Marvin,
I appreciate your frank critique, and for taking the time to explain what doesn't work. Backgrounds, although a necessary evil, can be awfully frustrating for me. Keep sayin', I may actually listen to you one of these days
.
You read that Sargent took up to 80 sittings to complete portraits, and that he would frequently throw a work away and begin with a new approach. However considering the enormous volume of work he left behind, he must have been an absolute painting machine.
Amy,
Thanks for the comments. I'm going to take what you and Marvin wrote and fix the background a little and try and salvage the painting.
Cheers,
Holly