Finally, I got notice after eight days that things ARE progressing on my large commission. (mail took eight days to go 400 miles) BUT……”please darken the bottom areas. We have to remember this will be hung 11 – 12 feet off the floor and over a huge corridor entrance so it has to really carry from a distance.” I had already figured that might be the case so I’d been mulling it over in my mind. I’d also been doing some painting on the sides (12) of all the panels as I’ve gotten to really hate painting sides of gallery wrap lately. At least now all but the tops have some paint on them. Then this morning I turned them all upside down and placed them on the floor so I could get to the “bottom” a little easier to lay in a lot of darks, green dominating. (Lord, please remind me never to paint another dark valued canvas without putting down a mid-tone on it ever again!) I hate it when little white specks peek out of the darks.

Well……..mulling and doing are two different birds. I do now have a lot of greens and all that in the two left side panels but now I don’t like the relationship with the right side panel…….and I liked that whole panel the best earlier on and so did the design people. BUT, if I had to darken the other sides, I need to add a touch to the right side as well and maybe work a few of the colors from the right back into the left. Now you see where I’m going…….these relationships never end. That’s what painting is……relationships between the dark/light, intense/dull, busy/quiet………..change one place and you may have to change the whole thing. And, to top it off, acrylics don’t like you to work on small places, they want working all over to get it to blend back into the old work.

I figured this would happen. When everything goes so well in the beginning, you always end up with something to change and then “the uglies” begin. Of course, I should be happy with uglies since most of the time a painting has to go through that stage on the way to something worthwhile. Just no way around it….gotta work for my money.

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