Progress on the New Series

I think the painting portion of these two new pieces are pretty much done. I'm liking the way they look so far but I'm wondering if it's obvious that the cut outs are people or that the figures are actual cut outs, rather than just random white areas. I'm also wondering how they will translate once I wax them. I have been toying with the idea of then writing in graphite a description of what was cut out so that instead of an image of a girl holding a bear, there will just be a description of a girl holding a bear in the place where the figure would be. Make any sense? I would have to write the words backwards in order for it to transfer in the correct direction. That could get complicated. 

I love painting trees and I'm pretty happy the way this one turned out. It's fun to challenge myself with things I am not familiar with, like this background, especially the leaves of the bushes and the bark of the tree. Next up is a bicycle with foliage in the background, showing through the spokes. Now that is going to be complicated!