The Finishing Touches...

Banquet   oil/canvas   20 x 60 x 1.5

for me are done lightly and sparsely.  I decided to smooth out the patchy background as I feel that the texture interfered with the business of the foreground.  Particular colors were pulled out using pure pigment, those on my original palette (selected in the pre-planning stage) that had become too subdued:  cadmium yellow; cadmium red and blue-violet.  More yellow-green was pulled out in all of the leafy areas.  Done.

With this work, a "project", I spent more time in the planning stage.  Fewer risks were taken.  Fewer changes were made.  I have a theory that the more "stuff" (forms) are in a painting, the less freedom can be expressed throughout.  Nothing outrageous was performed.  The destruction parts were very subtle.  I am satisfied.  Banquet.