Hi All,
I decided to put my painting, Walk Softly against the wall for a while and come back to it with a fresh eye. When I look at something for too long, my perception becomes stale and the problems with the painting are tough to see. Even if the problem is a glaring one, you can miss it. Taking a break allows me to see things much more clearly.
    
When I put the painting back on the easel, I knew what I had to address. The painting was too warm all over, even the greens. There was no difference between the temps in the clearing he was standing in, and the trees behind him. Also, the coloring made the painting too ominous. The subject matter of this weapon is adult enough without playing it up in the colors.

Here is the version before I made any changes



Here it is after I painted in the changes...

...as you can see, the changes are pretty significant. I made the colors more true to life and believable. I also repainted the blades on the warclub. They had grown pretty big as I had painted on them and were out of scale with the weapon. The other thing I was unhappy with was how I had applied the paint. It's now much more painterly and exciting to look at. Now I can say it's finished. It's a perfect example of not rushing a painting out of the studio. If there is ever anything that doesn't please you in your work, give it time to rest and come back to it with a fresh eye. Richard Schmid says to never leave anything on your canvas that you know is wrong. Sage advice to be sure. I would add to that, to make sure to give yourself a little time to live with a painting to find out what those things may be. Sometimes they may not be so obvious at first. Give yourself time to regain your perspective and objectivity and you will be much happier in the long run.

Here is the link to my blog where you can see a much larger version of this image when you click on it:
www.steveatkinsonstudio.blogspot.com


Happy Painting, Steve