Portrait of a friend

Today, I painted a portrait of my friend Lee. I tilted her head down a bit and brushed back the hair to reveal more of the left eye. I've never actually painted a "real" person before, so this is a real challenge. I started with a pencil sketch on a 5" x 7", 140 lb. coldpress watercolor paper. Using diluted acrylic paints, I was able to get a watercolor effect. Since I painted from a photo on my computer monitor, I had to keep turning to my left to look at the monitor, and turning back to the picture to paint it. That was a bit tough, particularly because I've been suffering from back and neck spasms lately. But in the end, I'm very pleased with the results, and I did it all in one day! Whew! This is my artistic interpretation of a dear friend, and I wanted to capture the sparkle in her eyes and a soft peaceful expression. I thought she looks like an angel in this portrait! Not too bad for a first "real person" portrait right?