As it turns out, the oil paint did work better than the alkyds for the tiny hair lines. Tomorrow will tell whether it dries fast enough to work over it in 24 hours, but I used Liquin (fast drying medium) and the lines are so small that I predict that it will be OK.

My usual pattern is to start off pretty well and be quite encouraged about the prospects for turning out a painting I will like. Then the painting enters the ugly stage and I get discouraged and tempted to give up. We have definitely entered the ugly stage here. But since I can only remember giving up once - when trying watercolor on Aquaboard - it's like that, time allowing, I will be back at it tomorrow and try to nudge the ugly stage "off-stage."

With lightening Whitey and glazing over Spot and Blackie, my challenges with value become even more apparent. How will I make Blacke show against the dark background? How will I avoid Whitey becoming nothing more than a distracting white blob? The ball stands out too much at the moment. And I'm nearing the point where I need to decide exactly what the focal point will be. I'm thinking it will be Spot's face but I don't know if that's a good choice because Spot is the one rabbit who isn't looking at the viewer. So if all the other "signals" - lightest light against darkest dark, composition lines leading towards it, etc. - support Spot's face as the focal point but the viewer's interest does not, will it work? Hmm. Food for pondering.

The next two weekends are the Studio Tour so I've got to spend much of tomorrow and Friday preparing. To tell the truth, I'd rather work on this painting. Hopefully I'll sell well enough at the Studio Tour to feel that it was worth the work and expense.