Yellowtail painting - finished

Finishing a painting is complicated!

I think I finished this painting about five times and each time left me unsatisfied. I knew that there was something that needed correction, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I then made a digital scan so that it could be examined in mirrored form in Photoshop (I find this helps to see the picture from a different perspective). I left the painting for a few days and send an email copy of it to a few friends to get their honest critique.

Returning to the painting a few days later and with some positive feedback, I realized that there were a few minor aspects that needed to be fixed. First was that the two squid that i initially had in the foreground of the composition, they needed to be taken out. Although I spent a bit of time painting them, they were definitely a distraction to the main action and flow in the composition.

The squid also needed a wash of red to contrast them from the paintings blue / yellow pallet.

I tweaked the shape of the fish a little and adjusted the eye on the main fish forward to better imply its focus on the squid.

After weeks and months of delays, as well as all the minor tweaking and adjusting, I can finally call the yellowtail piece finished with the title "Yellowtail Wreck". 

I hope you enjoy following the process and thank you for taking the time to browse through my art and website.