Update

Here is where I am at with this slice of life painting. I feel as if I will never finish it sometimes. I thought I had a clear vision when I started- and that is really important. You need to have an idea of what you want to achieve and how you want it to look in the end. But there are so many elements in this painting that I lost my way a bit. It is perhaps the most difficult image I have ever attempted to reproduce: a multi-figure composition with two distinct area of light and shadow. The fact that the painting is outside provides an even greater challenge. When I began I realized it might take awhile to complete a project like this and that's precisely why I wanted to paint it. I do a lot of "quick" paintings; it's a given with my method of wet on wet painting. I wanted a long-term project to fiddle with while I painted the smaller bread and butter oils I'm known for. Here are a few pictures of where I'm going with this at the moment.