The girls, a portrait commission

I received an email to my Etsy shop recently with a request to do four portraits for a girl and her three friends. She wants to give the portraits as gifts for Christmas and commissioned me to create images similar to my Lovely Mysticals series. This is a very exciting project because I've been wanting to do some portrait work and wasn't sure how to get started. My style is not necessarily painting a realistic likeness, but more about capturing a personality. And this is a process I've been working at off and on for the last year or so.

I just submitted the sketches to the buyer, and awaiting feedback. She provided "bios" and several photographs of each girl for reference. The first round is below, and anticipate revisions to "nail it" for her, but I'm very happy with the results so far and hope she likes them too!