Negative Space Deer

I started painting the background for this painting of a deer in the woods. Not very long into it, it seemed like painting the negative spaces would be a good idea. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to be super fussy with little paint strokes and mixing up way too many variations of color!

I am going to let this sit for a few days before I tackle the deer. I think I would like to finish it with  long paint strokes that only suggest the deer.