Anatomy of a painting

This is the first in a mother/son, madonna and child series. I started this painting on top of another painting that I did a year or so ago. I drew the figure and some background design references with charcoal. Then I began to bring in a base layer of colors into the face and arm.

Here is a close up view, with just a few brushstrokes further along in the process. A little mpre fleshy oil covering some of the preliminary acrylic wash.

Here you can see a layer of acrylic wash to build up the shirt area. Also about a layer more of paint in some sections of the forehead. Alot of the face is still the earliest coloring, but I had already gotten kinda thick with the paint there anyway.

Here I worked on the arms and maybe a few more brushstrokes in the face. The colors arent captured as brilliantly in this picture as the last because I took it in poorer light.