Sometimes It's Just A Riot Of Colour!

Do you ever look at one of your old paintings and wonder what would happen if you spent a bit more time with it?

Two years ago I was invited to give a painting demonstration for Winslow Art Society. They wanted to see how I build up one of my colourful Ghanaian market scenes, so I painted this in the front of the members,  talking them through my process.

When I got home, it went into a corner of the studio. It wasn't unfinished. In fact it had done what it was supposed to do. It showed the stages of the painting and how I work out the composition.  I often say composition is one of the main reasons a painting works. People are often drawn to a painting without always knowing why, and I think composition plays a huge part in that. 

Every now and again I'd glance at the painting and think, I wonder what would happen if I added a bit more to it? Not because there was anything wrong with it, it had been painted as a quick two-hour demo but I felt there was still a bit more I wanted the painting to say.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I picked it up and put it back on the easel. I started adding more colour, played with the composition a bit more, added some patterns and a few more people. I wanted it to have more of the atmosphere and energy that I remember from the markets in Ghana. Those wonderful places where your eyes never quite know where to look, the heady scents, noises... so much.going on! Gradually I felt the painting was beginning to tell a fuller story and by the time I'd finished I realised it needed a new title...

Sometimes It's Just A Riot Of Colour!

Looking at it now, I am glad I decided to revisit it. 

I suppose that's one of the nice things about painting. Just because you have signed off a painting doesn't always mean it has to stay exactly as it is. Sometimes you look at it with fresh eyes, see a few new possibilities and decide to try them out. Sometimes it works!

I'd love to know if you have ever gone back to something you finished months or even years ago and then discovered later that there was still a bit more you wanted to add. Drop me a comment in the box below please.

Also is this a 2024 painting or a 2026 piece? What do you think?