Beginnings and GE

What the start of "Chocolate Cannoli" sort of looks like. The background is more a pale yellow buff.

This is closer, but a lot bluer. I guess it's difficult to accurately show the actual beginnings of a painting.
But now you know I lay in the ground first,then draw with paint. For some odd reason
 I chose yellow ocre and alzarin crimson. 

I reached Good Enough for now with Banana Cream Pie and hung it on the
observation wall to live with it over the weekend.

I love beginnings. They are always full of promise. It's the middles where things get complicated. The painting takes on a life of its own and you either follow its directions or screw it up. And the end? The finish? Never. It doesn't exist. I'm constantly growing, constantly changing. So what feels finished to me at one time, isn't finished a month later.

The spacing between the panels needs to
be two inches, not three.  The over all size
with then be  30" x 34". The nails were placed
to accommodate another multi-panel painting.

 Over the last year, I've been finding unfinished paintings fascinating. They still have life. Some of the canvas still shows through washes. Some of the canvas is as pristine as it was when the painting began. Instead of heavy layers everywhere closing all the doors, dotting all the I's, boxing the subject in, let the subject breathe. Let the viewer finish it off in her imagination. Life is never finished. There's always one more thing to do up to the end.

I won't be able to leave my pastries unfinished. The first one set the pattern. What you see here is the beginning and as the process goes on the painting will get tighter and tighter, till it's nailed down as tight as the other two.

 I started the third panel during my morning session and made room for the three on my observation wall. I immediately noticed that Mice, hanging together with Banana Creme Pie, needed adjustments. It was too blue; It's now a bit rosier--and my added brush strokes are a bit looser. I imagine there will be more adjustments of this kind next week. I'd like to finish these panels by the workshop. For knowing me, I'll be stepping back into portraiture to absorb everything I intend to pick up. --But as yet, no word from them. The clock is ticking.