Refining

Sometimes subtle adjustments are necessary in an art work if you want to set objects into the background. One of the best ways to do this is to glaze the areas in question.  When I glaze I sometimes use just water to dilute a colour and layer it several times drying between each.  Other times I use an acrylic glazing medium.   I have another trick that always works well for me. Because I use quite a bit of paper to layer my work, I choose very transparent papers and apply them over the areas that I want to set back.  The tricky part is figuring out exactly what colour will work best.  You have time to whip it off before the gloss medium dries.  I admit this is a well practiced solution for me.

This is an almost completed painting.  I've begun the glazing using papers in the bottom portion but the top is unaltered after applying the image transfers.  To see what happens as more glazing is added check below.   

The area around the centre received the most attention with paper glazing.  Before that rocks looked very similar in tone but it didn't take long to bring interest and variety to the area.  The whole painting received a glaze of transparent brown (one of my favourites) to finish it off (or so I thought).  I also released the rope from under the rock, but it just isn't working  because it looks like it's hovering.  So much for great ideas.  This one is going on the "needs further consideration wall" for now.

I planned to write a second post on mounting my strappo pieces but I seem to have filed my shots and I'm still playing detective to find them.  Stay tuned.