The background was to bright and wanted it to recede more so I changed its color.
Warm colors (reds and yellows) tend to come forward and cool colors (blues) tend to move backward. Originally I had a very bright, high chroma, yellowish color in the background but it was much too distracting. I had always planned to put a thin layer of paint over it with some of it showing through but after the first glaze over the background yesterday I realized I needed to go further. So, I covered the entire background with a grayish blue color and I’m much more happy with how it makes the figure move forward and become more focused. I still have another layer that I want to put over the background but for now I’m much more happy with it.
Interesting about colors sticking out more. We should apply this knowledge when I start doing videos