Flesh, Failure and Burnt Sienna

Apparently I have to relearn painting every time I paint the figure.  I Started this oil a week and a half ago.  The premise was a painting where you would "feel" the flesh.  I had a 22" X 28" coarse linen canvas and the perfect model.

Day one with model

The first session went well.  The lines had energy and I thought the tight cropped composition would work .... maybe not.

Working day two without the model on the background and filling in empty spaces the painting washed out and went dead.  The canvas drank paint and the composition turned problematic.  Is it possible to feature breasts too prominently?



The second session with the model I tried adding a little burnt sienna to saturate the tan flesh.  It infected the entire palette and now I have a dull brown mess.

Second model session

I have faced this predicament many times over the years.  Continue working a problematic painting or jump ship and start fresh.  There is no clear answer.  I've worked paintings over months even years.   Some result in "successes" and others just consume paint, time and life force.  I suspect this painting is the latter.  I'll give it one or two more sessions to see what if anything can be learned.