John de la Vega's approach to backgrounds

[Mike McCarty]

Last year I discovered John de la Vega's website. I won't go into how much I love his paintings.

http://www.portraitartist.com/delavega/index.html

I was mostly intrigued by his backgrounds. Being the bold fellow that I am I simply e-mailed him and asked my question. I got back a wonderful response which I keep and refer to often. The following (he was generous with a stranger so I don't think he would mind me sharing this) is the response I got back: [quote]Re backgrounds: you