Leighton's "Biodina" head study progress

Hectic Month

It's been such a busy month for me that I had a very little time to paint. I thought I'd post the work I've done as part of the WetCanvas Portrait Challenge. I've fallen in love with the reference so much that couldn't resist giving it a shot. It's an absolute masterpiece of old masters, in my opinion. Unfortunately I don't recall the artist's name. It's beautifally painted. The girl's face is so unique that I haven't seen anything like it. It turned to be quite a challenge for me! I believe it'd take masterful skill to create a perfect replica of this work, and I'm definitely not at that level yet. All in all, it's been an amazing learning experience.

The first image is the reference itself:

Below are 1) my attempt, 2) head study