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Joan,
Her skin is not too dark, the rest of the portrait is too light. If you are painting alla prima, it is important to establish the darks, middle, and light values from the beginning. You are sneaking up on the darker values. The eyes are not at their full value range, even the hair (in the shadow) is starting off too light, and you haven't established the value of the background. The nostrils need to go darker, the inside of the mouth needs to go darker. I'm seeing a hint of a shadow on the (our) right side, this would need to go darker. The value of the face seems about right, and then you could hit the tip of the nose and the forehead with a catch light.
If you start off by establishing you lightest lights and your darkest darks, you see the range you have to complete the portrait. This is why it is not only okay, but necessary to hit the white highlight in the eyes, and the darkest part of the hair or eyes at the beginning stages of a painting to see where you can go with the rest of the value ranges.
Peggy
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