So yes, painting Medusa is a sign that I’m working on some unpleasant stuff in my own head. We all have days and weeks like that. But then sometimes I get tired of being in my own head, and that can bring painting to a near standstill. I’d been heading that way as we moved towards Thanksgiving and I was trying to do some thinking about how to feel better about what’s been happening in my studio work.
I’ve re-directed myself for a bit, back to painting “smalls” — in this case, 6x6” gessoed panels that paint up in a day. They let me push paint around and play with color and composition and all the technical stuff of painting, so there’s tons of learning and skill development and rich practice. And, because they don’t take a lot of time or resources, the stakes are low enough that there’s not a lot of pressure to get everything perfect, which means I’m more likely to try new things and push my own limits a bit.
I’m interested in pursuing two paths — one that’s a variant on a still life and one that’s portraits — or at least studies for portraits. It’d be great to try this approach for a couple months and see where it leads. Here are a few images from the last couple weeks:
6/6/19 - acrylic
12/8/19 - oil
12/13/19 - oil