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Will,
In both the first sketch and the more completed value study posted next, you have lopped the legs off the bottom of the drawings. In painting with this intricate background and double subject matter, I don't think you can get away with a vignetted foreground. In which case, the bottom of the painting needs to be specifically delineated, gentleman's leg accurately represented as to how it will drop off the bottom of the portrait.
I also kind of like the idea of the tree trunk to the right be in a dark value sweeping to the man's vest and pants, with the rest of the background being a middle value, just to see what that would look like.
But there needs to be a bottom on your portrait.
Peggy
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