Portrait of my niece update!

I spent the day painting part of the background.  This is a much loved background, so I'm trying to capture it accurately.  As a family we had many a sausage sizzle at Loch Striven.  Who could forget the rope swing and finding crabs under rocks on the beach.  I got my Bouguereau book out to prep for this.  Sometimes it is easier to look at what other artists did than read about how to do it.  When you do a lot of paint studies and know your paint inside and out you can deduce what they used to get effects.  I haven't added any color to my niece yet, she is still just raw umber.  I am really having fun, the canvas is a bit thicker than I normally use, so I'm painting the edges too.