Robert's Shirt

When I decided to work on this series of three art patrons looking critically at the viewer (see my website for paintings of Eric and Tam), I didn't factor in the difficulty of painting one shade of grey over a large surface area. (The paintings are 36"w x48"h.) And that's what's kept me from finishing the painting of Robert— the darned shirt covers a large swath of the canvas, and using acrylic makes those careful blends and transitions on the clothing wrinkles just that much harder.

Robert, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
 (Glare from the overhead lighting on the face)

Also, I've been flummoxed all along as to why the value suddenly breaks down the middle. Today I realized why: in the reference photo, Robert's shirttail peeks out from underneath the overshirt on the left side, and I had chosen to edit that out. It's a regular shirt that buttons down the front, and that's what's creating that break. So— do I paint the shirttail back in, or do I smooth out the overshirt?