Memo to self .. Put Down the Brush.

Today I lost a sale because I overworked a desert painting and it lost its fresh look. The earlier version that the buyer wanted is on this blog. For some reason I fiddled with it.  It is so easy to kill a promising piece this way and I'm hereby resolving to stop sooner!
The eagle painting below (Eagle Dance) is one that I stopped working on a few weeks ago while I think about how to do the water background. How to gradate it colour and value wise. As the light is coming from the right, it would make sense for the water to be lighter and perhaps a bit golder/warmer on the right .. gradating to a slightly darker more muted semi-neutral greenish gray on the left..  haven't  figured it out yet. Advice/opinions welcomed.  We have a lot of eagles living near us on the coast!