Dance Painting (taking too long?) - part 1

Ok, so I have worked ALL day on this one painting I have been commissioned to do. It is only a $50 painting. The specs were given to me, so it is taped off at 14x20, and the color palette she would like me to use was given to me as well.

So, I am trying to stay in this same family of the color palette, but I am not doing so well - ha ha! I still have several dancers to add to this painting, lots of flowing material and gowns, and as you can see, I am not getting anywhere too fast! I figure by the time I am done with the painting, I might make $ .02 an hour! LOL! :-)Oh well - it is a challenge, and I love a challenge. I spent much of my time with the negative space, and texture. Even though, she has a specific color palette in mind, I still wanted her to be able to see the richness of color in the negative space behind her color choices. I am afraid if I stick to her colors, it will be very flat when I am finished. This is no big deal, I love building the paint. I don't think this painting will look anything close to what it looks like now.

The things I want to fix in this painting already.......... The one dancer's face in this painting. I hate faces! I don't do them well at all. I don't want the reader of this painting to be too distracted by the face of this dancer, and not looking at the movement and grace of the dancer instead. It is more important to show movement, soft flowing material, and to be able to hear the music by the time it is finished. I am thinking of swooping her face out, a little more abstract. What do you think? The other thing I need to finish.........I started off with some great transparencies, but I added too much opaque over my transparencies. I was scumbling over the texture, and I did too much. I lost some of that really nice rich color you could see through her gown. So I am trying to figure out how to get that back. Once you have used an opaque, it is hard to do much more. I figure I can add some transparencies back on top of the opaque, so I can add more color and tints to the fabric of the dress.

Well, this is part 1. I will post again with more pictures soon. Thanks for looking. I hope to finish after work tomorrow. We shall see after getting home, then transporting all my teens to where they need to go, and cooking dinner. I wish I could stay up later and work on it. I hate going to bed with that unfinished feeling.....

Everyone have a wonderful week! Stay warm, dry, and happy. Keep positive thoughts with you night and day. We will have so many good things to write about at the end of the week. I can't wait to hear them all!

Hugs!
Beth