Bouguereau study

[conundrum]

i posted this in my sketchbook but i thought id post it here as well seing as i dont get much traffic.

this is a study of an unfinished Bouguereau i'm working on (oils about 15/18"), mainly for practising different types of skin tones. Right now it is miles off the original and will take significant work but i think that its certainly helped me improve a lot. any suggestions on the skin tones painting style would be helpful (bearing in mind this is only my third painting).

the original http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/databa...e.asp?id=14259



it may look a little odd because i scanned it in sections then patched it back together

[Rich Pellegrino]

So far the anatomy is working. The only problem I can see is the nose. It should be shorter and pointing slightly upwards. I assume your doing an underpainting? From what i can tell the artist was blocking in his darks with umber washes, and then putting down his mixed colors. It seems like he is layering very thin fluid paint so you can see the borwn ground underneath, giving the skin a grennish tone. I can't see an underpainting that utilizes both brown and white in the original. I'll be nack to see the progress.