Hidden Struggle step 1

This is the really ugly stage of the painting. LOL. I toned the whole painting first with a yellow ocher colour to give it a warm underpainting and lock in the pencil lines. Today I started painting the background and the first layers of colour in the eyes and mouth. The colours look a little strange because the yellow is still showing through the semi-transparent first washes on the eyes and mouth. There will be a gradual build up of colour as it progresses. The first thing I realized after getting back to oils after so long is that I need better brushes.