The final step on this acrylic painting was to layer on top OILS. This is how I brought in the lighting that perked this painting up and brought it to a finished state. As you can see I lightened the sky even more in the background and let the light touch the edges of the birds. Because the birds were a darker value they popped forward. This is really such a fun stage.
Now all that's needed is a title and final finish. I left that off to take the photos because it's too shiny.
Below are the different steps: