Portrait Of My Good Old Friend

On Friday night the 13th of October right after I finished this painting I visited our good old jazz club in Zdar to see my friends that I hadn't seen for a bit (as you maybe know I've spent past two years in England working). It was a cheerful event full of music (It was a jam session night - after some consideration and some wine I resumed to play some old tunes too - it was awful I have to admit :-) ). But most importantly I met a friend that I haven't seen for a while - a great singer and fabulous conversation buddy Zuzana (she likes to talk about life and its meaning and I dig this topic a lot!) So I invited her to come over on Saturday to just talk about life whilst painting her. And She agreed!
It was my third oil portrait attempt in three back-to-back days, big challenge as well - soft light plus young flawless face without wrinkles is deadly combination.

In the first BW picture you can see the setting at the end of the session (3 hours) with her proportion slightly off (I blame her for getting me distracted because all of those interesting topics that we had been discussing :-)

Finished work at the end of the session with Zuzka in my vista

I got a break from the painting till the evening that day. I put my photo on BW to force myself to use colour just from my mixtures done on my palette and adjusted her proportion accordingly. So here's the final painting:

"Zuzka" (oil on board 11x14 inches)

Do you have any suggestion, tips etc how to stay alert and present while doing a life portrait and having a conversation with a subject at the same time? I find it very challenging!

But challenges are here to be overcome so everyone near Zdar who would have some free time is welcomed in my humble room to sit for me!

Sincerely Petr