The Night Prelude, Part 4

I get distracted easily. I've also got a lot on my plate right now that keeps me from painting as much as I'd like. And the sad and unfortunate events of this week did not help to keep me focused. So progress is a little slow right now. But, progress has indeed been made. Here's where we're at:

What's different from the last update?

Well, I tightened up the hands and made another pass on the dress. While I wanted to begin indicating the designs on it, I didn't get very deep into that task. I also did some preliminary work on the belt.

But, after reaching this point I realized that I didn't like where the belt was going and I was unhappy with the hand position of her left (our right) hand. Initially, the idea behind the belt was that it was made of metal. However, once I painted it accordingly and made it consistent with the lighting, it became immediately clear that the necessary highlights and reflections were distracting at best. So, I began to rethink the belt design a bit.

As far as the hand goes, I felt it to be lacking in character. It just kind of sat there without saying anything. So, I decided to open the finger positioning up a bit. Not sure if it says more now, but it's at least more interesting to look at.

With the added designs, the new hand position, and the blocked-in whip, here's where I was left:

The designs on the dress are a little difficult to see, but believe me when I say that they're there. Also there are some trees added to the background at right.

Despite the extreme amounts of glare and the fact that it was not shot head-on, I included this last image because it shows the designs a bit clearer, and because I figured that there'd be at least one person reading this who'd dig seeing some paint texture, which is definitely present herein.

So what now? Well, the plan is to just start finishing things. I need to do a final pass on the belt and finish the whip. I need to finish the background and start painting the grass and brush at her feet. Lastly, I want to augment the glow of the well-lit face, and perhaps glaze the figure back as it gets closer to the ground. But we'll see.

For now, I'm going to get to it and attempt to ignore everything else.