The halo is down and things are looking much more complete…especially with no more blank spots. the figure is so dramatically lit that I decided the halo didn’t need to be another light source, hence the subtle black one.

There’s some huge inconsistencies in the sheen of the background, which is typical of oil paint when mixed with varying amounts of turp and medium. blacks can take on a smokey look as they dry and sometimes look much more matte than intended. this can all be fixed with a varnish, which will create a uniform sheen to the whole piece, and make those darks much darker. of course, the problem with that being that even a retouching varnish can’t go on until the painting drys for at least a month. regular varnish needs at least 6, so there’s a certain amount of flying blind involved unless you want to just coat things in liquin.

next comes a few days of glazing, detail work, and touch-ups. home stretch.