That was a good call, Jean, to exchange the table top for the bench back slats. I think it was going to take some kind of mystic perspective on the slat(s) to get them under the arm and "explain" the posture.
As you noted earlier, you're inventing the light and landscape setting. Though this seems to be a bright day with lots of ambient light, there is nonetheless a very definite directional light pattern established (as, by the bright light on the shirt on our left, and the deep darks underneath the table). Keep a picture in your mind of how that light will affect all other parts of the painting, especially the figure and his clothing. Just to point to one area, I might expect the cast shadow on his shoulder to be a little darker, especially where it is closer to the head. The v-shadow under the collar (the area that wouldn't be there if this were a button-down) would probably be darker still. The shadow on that same side in the armpit area, again perhaps darker.
I'm typing offline (internet connection hassles) and I've inadvertently only copied the close-up, but there's opportunity to do the same thing, I think, in the landscape. For example, again taking the directional light to be generally from our left to right, there's good cause to make sure the ground-level foliage and lower tree-trunk area on the shoreline to our left is good and dark, unambiguously shadowy. Those trees still have their leaves and that low-angled light isn't getting very far down into them. (At least in the made-up landscape I'm visualizing.)
This attention to even small areas of value will, I think, help with the push and pull that will give the forms some dimension -- advancing, receding, going around, looking "solid".
And you're right, the sap green can be overpowering, particularly in landscapes. (You'd think something called "sap green" would be perfect, wouldn't you?) In fact, tubed greens are often difficult in this application. Experiment with mixes of your various blues and yellows. (I know that the book says they "Don't Make Green," but they do.)
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