In all of the other paintings that I have put on here I dont think I have ever put a photo on of the very start of a portrait. I probably shouldn't have put this one on either but "what the hell, go for it". I sketch in paint, this is just using raw umber really thinned down and marking out where there is shadow. Sometimes I do it the other way and wash raw umber all over the canvas then mark out the sketch with white. From this sketch I can stand back and see whether I have the nose, mouth and eyes in the right place. At the moment the nose looks too small but once I start adding the white paint that should be ok. I have started to enlarge the eyes a bit too and, I think I will make them even bigger. Hopefully the face will be recogniseable in the end.