Since I was taking photos for a sick friend I never took one from My view point thinking I had taken enough. But I painted sitting down and took the photos standing up. Argh. Makes a difference. 
Chelsea yesterday evening
Today I have been trying to clean up Chelsea problem areas.
I have lightened her chin and around her mouth a considerable amount. Trying to remove all the greyish areas.
I also worked on her eyes lightening the whites and on her nose and lips. Wiped out a blob of color on her right cheek.
Added pink to her lips to her cheeks nose chin and ear. All places where the blood flows near the skin giving a pink tint.
I am fairly sure she developed a frown by the end because she was justifiably tired after two and half hours of posing. The mouth was the last thing I painted. Thus the frowny mouth.
I took a wet Kleenex and just wet it and dabbed at it to lift color from chin and lip areas. And those ugly dark commas on either side of her mouth. Trying NOT to age her.
About half way thru this I realized I could flip the photo I took to give me a guide to mouth placement and to her eyes. 
So I uploaded this photo to photoshop express on my iPad. I poked around on it til I found the flip horizontal button. Presto at least she was almost facing the right way even though the shadows were off. The horizontal flip button is in the crop button menu.
Margaret thinking nap time. Getting to be a theme.
15×22″ Spent two and a half hours chasing Chelsea as she would turn from full frontal to the right. As soon as she relaxed a little she would loose the pose because she was twisted in her seat.
First break. NO pencil. 😵😵😵Rough block in on Co fluid watercolor paper. 140#. The paper is really a bargain for great paper. Six full sheets for $24 on amazon. Always dries just about flat no matter how soppy wet I get it. 
Second break not making a lot of progress. Adding more darks and the blouse. Lack of progress I think that was due to the continually rotating head. No excuse for that left eye. But an easy fix on this hp. Most hot press would not let you move it at all. One shot and you are done. 
Last break. That left eye shoot me. But I brought it around. Add more darks to the hair which was ultramarine and burnt umber or van dyke brown. Also I didn’t want to get the shadows dark since that would age her. She has quite a very young face. Deep shadows age people in portraits especially babies. 
Snuff jars from the museum. Hmm I wonder if they sell them on eBay. One could hope. Like rows of tiny gems. Two inches tall at most.
Jake. All are half sheet on 300 lb watercolor paper. Jake is on Cold Press Fabriano the others rough Fabriano.
Before I darkened the sky to make St Maclou pop. I also added a red orange mix – cad red light and cad yellow light – to the church door to demand your attention. Aka focus your eye. 
Still needs a lot of work on the left building but thinking right buildings may be done. 
Adding the people. I used Cheap Joes Andrews Turquiose and cad red which are opaque colors to make the jackets stand out all of which I dry brushed on taking advantage of the opaque color. 
adding details and detail washes on buildings. 
detailing buildings 
Dumped my photo into waterlogue to see if it would have a clue or two on how to paint. Love the red building but it would detract from my focus the church. 
Have always thought this could make a great painting. Rouen Cathedral in waterlogue. A free ap that turns your photos into watercolors. Sometimes doing s great job sometimes NOT. 
The sketch which took forever. Drawing on rough paper is NOT easy. especially when you want alot of straight lines.
Another artist painted St Maclou back in the 1890s. He turned the square in front into a fairytale story book like setting.
When we went to France we went to The Normandy Invasion Sites. Aka Operation Overlord aka D Day.
The Canadian DDay Museum a fascinating place that looks like a maple leaf from above. It’s made with aluminum sheathing that glows in the light. 
Ranville. The first city the Allies freed in Normandy also a site of another allied cemetery. The church is still pockmarked with canon shell holes. 
Pegasus Bridge Museum where the British paratroopers landed BEFORE the D Day invasion. Out of the 600 that parachuted in only 165 survived the nights shooting.
Memorial at the American cemetery at Omaha Beach. 
Margaret McCarthy Hunt Art 