For me…..doing a background is an ongoing, evolving process. I’m learning from each one, but the next just seems to present a different set of challenges. The coral in the background of “Black and White” has been such a struggle…will I keep it? I like it! I hate it…The real problem was that it looked so different in different lights.  

I finally decided that the coral had to go…I was certain…

Would I replace it with this pale mottled green?

What about repeating the mottled lilac?

This blue green seemed a good choice.

I left it overnight, and completely changed my mind in the morning. It was so ‘blah’ all in muted colours…I liked the power of the coral…to me it suggested sunset, or perhaps fire. I was drawn to the Ipcar paintings because of the fantastical backgrounds, and I didn’t want to give up yet. Perhaps it would blend better with the rest if the scrolling/vines were green.

Nope…I didn’t like that. What about if it was lilac scrolls/vines…might tie it better to the rest of the background

I just couldn’t decide. What I did decide though was that I didn’t want a background that I didn’t like in some light situations. I decided to throw out the whole ‘muted’ idea, and added a strong blue…several colours, mixed together.

Now I felt I was on the right track. I thought that even more of the coral would balance it out, and it wouldn’t stick out so much.

I scrounged in my stash and found enough to do this section….and I did a small section on the other side in the vivid red/purple that I’d used for the leaves in the lilac section

Now it looks the same in every light and makes a bold statement. It may make some people’s hair curl….but it has the impact I was after.

This is where it stands now….some decisions made….but still some changes to do. I’m going to extend the purple green section at the top left….and who knows what else!