"Rootless"
oil on linen, 20x16 in.
I've been working on this one off and on for about two weeks, a layer of glaze or scumble at a time. Nearly done yesterday, but I felt the tree still needed depth and structure. Late last evening, in my nightclothes and ready to go to bed, I visualized something and took a palette knife to the tree, scraping away lines to reveal a skeletal interior. Too late to really see how the results looked, I went to bed, and this morning rubbed a very thin layer of medium into the tree with a sturdy brush to soften the scrapings.
Now it is done. (Well, probably.)
Because it is so fresh, the photo has a bit of glare where I reworked it. That will matte out in a day or so. When it is time to varnish, I will use a non-glossy varnish for this one.
