I finally spent some time with my oils today. I did a little more color blocking on Jessica’s portrait, but no real progress. I actually made a mess of it and wiped it off with a rag. More about that in a moment. I spent the day admiring some beautiful skies, and since skies are my favorite thing to paint I did two small paintings of clouds. One is more of a landscape, but I tried to play with the texture of the paint. The other is definitely flatter, less dimensional. It is how I painted for years, and now I really don’t like it. I actually would have added more dimension but there was one area that I loved so much I didn’t want to touch it while it is still wet. I want to add more dimension after it dries. Years ago I had a very large painting that was in a show here in Temecula. It is a very large piece, probably three by four feet. I actually painted it in about two hours because I had a large empty space on my family room wall to fill. Now I look at it and I hate it. I shouldn’t say that. It actually has some very nice moments. I’ll post it last. (Putting myself out to be judged? Someone is making progress!) It is soooo flat. It looks lifeless. Dan built the frame right on to the painting, so it would be tough to take off, but I really want to revisit it. I also really need to learn some patience. I make more muddy messes on canvas because I can’t wait for one layer to dry before attempting the next. It’s what I did to Jessica’s portrait today. I finally made myself walk away. Maybe revisiting the older painting will help with that. The basics are there, the shapes, the colors, it just needs some life. I think I just made a plan. We have company for the weekend, so come Monday I will alternate between Jessica and my landscape. Maybe if I have two paintings to focus on I won’t be so quick to pile too much paint on one or the other. My other “homework”, drawing. I need to practice my perspective. I bought a DVD on perspective about a year ago. I took the wrapper off three days ago. Now if I could just progress to actually watching it…I know, its kind of like school. I hate school, but I really need to learn the basics. I know I just babbling on here, but actually I’m just talking aloud to myself. I need a good talking to. Someone has to do it.