Something I recently did to it was to scribble some wax onto various areas beneath the tree canopy, and go for a crayon resist look. My thought was ....rain...storm...darkness, etc....that would show up in the background once I had applied blackish wash, and hopefully bring together some of the elements in the bottom section of the piece. I'm still really liking the tree canopy, so I didn't want to disturb that, but the mermaid was not coming along-regardless of whether I tried to pencil or paint her in. A last ditch effort was made to actually cover her up- and I got allot of smeary stuff going on instead. Lastly, the black tint wash was applied....which did nothing but make this piece look like it was left out in the rain, and then dumped in a puddle.
Too bad. It' s a real nice block of wood, and a real nice idea. Yet with each new idea that I had, each new expression that I thought for sure would really change the piece for the better, it just muddied it up even more. Still, I think each of the elements, in and of themselves, are like mini artworks. But in bringing it all together, for a cohesive whole ...well, I just couldn't work it out. I think a massive scraping is in order, so that I can at least save the foundation and the' heart 'of this- for something better and even more beautiful and creative. It would be a shame for it to be firepit fodder.
I'm heeding the work's main message..... really.
