off the vine
I repainted the background a couple of times, and this one turned out the best so I stopped messing with it and called it good. But I'm still not a hundred percent in love with the background as it stands---it's not a deal-breaker; the painting isn't about the background afterall. Someday I might cut this panel down to a smaller size, removing some on the top and a bit on the left. That would make it an odd size panel, but it might improve the overall piece, focusing the attention where it belongs, on the tomatoes. Until then, I'm all right with it.