Procrastinating

Procrastinating before getting to work on a commission - it is SO easy - there are emails to answer, phone calls to follow up on, I think about my plans for the day, make a fresh cup of tea - when all I really need to do it get downstairs and start working. So I did: I finished the drawing for the new piece and NOW I'm just afraid to take the next step ... I go do some inventory work, change the CD, feed the cats, think about these new frame samples I received in the mail yesterday... just bite the bullet and sit down and PUT PAINT ON PAPER!

   The hardest part is thinking that I'm going to wreck it (after spending two hours on the drawing) but really ... at this point, I have my ways to fix most ANY mistake. AND I find if I take the time to get my mind into the painting - I mean get right into the scene: the colors, the day that it was - step through the looking glass and BE there - I don't make mistakes. (well, sometimes a wet brush goes flying out of my hand or something, but other than that... ) This image is a conglomerate of a beloved scene- from a mother to her daughter who now lives abroad.

   So once I got at it, it went smoothly - the first "layers" are on and generally everything is looking good. I'm trying to be BOLD, like I tell my students - and just go for the right color right away. This painting is much bigger than I normally work, but some clients just don't get it. They see my small work, love it, and then contact me about a larger painting. >sigh<  So today I got all the basic forms and first colors down, not bad.
   (whenever I type "today" I always type "toady" and then have to backspace and fix it to say "today". I kinda like 'toady' though... some today's are rather toady...)