Changing from the real color to something better

It's really blue, the LBJ Junction School.

After painting it blue, I read the Bill James Masterclass article in an issue of International Artist. The magazine joined me for coffee on the deck, while the author explained and encouraged the use of complementary colors to add excitement and unity to paintings. Guess which painting immediately presented itself for a redo?

The blue is sort of blah, right?  The grassy hill felt ok to me, so I chose its complement, orangey red, to liven up the building. That was like a stand-back, wow reaction. Continuing Bill's advice, I worked lighter values of the greens and orange into the trees and sky. Which is better?

I took my reference photo 5 or 6 years ago, but often thought about the great profile of the school at the top of the hill. Lyndon B. Johnson first attended the one room Junction School when he was 4. As president, he returned to sign one of his major education bills at Junction School, his first teacher by his side. 
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From I can't to I can

Yoga, relaxing? 18 sessions and it still makes sore muscles. But the positions I could not contort my body into, are now doable.
The cross-legged Sukhasana position starts the yoga session with relaxation and deep breathing. At the beginning I tried to achieve it, straightened my legs, folded one leg in, tried crossing, nothing but sheer agony. Now I'm ok for a few minutes in Sukhasana, not perfect like the instructor, but ok.
Painting the background in a figurative piece has the same history. My beginning pieces had no color, no shape in the background; then color gradations, nothing obvious, just a hint of color. Then shapes of color, something to lead the eye. Little by little, I have inched my way into painting backgrounds that become part of the story.
Just like Sukhasana, so uncomfortable in the beginning, painting the background now brings some joy. I don't love it, but a little stretch of ability and a little mental perseverance transformed I can't into I can.
This painting combined figurative with fitting grafitti  from a LA reference photo.