I’ve never returned to a finished painting and reworked it. But I had to do something about that skirt in “Cascade”. It’s a painting I really love of my wife, Robyn, but that skirt just did not fit its space.

In the midst of reading some inspiring books, like Robert Henri’s “The Art Spirit,” I decided to re-work this piece. (You can find the titles listed in the Workshops & Learning section of my website.)

Henri talks about how a dress must reflect the surface or anatomy under the dress by simplifying its composition. Somehow I didn’t do that in this piece, so I changed it, as you can see in this post in the before and after images.

Henri also discusses the need for simplicity. You shouldn’t change a line’s direction until you have to. You also shouldn’t change a color until something else dictates or commands you to. He also says, “Try to reduce everything you see to the utmost simplicity. That is, let nothing but the things which are of the utmost importance to you have any place.”

As I ventured on the road to simplicity, I realized I would have to alter my whole composition in order to make it better. So after I reworked the skirt, I had to simplify the top.

See an instructional video on repainting a head to finish a painting. Click Here

View his Exhibit and Awards by clicking here.

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