Painting Process part 3

At long last I have some progress on my Heralds of the Dawn painting, although it's name may be changing to Heralds of Spring. Feel free to comment as time goes by. I have a million excuses why it has taken so long to get back to the work, but that's another story. For now, this is where I am, or was when I took the photo:

So what do I see/have I done? Well, I believe the lower part of the sky now to be finished. I painted that  rising sun in and out of the clouds several times, but like where it now is. The bluebirds are under-painted, in their proper places and waiting more paint layers to give them richness. The  floating horizontal bands are just hints of the Hawthorn branches yet to come. The size of the birds and impending Hawthorn flowers pull them forward as though coming out of the picture frame. Or if you wish to describe it differently, they push the sky way back into the distance which is how it should be. All of is seems soaring....again, how it should be. 

In the lower left quadrant of the sunrise sky, there is a happy accident.  It is one I really want to keep so won't mess with it. You can vaguely see a shape that easily could be the moon setting in the rising sun's pathway. I did not intentionally paint it there. It came of it's own will, so it deserves to be part of the piece. Plus I like it.

I also began work on two other pieces which I will share with you in time, but for now, I'm working on those Hawthorn flowers. I'll tell you why next time. Stay tuned.