Portrait in Progress

I just returned home the other day after taking my older son, seen here, to visit colleges. Its such an exciting time for him and for us. Unfortunately, I brought home a bad cold, too. Hoping to be feeling better very soon!

Since I usually work from life, painting from a photograph is a challenge for me. I'm going to consider this stage an underpainting and will spend today carefully mixing colors and thinking about my next moves! The size is 11 x 14, and what you don't see here is a little more of my younger son in the foreground on the left and a bit of the scene on the right. Technically, I'm nervous about how to proceed...is it better to use retouch varnish? "oil it out"? scumble paint on top of what I've done? I imagine I'll learn a lot by doing.

Wish me luck!