Stockbridge 6 - stages 1 and 2

This is the next in a series of portraits first painted in the late 1990's (after a gap of 15 years!) of Sarah Stockbridge, the model and muse of the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. The first 5 were painted in acrylics, gold and bronze powders but of course I have changed media a number of times since then. For this one, again on canvas, I want the figure set against an intensely coloured, subtly textured background, the lightest area being the shoulder although I don't want the figure too bright against the background as I am after quite a moody painting. It was first "drawn" up in Ultramarine Violet and then I blocked in the background in a mix of Venetian Red, Dioxazine Purple, Liquin and turpentine with a rag, spattering it with turpentine and wiping off afterwards for some texture. I then blocked in the darks with a mix of Dioxazine Purple and Permanent Sap Green and painted the skin with a thinned Ultramarine Violet, all with Liquin.