Hermes... you have a strong admiration for Modernism... as do I. I suspect this is part of why you admire the early, less-developed stages of this painting and others. There are aspects of stage 2 that remind me of some of Picasso's Rose Period works. I think one of the greatest challenges in a more "realistic" or "developed" approach to painting is to retain the fluidity/spontaneity/energy/freshness of the early stages of the work. I had a college professor who told me as much: "Starting a painting is easy; completing a painting is hard." He once told me to stop polishing and perfuming my painting.