last steps on big paint (tanka): just a little tweeking

instead of taking away i decided to add a little. i know this seems counter-intuitive with my mini-tirade about less is more..blah, blah, blah. but there was just too much to scrub away so i tried to mitigate the problems with some thoughtful(?) additions. first i removed the reddish wash under his belly and the blue shadow on his belly. i then added a yellow ocher wash for reflected light on the horse and a cooler bluish-green field behind. at least this made the horse come forward and the background recede. not a great fix but passable i think. i then splattered paint on the back and fore ground to suggest uneven dirt, etc. i used a #12 round with pretty wet paint and spattered increasingly warm, dark, and larger splashes as i moved forward. these need to read horizontally if they are to give the illusion of flat ground. at this time i decided that i had inflicted enough on this sheet of paper and painting and declared it finished. the horse's name is tanka so i renamed the painting "sunka tanka" or big dog in lakota which is the horse's full real on-paper name.

"sunka tanka" 16"X20"