To Clutter or Not to Clutter

My urge to complete paintings in a timely manner comes at the cost of taking more risks. I notice that my recent paintings lack the pizzazz of my full vision, as I opt not to pursue the 20% additional detail which could take 80%+ more time (or risk ruining the painting altogether).

The specific issue is that I can't visualize the details until I actually put it down in paint. If it's complex, I could end up spending forever repainting until the details look right, so I usually go simple instead. That's what happened for this painting too. My original vision was a mosaic of different-sized rectangles that sparsed out (and became lighter) towards the outer edge. I was concerned about complex layout, time-consuming color-mixing and the possibility of triggering trichophobia in the final effect, so decided not to pursue it. In the end, I like this final painting up close, but the overall composition and coloring is a bit basic.

Painting discussion
Concept: This painting expresses loneliness. The center rainbow represents my fairly full and balanced life, but is blocked off from the gray border representing deeply integrated relationships.

Adjustments: Initially, the center rainbow was supposed to be missing one color and that color was supposed to be in the border. While that would have worked better symbolically, I didn't like the aesthetic of a colored border. Secondly, the center swirl was envisioned to be dark gray, but was replaced with a light gray during execution because I felt a bit lighter at that time. Lastly, the rainbow was supposed to be darker in the center and blend to a light pastel outward, but that proved to be impossible to implement.

Technical: 

-I'm happy with the blending, which has been difficult for me in the past. 

-I had a lot of fun with the painterly style for the border. 

-I spent a lot of time calibrating the medium purple and seafoam colors, and am really happy with the outcome.

-Challenges: The white walls are a hair too thick. The blend of the rainbow into the gray border was difficult. The area inside the white walls felt too small and hard to compose, especially with the swirl.

But overall, I really enjoyed making this painting. It took me about 10 hours, although ~3 hours was unproductive as I was watching a replay of the Agust D concert in Seoul, and ended up redoing most of what I painting during that time. lol

"Invisible Walls"