Oh, man, that's ugly

Jumping right to the picture ...



Now there's a reason it looks so ugly right now. It's beginning to pick up some color that it needs and is going to need going forward. For example, in the foreground, the red hue will be covered over by an application of a golden brown mixed with shots of green and a muddier brownish color. Then, using a technique called 'scraffito', long grass will be 'scraped' into the forground using the edge of a pallet knife. The underlying red will show through in the grass.

Decisions need to be made about the trees on both sides of the painting. The trees on the right, for example, need to be 'thinned' out and the trunks extended down to the underbrush at the base of the hill, which will serve to pull them closer to the viewer. The trees on the left need to have their trunks thinned and a decision needs to be made as to whether they are to be near or far. If near, they just need work. If far, then the foliage at the base of the trees needs to get painted out, and the trees need to be glazed over with the blue/white 'mist'.

So, right now, everything needs work. I almost hate to post this because it really looks terrible, but it IS part of the evolution of the piece and it is part and participle of the end result. And the idea here is, after all, to document the process. So here it is. Ugly. The duckling before .....