60x48 Commission: Color Palette Review

"Dear Commission Client,

Please review this rough painting. This sketch is to be considered solely in terms of colors and balance of colors. (This is not meant to suggest any particular shapes, details or other imagery to be used in the final artwork.)

How does this color palette feel to you? Is this what you were imagining for Harvest Colors?

How do you feel about the balance of colors in this sketch?

I have added a shade of dark brown to our originally described palette. Using the espresso hue will increase the range of contrast, bringing greater depth to the painting. It would be used only for small areas of detail.

So far I haven't liked the green hues that I have tried with this palette. I hope to get a better sense of what shade to use or if the green works at all once I'm working with the full-size canvas.

If you don't mind, I would like you to send the rough painting back after making your comments. I will need it for color reference as I work on the full-size piece. I am happy to give it back to you at the end of the project if you like.

Please email me with your comments.

Thank you very much. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Latifah Shay"

New Art: Love's Daydream

Love's Daydream; 16x20; acrylic, pencil on canvas; framed; $350

The enchantment of a dream. The power of love.
Tendrils of love delicately growing around me,
holding and supporting me, helping me to grow.
A beacon from my heart, showing me the way to go.
Opening my heart to the truth, offering me a drink
from Divine Wisdom - my cup runneth over.

Flowers floating along like daydreams.
A mother's pregnant belly, live moving downstream and out.
Shelter from the storm, a place inside my heart.
A sandpiper on the beach, waves washing upon the sand.

I didn't know what I was going to create when I started this painting. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I could feel the deep yellow color in my heart. Once that was dry I just started drawing on the canvas in pencil. I had a marvelous time drawing. I came by drawing naturally, very early on. It felt so good to just draw. I haven't drawn before with the sole purpose of setting up a painting. Usually I just paint. Once the drawing was done however, I knew it was going to take some time to fill it in.
I filled in the white dots first, I could feel that much. I tried to work on the flowers next, and I did fill them in roughly, but I didn't like what I was doing. I left the flowers and went on to work with the swirly shapes. I loved the look of the blue-green over the marigold color, I found it exciting. I just kept going, kept on filling in the shapes. The painting began to have a balance of positive and negative, shape and detail. I painted the flowers at the very end, and they look just right.

I worked on this painting intensely. I spent 40 hours on it. I said to myself 5 days in a row, "I'm going to finish this tonight". Three layers of paint per color and lots of detail and edges. It was worth it. I love it.