My Sister's Secret - revisited

My Sister's Secret

18 x 24

Oil on Canvas

This is a piece named " My Sister's Secret"  It is my two lovely grand nieces telling secrets.  I painted it a couple of years ago and it has always been one of my favorite painting...though there were things about it that I wasn't quite happy with.  I remember painting it and not knowing what to do with the background.  Then I took a class from Carolyn Anderson who said if you don't have the background decided then you do not have a good vision for your piece.  That is extreme paraphrasing...but it is one of the main things I took from her class.  I try to have a complete vision before I begin any piece now.  So with that in mind I decided to revisit this painting and see if I could complete my vision.  I really like the placement of the girls but wanted to work on the background and the clothes a bit.  I darkened the background with a deeper color using ultramarine blue, raw sienna and some yellow ochre.  I love the rich tones and the loose edges on the left.  Then I saturated the color of the dresses with cadmium red and alizarin crimson shading with some ultramarine blue.  I love revisiting pieces and seeing how much I have learned.  It makes me hungry to learn more.  

Below is the piece as it was originally...

Playtime

Playtime

8 x 10

Oil on Raymar panel
$300.00

I am taking a break from my work at the National Gallery of Art and finishing up some small works that have been on my plate for some time.  These two little girls are the subjects of many of my paintings and I just love them.  Here they were visiting and playing so intently I just had to try to capture the mood in oil.  

And now playtime for me...off to my studio!