Pandanggo Sa Ilaw - Color Composition

This rather cavalier batch of characters hired a group portrait of their voluntary militia company by one Rembrandt van Rijn, who agreed to the portrait commission only to toss it in the back seat of his genius and four wheeling its subjects over the jostling hills of great mastery, before stranding this company forever within this brilliant painting.

Others have discussed this painting amply. I want to point Rembrandt's visual device of juxtaposing light and dark areas upon the canvas to great theatrical effect. 

 The primary light-dark juxtaposition is in the form of the woman passed in front of by a shadowed figure, making the light falling upon her seem more brilliant.

 A second example of this light-dark device can be seen in the lightly dressed male in the center of the painting, whose spear's dark, decorative head contrasts dramatically with his lighted clothing.

In another painting, Rembrandt uses light-dark juxtaposition to depict candle light compellingly. Interestingly, the light source, a candle flame, is hidden behind the man's hand.

Now brace yourself for the letdown of leaving Rembrandt's work and considering my own art. 

Take some time to lower your exceptions, warm your lips up for pursing, sharp intakes of breath and tut-tuttings. Go ahead, I'll wait. 

Ready? Okay, here' the 7.5 x 10 inch composition that I shared previously. 

My comparatively feeble attempts at light-dark juxtaposition rely upon the two nearest figures facing away from us.
With the final 36 x 48 inch canvas on the easel in front of me, I considered the figures in the foreground much too large for a larger composition and digitally reduced their relative size.
I made other minor tweeks, including bringing the musicians (upper right) slightly closer.

I tweeked minor items a bit more...

 ...before considering dress colors, rudimentary depiction of dress details and adjusting overall light-dark values.

Keep in mind this will only be an overall guide to the final painting. I will be working out the painting's details, from smoothness of faces, to hand anatomy small adjustments in poses, on the canvas.  

So are we ready to take the leap onto canvas, where changes can still be made to clothing and their colors, patterns and folds, to hand gestures, to faces? 

But by moving onto a canvas, we forego significant changes to figure's positions and major changes to the composition. 

I've thoughtfully worked out the figures so that they neither crowd but still suggest relationships with one another. And the dancers don't overlap oddly; no arm of a farther figure comes out of a closer figure's face like an elephant's trunk, for example.

Here are candles roughly added to some of the heads. I am uncertain whether the addition of candles upon the head improve the composition. 

Maybe a candle on the head of on one or two dancers only?

Let me know.