Some Progress on Fiona

Given the way my days have been going lately it's surprising that I'm making any progress at all on this painting.  I'll start the day with errands in the morning, convinced that I'll have the entire afternoon to paint.  But inevitably other things come up and I'm lucky to get started on Fiona by 3.  Nonetheless, I now have the second layer of NuPastel finished, so I'll be moving on to the Rembrandts and Giraults - the next softer pastels.

But first, I need to extend the background in the upper left corner and move the upper edge of the blanket on the left side so it better matches the right side.

The values look pretty good to me, but I think I need to still strengthen the darks somewhat.  It will be a challenge to have the left side of the painting interesting.  Shelley suggested I put a pillow behind Fiona's rump but I'm hesitant to do so - not exactly sure why.  If I did, what color would it be?  A print incorporating the peach and blue?  I don't have a model, but of course I could buy some fabric, tuck it around a pillow, and photograph it.  But I'm just not sold on the idea.  This is a problem I'll have to solve soon, though.  Perhaps more folds in the blanket would work.