In the Duck Hunt the painting progresses by making color adjustments to push certain areas back and bring others towards the front. For example, the trees and shrubs in the background are blurred and greyed out to make them recede. In contrast vibrant greens and yellows are used in the foreground to hint at foliage in the foreground. This dog is rather dark and by punching up the colors in the collar and jacket the eye is drawn towards the animal. By extending highlights in the fur, in particular in the ears, the viewers gaze is directed towards the head. Since the dog sits in the middle ground of the picture plane, making the eyes more pronounced would look unnatural. However some highlights are strategically placed so that the animal is seen looking over the lake in search of the ducks.
At this stage, I think the painting is about as far as I can take it. I will need to let it dry and come back to it in a couple of days to see if anything jumps out in need of fixing.
