3PM update: many changes today. below is the current state of parade 36. i'll be back in a bit to comment on my process. row 1: yesterday and today. row 2: details.
6PM: so you can see if you flip back and forth that i made bold changes today. in addition to removing the christo flags, thanks to wendy, i eliminated a few figures to the left of the center left sculpture, which i repainted. i also repainted the other 2 main roman sculptures, setting them apart from the visitors and emphasizing their relative permanence. there are quite a few other tweaks, and i'm thinking of bringing it over to the house tomorrow and hanging it so that we can evaluate it at different times of day.
it was an a-ha moment when i painted over the flags and realized just how distracting and unnecessary they were. the warmer colors i introduced into the sculptures, in addition to the dark area of paint surrounding them, which departs from the naturalistic, creates the sense of intimacy and spatial coherence i was envisioning.
my dear friend wendy, who has a very cultured, expert eye for painting, suggested in an email that if i were to remove one of christo's orange flags seen through the window, possibly the middle one, to help make the painting "pop." above are 3 variations on her suggestion, using cut out pieces of paper painted green to block out 1, 2 and then all the orange flags. i asked mikela to walk over to see if she agreed with my perception, without telling her in advance what my preference was. she agreed: better without any of the orange flags.
so that will be my first act this morning: painting over the orange flags. since the oil paint is very thin on this painting, especially in the area of central park seen through the windows, it will require a very light touch. i'll report back once i've accomplished that and perhaps a few more tweaks. it's all about the tweaks, as i have said towards the final stages of all these parade paintings.
THANKS wendy!