I really enjoyed painting this portrait, and found it wasn't as difficult as I expected.  I took Will's advice and watched the video all the way through, and that was helpful. My background didn't work out as well as I would like, but overall I am happy with it.  (When I uploaded the image it wouldn't display the entire photo. ) It is painted on Arches CP, using Winsor & Newton paints, all the colours Will mentioned.  I appreciated learning about skin tones using a limited palette!