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Continuing the Backgrounds Should Never Be an Afterthought theme, today I will take you through a more advanced version of my intuitive process.   Something out of Nothing. I began this piece with a beautiful reference photo of Taylor against a blank wall. I had ideas for the background, so I cropped the photo leaving room to develop that empty space.     Intuitive Backgrounds.* I always begin my portrait paintings with a triad of very watery shades of yellow, rose and blue (about 10% value). I also begin painting outside the lines in order to incorporate the background from the start. It makes no difference what color [...]