I didn’t add more in-progress shots of this painting because the photos didn’t turn out. But, I’m really happy with the result. Paintings always take more time than one budgets for, but it’s never not worth the time.
Things are going well on this here day two. Still slow, still steady. On track and feeling positive.
Starting a painting gets me very anxious, especially when it’s on a deadline. I started this painting today that some friends of ours commissioned me to paint for their parents. It’s a short notice commission, but I know I have the time and energy to make a proper painting before it needs to be delivered. BUT! It’s always nerve-wracking, the first day of a painting like this. The underpainting needs to be right on the first pass; otherwise, I’ll spend days trying to correct the composition. And when you’re painting with one eye on the clock, the impulse is to speed things up. Meaning, you might try to add too much detail to it right from the get-go in order to hurry things along. But there are no shortcuts in painting. A good painting develops like a Polaroid picture: gradually and at the same time. If part of a Polaroid over-develops in one corner, the whole thing looks weird. Keeping the foot off the gas in the beginning means you don’t have to turn around halfway through the process.
Wow, I must have had a bowl of metaphors for dinner.