"Tattered Perch" 12x18 acrylic on board

This painting is a little different for me. Of course, the first thing most will notice are the warm colors and the strong use of cadmium orange. Also, that striking background was applied in a somewhat loose and abstract manner. After doing my preliminary drawings and working out composition details, this piece took on a life of its own. Originally, it was supposed to be a 12x24 composition (see image below), but the closer it got to completion, the more I began to feel like there was a lot of unnecessary space. After much deliberation, I elected to get out the circular saw and make some corrections. I removed a strip of the board from each end of the painting and I'm much happier.