individual needs to be considered as such, which I know you realize.

I think that the cold darks definitely need revision. (I think you might also revisit the cool darks in the nostrils, corners of the lips etc.) Recall that your resource photo is lying to you in many ways, but most of all in the shadow. Where there is skin facing skin, as in your model, there are warm tones bouncing back and forth. You need to decide how warm, how saturated, and how dark or light they need to be. Your values look close to what I would expect to see, so I think it is more a matter of hue and temperature.

In closing, I absolutely resist the idea of recipes. There is so much variation in skin color among different groups it's impossible to ever say, "This works for X". Even within similar local color of skin tones there are such powerful overriding factors (light, adjacent color, etc.),each painting needs to be considered in its own circumstances.

Best wishes,