Old Stomping Grounds ... or ... This One Is Not Going Any Further

The Old Stomping Grounds
10 x 15.5 inches

    The painting above, I did about eight years ago. It is loosely based on a painting done even further back in time, by a woman artist from Vancouver. I never "copy", but the scene was SO well-known to me; I grew up very near here, and spent over thirty tears in the area.
   The scene is of an old store, a combination corner store and meat market. The convenience store [that term was not even in use in those days] was right across the street from the local high school, Magee H.S., and was usually packed with kids on school days. The butcher shop next door was small but well-supplied. The wooden floors were sprinkled with fresh cedar shavings. Most of the men who worked there were fond of dogs, and the neighborhood dogs were certainly LOVED of the store.  At least once a week, a pack of the local hounds would descend on the meat store and wait outside. Then came the treats, and you would see dogs heading for home with their goodies. I remember watching our family dog, Heathcliff [the name was from Wuthering Heights - I was very dramatic as a teenager] struggling for home, with a bone the size of his head.WOW ... he scored!!!
   When I did my interpretation, I placed all our family dogs in the foreground - from left to right, it's Ben [a rescued Bernese mountain dog] Heathcliff [or St. Heathcliff as he is remembered, a whippet/cocker spaniel cross] Ripley [another saint of a dog] and the boxer sisters [Lucy and Desi] Lucy and Desi are the only ones still with us, and they are doing very well, and are quite pampered.
  

Starting re-do - 14 x 21 inches
Painting simply, back to front.

I got this far before I saw my mistake; as usual, it's a drawing error.
The small diamond-shaped window is off center.

In 2 stages, I used masking tape, and then gently scrubbed with Magic Eraser.
I thank John Salminen for his video on removing unwanted color.

Cleaned up, and thin glaze of aureolin applied.

Phthalo green [yellow shade] applied.

And now, the short and not-so-sweet story of the re-do. My youngest sister wanted the painting done - larger, and with changes in the dogs. The boxers were to be removed, and her dog, Rotten Ralphie, and her fiance's cocker spaniel were to be put in the painting. I did a larger sketch with different dogs, and started painting. Somehow, I never exactly discussed the price. For a painting this size, unframed, it would be approximately $600.00. As it turns out, the price is more than Barb anticipated [she thought $200.00 was a reasonable amount] So, I suppose this one will sit around for a while on the board, and then be taken off, and cut up and used to test colors and effects - the way of all unwanted watercolors.

   There is a moral and lesson to be learned from this - GIVE A PRICE QUOTE, even to relatives and friends, unless the painting is a gift!