Death of a Seagull Experimentation part four (Here I go again)

I may be changing the title to something to do with "Scooter"  not "Seagull" soon. My friend Scott Inguito suggested getting rid of the seagull, then I could keep my kooky, beloved shape!  I bridled at first then immediately realized he was probably right.  As is, the painting is not resolved.  I love the seagull, but that  probably is the problem.  He might have to go.  I can always use him again.  In any case, I have gotten very fast at rendering him.

This is how I got here...  All this experimenting I've been doing this lately has given me the courage to pick up the Seagull again.  I started by I touching up the bird for like, the 11th time, actually I just checked, it's the 13th time.  I thought about putting the "45th Avenue" in the composition but then I thought that would be a cheap trick.  I use imagery over and over all the time, but I'm not sure I can do that with such a distinctive sign/symbol.  So I put in a scooter. Are you getting the picture that these things don't always make sense at the time?

I had put a blue and a red glaze over the whole thing a week ago.  Today I added thick white and gray paint and goopy white and gray paint.  The red and blue still shows through in places.  I integrated the surface with my palette knife and manipulated the drips a bit.  I painted the white around the body of the seagull, leaving a layer of old painting  to show through his silhouette.

Argh! This is what happens when you don't plan.  I added this nice brushy gray to help balance the composition, then decided to make it drip right into the seagull and the scooter.   I like what it is doing, but I  will have to paint everything AGAIN.  It is the story of of this painting.  I think I will call it "15 Seagulls", whether there ends up being a seagull in it or not.