I started this piece right before Christmas, knowing I would get to paint a couple times, and then leave it for a week or so.  

(These are from my phone.) First pass, overlapping the forms with the background.   I know I want to have a greyed dark showing through in the background, but not sure how I'll approach that yet. 

Wanting to try out the colors next to each other, bringing some light into the background.  Some questions: Will her hair against the doggy fur fade into the background? How do I keep that from happening? 

I like the strong diagonal lights. Keep them loose.  Stating the doggy face helps me to keep that area in mind as a focal point. 

Conscious of leading the viewer's attention to the shared look of dog with child - and using the space in an interesting way - to strengthen that point. I removed some of the highlights under the leg. Deciding what to detail, what to keep loose. 

This is where it stops for a while. I repositioned the right arm,  detailed the shoulder and hair to pull attention there.  I'll live with it for a while.