Adding More Medium

An artist friend said to me lately that although the skin on my sitters has an inner glow, the rest often appears a bit flat, and I believe it’s because I don’t add much medium in the background. For this commission, I’m adding more medium and thinning out the paint in the wood, fabrics, etc. I’m also painting it in a looser style, although the face is still very tight, so I hope that they don’t seem contradictory in the end.