Painting the figure

It has been 4 years since I have attempted to paint the figure.  I can't believe I let this happen, but there is no time to dwell on that, it's time to paint.  

A little over a month ago I met Amy Rims:  a talented oil painter who can create an accurate portrait in like, 5 minutes, with thick layered globs of paint ("likes this").  Amy posted an ad on Craigslist for fellow artists proposing to meet once or twice a week in her basement with a live model.  I couldn't have found her at a better time since I really miss the energy that is cultivated when working around others, and aside from my usual abstractions of nature I love working with live models and need the practice.  I used to primarily render the figure in charcoal - never paint - so each week I have been working in water color, acrylic, or oils.  I'm not trying to think about it too much because I don't want to lose the whimsical nature of my painting style, but I am hoping to gain likeness through brevity and power in each brushstroke.  Here are a couple of my favs:

Lisa & Othello
This was my first attempt at painting the figure on canvas since like 1992.

Lisa
I painted this with Renoir's babes on the brain; I had gone to the Philadelphia Museum earlier that day to view Late Renoir.  I was identifying with him very much that day, even if he is the Thomas Kinkade of figurative painting.  Call me Tom, I won't be too insulted. : P

A quickie of Lisa

A quickie of Shivanni
She was delightful.