Sorry for the delay - spent easter weekend away....

i got through most of the face today. the skin tones are still a little uneven, and i plan to smooth it all out once i finish up. the face is still rounder than i'd like but i also will clean up the edges to around where i want it to be when i paint in the background (because its all generally the same color, it should be easy to cover up). Also, i slightly painted in where the beard will start. i can see in the original the small streaks of dark red and brown that separate different locks of hair. this will be really important to get right. the same technique is used for the top of his shirt. i'm going to focus a lot on the shape and curve of those details and within the next week will hopefully have everything done down to the top of his shirt and shoulders...his jacket might be more difficult and is a very separate project for me.