[Chris Saper]

Oh, I see what you mean, Mike. When I place a dark foliage background, I will usually work the background past the silhouette of the figure, then let it dry. The only reason for letting it dry is that I use lots of Pthalo green, which spreads into any other adjacent colors like a drop of food coloring in water. Then, once dry, I will work the edges of the figure and more background color simultaneously...yes, you are right, edges need to be wet to integrate them with the background, and to control their hardness, softness, or lost/found qualities. I don't remember if I have any in-process photos, but I will look around and post if they show anything relevant.

Both color and value are the reasons I get the background in right away. It doesn't need to be completed at all, just very close in value to the finished value, and it must conveny the dominant hue. I am sure others work in different methods, this one just works for me.

When I am not using Pthalo green, I don't worry about whether background color is dry or not, as the other colors on my palette don't "bleed" like the green. Still both sides of the edges need to be wet to get the edge character I want. This holds for all the edges in the painting, not just the silhouette edges.

Beth, thanks. It's not hard to work with wet background or other areas...I use my right pinky finger as a mahl stick for most areas, and for more detailed areas, a real mahl stick! It just takes some adjustment when you are used to pastel. I don't know why your oils didn't dry, but perhaps there was too much oil if you added some. As to the tomatoes, I think that if they are chilled/refrigerated first, they lose the ability to ripen later.