Here we have the result of the first two sessions of work on this piece.

It's important to take breaks in between sessions, and I am really feeling that now more than ever.

In the first photo, you can see that I began laying down some groundwork with light and translucent shades of blues and greens. Everything seemed to be going so well. The white circle in the center is a piece of paper that's been taped on to the piece. I intend to peel it off at the end to maintain a pure black circle in the center of what's going to be a swirling galaxy.

So everything was laid down and I was happy with the progress I'd made.

And then I came back to it with pink. And then I went overboard with the pink. And then I ended up making a high contrast cotton candy galaxy that could not help but to offend the eyes.

I had to recover.

This is exactly why we need to take frequent breaks while working on a piece of art! To stop ourselves from going overboard when the inspiration hits and it sweeps you up off your feet and suddenly you've gone from pleasantly floating downstream to fighting against the rapids!

I began by blending the harsh blots of color. I then diluted some of the black I'd used on the background, and painted over most of the excess colors like a wash, thereby muting some of the loud intensity. I'm still planning to do some further repairs, as I'm not fully satisfied with the current level of intensity. It's a bit harsh for what I was going for.

I'm torn between doing a wash with more black, or trying to wash it over with some whiter tones. I will have to do a few studies on the side to see how each one looks before I decide. Once this heavy-handed, over-pigmented comedy show has been recovered, I will be splattering the stars over it...

More to come.