This slide show will show the progression of the painting up to date. There has been negligible additions since the last post.
On a personal note, the accompanying soundtrack is a sound bit of my son playing the Beethoven concerto at a concert in Melbourne in 2015.

With the zip completed and some highlights added to the hair, the portrait is almost complete.
I am considering adding a little more tone to the pillow and more intensity to the shadow across the face but have not made a final decision on this yet. I may wait a couple of days before finally deciding, as I think that living with the painting for a short while and looking at it away from a painting session will give me a more objective view.

Though it is not very clear in this shop, I have added the second press stud on the extreme edge and started to form the shape of the zip elements. I also changed the tone of the book cover slightly to give it a more even coverage of paint tone.
The real sunlight is casting a ray of light across the bottom left of the painting which 'washes out' the tone of the paint on the edge of the canvas, but that is the nature of my studio in the mornings.

I have suspended work on the face for the moment and have begun to work on the details on the hardware of the jacket. One of the press studs completed and a start on the zip. There is a disproportionate amount of time needed to be spent on these details, which don't make a dramatic difference to the work, but it is these types of detail that I find take my attention and give me pleasure when looking at any painting.

I have altered the upper profile of the face considerably to better resemble the subject. I have been unhappy with that aspect for some time and decided to 'bite the bullet'.
I used a quick drying white under-paint, tinted with a little colour, on the face edges and in the stronger colour of the background. It has the effect of making a 'hard edge' which makes him look almost superimposed, but this will be negated once it is dry and I make minor adjustments by adding better shadowed flesh tones over the top. The left photo is from yesterdays post and the right photo the adjusted one. Naturally very minor adjustments to this will occur as I continue to work on the details.

I have continued working on the jacket texture and shadowing. It will need at least another two sessions and then maybe a few touch-ups at the finish.
I changed the edge outline of the bright white pages to the left and darkened toe separate cover page to the right. I may still darken the cover itself so that the sunlit part of the face will have more 'pop' as many people seem to describe a larger contrast between areas.
I am not happy with the top face profile, which is not correct for the subject of the work but will give it more thought before i make the alterations.
Because of the light in the room, the background in the top left of the painting appears brownish but it is, in fact, black.

The jacket texture progresses. Whilst it is representational, it is not acute photorealism. There is an element of impressionism in the texture, but having said that, the direction of the texture has to look possible or real according to folds in the fabric and the shadows created.
The pattern of the weave is quite definite in most areas, but there are some areas where it is not very distinct.
Some more highlights and filaments of wool have been added to the collar.