Lavender Oil or Aspic Oil

After a busy few days the A.I. picture is now glazed. The sky was more blue grey than I had planned for and I have contemplated making this more violet, but the current colour does work well with the brown ropes and their lemon yellow glow. The flesh and the expression came out well enough. The glazing media were new formulations and used very glassy looking amber which were as beautiful as liquid glass when wet. Lavender oil was used too. I'm unsure whether lavender oil or spike oil (aspic oil, this is lavender oil but from the whole plant as opposed to just the flowers) is better. Dali recommends spike oil but the one reference I could find that compares the two stated that the old masters preferred lavender. Lavender smells nicer but both appear to be as viscous and slow to evaporate. Spike oil appears to be more fuming to the eyes. If all things were equal I would use lavender but if I suffer doubts I will trust Dali instead. Tomorrow I'm off to Chester to submit The Flute Player to The Grosvenor Open Exhibition. After that I'll have The Marlene Dietrich picture to overpaint with a new layer, and add the single and probably final layer to the execution of King Charles which I am worried about because the current sky in particular is very nice in colour already. I'll also need to improvise lots of dabs of bright white highlights on the rough sea. After that I'll continue the Sisyphus painting but that might leave me with one idle day before the Art Support meeting on Wednesday which I really should attend. I'll use that day for frame making and buying wood. Four new pictures are now sketched and transferred to panels: Madonna and child with cat, Bye Bye Little Fishes (and Thankyou), Perseus and the Burning Tree, Somebody to Love. The fish one gets priority because it has a deadline. Any music will have to wait a month or two.