Make Mine A Double!

Inspired by Rich's comment, a quikie mock up of a sky background just to see more of how the tree might look in its context. Higher res version here inspired by Mike's request.

Don't ask me how I knew to do this... but it came to me this morning to take a scrub brush with straight rubbing alcohol to the tree surface to regain the warm browns and reds of the base color. I used a stiff toothbrush dipped right into the bottle, went at the spots that had too much taupe, and wiped away the excess with a soft towel. It was a remarkable treatment because for some reason the alcohol melted through the acrylics and sumi-e ink just enough to blend them where I wanted and dissolve them by applying a bit more pressure.

It's a back and forth process, but with each attempt I'm gaining an area that rings the bell and looks right.

I should be able to finish up the surface Monday and then begin on the leaves that the tree is only now aching for.

Tree finishing in progress, where the contrast is too high, I knock it down with the alcohol and wipe it back to the brown base color, spray it with black, and add highlights again, repeat.