Fur In The Paint

Shh . . . do you hear it? It sounds like a kind of a frantic pitter-patting. No, it’s not Budda trying to catch me unawares. That my friends is the sound of panic . . . (in a hushed voice) and I think it’s gaining on me.

So I am down to the wire on the Colton painting. I have 2 weeks left (and that includes time for scanning and print making AND shipping. Plus depending on time and just how generous I am feeling, framing as well. YIKES!!!)

I haven’t done a single thing on the Colton painting since the last time I posted a WIP. And so now that art shows are done (for a little while) and I have met most (there was quite a few) my deadlines with the exception of this one. It is time to chain myself to the drafting table and get after it. I had seriously thought of keeping my gallery doors locked yesterday for a full day of uninterrupted working, but in the end I kept the gallery open. I mean really, that is what I am supposed to do. And yes I had customers. And yes it blew my afternoon with no work getting done on the painting.

So what’s a girl to do? Come in, in the evenings of course. When I can keep my doors locked completely guilt free. I was at the gallery until 9:30 last night and in by then the following morning. I plan to work non-stop on Colton today, until some framing comes in via SpeeDee delivery, and then I’ll work on framing for awhile. But I’ll be back tonight.

And to add to the pressure I really want to run wild this weekend. There is a horse event that I really want to see, that I missed last year as it was same weekend as the Octagon. But this year we got separate weekends. Whoo Hoo!

The best laid plans . . .
So since I am short on time I had decided to start a new painting using oil pastels. As they are so much quicker. (Let’s call that Plan B as Plan A was my first WCP painting of Colton.) But then as the hours rolled by while I was looking at my reference photos trying to come up with a new composition. I realized that I was wasting time and since the hard part of my watercolor pencil painting of Colton was done (and Karla Siebert of IERAL had already approved it) I’d be farther ahead to just finish it. Besides, I can’t work oil pastels at night because of the whole metamerism thingy that happens.

But then, late last night as I lay in bed glassy eyed, with images of Colton rolling through my mind, I had an Aha! moment. A composition came to me, that would be simple yet artsy. I thought “Thats it! That’s what I’ll paint. I’ll go in first thing in the morning and (with doors locked mind you) get the new drawing started and with any luck I’ll be able to knock that painting out in 3-5 days.”

So what do I do? I get up early, run into the gallery and look at the Colton piece I have so far, glance at my stack of reference photos and return to plan A. Finish what I’ve got. It’s a good start and has the potential to be a good painting.

So thats how I know it is panic gaining on me. Because I am switching my mind back and forth, when what I really need to do is stick with Plan A. And that’s exactly what I’m gonna do . . . I think.