Just A Saturday Painter

One of the videos I watched recently by a photorealist painter included a tutorial on portrait work, and in it he mentioned casually that what was on the 10-minute video had taken six hours in the painting studio. I can believe it; i struggled for a long time this morning on just the face and neck on this:

Tuesday, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

I'm going to put in some more time on this next one tonight; I'm trying to get serious about making the dark values stand out. In the past, every time I've painted them, they've looked great; then the paint dries and it looks flat. 

Waiting At Le Diplomate, © 2019, work in progress (click on image for larger view)