Some paintings are easy to keep working on, while others seem like pulling teeth. If I am enamored of my first efforts, I often find it hard to change the basic image. That's what happened with this red, white and yellow painting. I liked my "first draft" too much:
I did the original painting mostly with a palette knife, except for the bright yellow background. This time I used a brush, but began painting with the same colors: pyrole red, alizarin crimson, white and parchment. I added more of the yellow background as well.
I made some of the sketchy areas more solid and some of the solid areas more sketchy. I used the palette knife again to apply more white and red. I added more yellow.
Then I drew a lot of sketchy lines with Prussian blue, using the lines to emphasize sections and add texture. Basically, I was fighting with the image to force it into something I could love.
Well, I don't think I quite achieved that, but for now I'm through. This one will have to sit for a while before I'm ready to tackle it again.
